The Haunted Palace

_**Lovecraft-ian tale of a dark castle with Vincent Price and Debra Paget**_

During the Victorian era, a man and his wife (Price & Paget) inherit an ominous chateau on the coast of New England, but its sorcerous history seems to cast a spell on him and this provokes the leery populace to hostile action (Leo Gordon, Elisha Cook Jr., etc.). Lon Chaney Jr. and Frank Maxwell are also on hand.

"The Haunted Palace" (1963) takes its title from Poe’s poem, and quotes it, but the story hails from HP Lovecraft’s yarn "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." AIP insisted on the Poe-connection to capitalize on the recent success of Roger Corman’s Poe movies.

Eight of these Poe-inspired flicks were were done by Corman, but others were filmed by different directors, like “The Conqueror Worm” (1968), aka “Witchfinder General,” and “The Oblong Box” (1969). Others were Poe-ish in ambiance, yet had nothing to do with the works of Poe, like Corman & Coppola’s “The Terror” (1963). Most of these flicks didn’t follow Poe’s stories/poems very closely despite his name being attached to them, as is the case with this one, although a few did.

The spooky Gothic horror sets are to die for. You have spider webs, foggy graveyards, forbidden castles, dark sorceries, hostile mobs with torches, burnings at the stake, curses, rats, caged monstrosities, hauntings, possession, demons in pits and beautiful Victorian lasses. Being a Lovecraft yarn, you naturally get gobbledygook about Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, etc.

While not as good as “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961) and “The Conqueror Worm” (1968), this one’s on the same level as “The Terror,” “The Masque of the Red Death” (1964), “The Raven” (1963) and “Tomb of Ligeia” (1964). AIP was basically the American version of Hammer in England, so devotees of Hammer horror should appreciate it.

This was the last theatrical appearance of the stunning Debra Paget, who was 29 during shooting. She married a Chinese oil mogul, which would last 18 years and produce one son. She became a Christian and eventually came out of retirement to appear seven times on TBN’s Praise show (1988-2013). Also featured on the feminine front is the equally gorgeous Cathie Merchant, as well as Darlene Lucht in a brief role.

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Producers Studios in Hollywood. Virginia is also listed, which relates to establishing shots.

GRADE: B-/B (6.7/10)