The Vincent Price Movie Review

Released in 1962
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Leo Gordon, F. Amos Powell, and Robert E. Kent

“Strange that they died so easily, with their struggles no more than sparrows in the teeth of a fox.”

So, it’s 23 years later and we find Vincent Price in a second Tower of London movie. This time around he plays Richard III, and he is out for revenge for getting unceremoniously dumped in the vat of malmsy in 1939.

Although this version of the Richard III story is more simplified, it might help if you read the brief synopsis I posted on the earlier Tower of London review. Basically, Richard is the youngest brother of King Edward IV, and to attain the crown he must kill off all his brothers and their children. (which he does!) Corman and the writers chose to give the story more of a horror slant, with emphasis on ghosts, occult, and torture.

The movie starts off fairly well, but the first thing you notice is how low budget everything appears. It’s not even shot in color like most of the other Corman-Price pictures. It looks like for the battle scenes they actually used footage from the 1939 Tower of London.

I feel a bit ambivalent about Vincent Price’s performance. He does deliver some good scenes, but it seemed like the majority of his lines were overly ham-infested. Some of his histrionic reactions to the ghost visits gave me an unexpected chuckle. But in fairness to Price, this screenplay doesn’t give him much to work with; it’s the weakest part of this whole production. Price made dozens of low budget movies and the ones that worked had solid scripts.

My favorite scene from the movie has to be when Richard III tortures Buckingham. He doesn’t just stretch Buckingham out on the rack; Richard has something more terrifying than that! He chains Buckingham’s arms and places a tight-fitting metal box with lid around his head and neck. Then Richard drops a large, ravenous rat into the box and locks the lid. The rat casually snacks on Buckingham’s face until he dies. Gruesome! The movie would have been much better if more scenes like this were included.

The thing that really disappoints me about this movie is that the Richard III role could have been Vincent Price’s best dramatic vehicle. The character of Richard III is perfect for him. It was almost like Shakespeare saw all of Price’s movies and went back in time and wrote this character just for him to play. Price excelled at portraying complex villains who could unexpectedly evoke the viewer’s sympathy.

This 1962 version of Tower of London is somewhat forgettable. If you’re in the mood for Richard III I would recommend watching the 1939 version of this movie instead. It’s a better movie and both have Vincent Price in them. If you want to watch a good horror movie starring Vincent Price then pick one of his many other much better horror films.

aka “The City Under the Sea”

Released in 1965
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Written by Charles Bennett and Louis M. Heyward
Based on the poem “The City In the Sea” by Edgar Allan Poe

“The waves have now a redder glow —
The hours are breathing faint and low —
And when, amid no earthly moans,
Down, down that town shall settle hence,
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,
Shall do it reverence.”

War Gods of the Deep puts a new spin on the AIP Poe movies of the 60’s. Instead of a spooky castle by the sea, they put the castle in the sea this time. And way down there living inside it are a bunch of pirates, their sinister smuggler Captain (Vincent Price), and some freaky humanoid sea monsters. Oh yeah, there’s an active volcano down there too. And the pirates are immortal.

The movie starts out appropriately with Vincent Price reciting some Edgar Allan Poe, which is never a bad idea. The action begins when a local washes up dead on shore, and then a woman named Jill Tregillis(Susan Hart) gets kidnapped by one of the gill men. (they were saying Miss Tregillis, but I kept hearing Mr. Gillis) What other choice do Ben (Tab Hunter) and Harold (David Tomlinson) have but to investigate? Unfortunately, while exploring a cave they both accidently fall in a swirling maelstrom that sucks them all the way down into the underwater city. You will probably recognize David Tomlinson from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. His character in this movie provides a bit of lighthearted comedy. For some reason he carries around a British chicken in a basket for the entire film. There’s a scene in the movie where Vincent Price spots the chicken for the first time and he points to the basket and simply says, “Chicken.” Inadvertently hilarious.

After they arrive in the city under the sea they encounter the pirates and their Captain. In a really long exposition, the Captain explains everything to them while they watch the gill men hunt fish with crossbows. (how does a crossbow work underwater?) The rest of the movie is more or less occupied by Ben and Harold trying to escape with Miss Tregillis, which reaches a “climax” in an excruciatingly long and uninteresting underwater chase scene. (back in the 60’s this would be a prime spot in the movie to start fogging up the windows with a hot date at the drive-in)

I tried to give this movie a fair shot but it just doesn’t hold together. Vincent Price’s performance is not bad at all, though. He plays it straight, serious, and subdued. But there’s only so much he can do to prop up the rest of the movie. The unnecessary scenes and Ed Wood-esque underwater sequences all contribute to making this movie a bit subpar.

Released in 1963
Directed by Reginald Le Borg
Written by Robert E. Kent

“whenever evil exists in the heart of man, the Horla lives…”

Diary of a Madman is a lesser known movie which Vincent Price made in 1963 between a string of his more famous Edgar Allan Poe adaptation movies. Despite being less popular, I found the movie surprisingly well-executed. The plot remains true to itself and the performances are solid.

The idea is based on a short story by Guy de Maupassant entitled “Le Horla.” This namesake creature (or being) exists in another dimensional plane, and appears from the human point of view to possess supernatural powers, such as invisibility. In the movie, the Horla states that it can access the plane that humans live in only through evil. The most powerful ability of the Horla seems to be that of human possession; the creature can take control of a human’s thoughts and actions, and even drive them to commit terrible acts of murder.

Vincent Price plays Simon Cordier, a magistrate who has sentenced a murderer to the guillotine for his crimes. Upon visiting the criminal in his cell, the man(Harvey Stephens, also starred with Price in The Bat) is rational at first and begins to explain to Simon that he committed the murders unwillingly. The criminal claims that an outside force took control of him and perpetrated the ghastly killings. Immediately following this, the entity takes control again and forces the criminal to attack Simon, who defends himself and accidently kills the criminal. The entity(Horla) then takes an interest in Simon, and begins to haunt his thoughts.

The movie continues with the Horla trying to exert its control over the willful Simon, who documents the process in his diary. Thinking he might be suffering from mental illness, he takes a hiatus from work and concentrates on his sculpting hobby to relax. He hires a beautiful young woman(Nancy Kovack - remember her in Star Trek?) to model for his latest work, and they gradually fall in love. Her husband is not too happy about this.

The Horla continues to work on Simon, and eventually gains complete control over him. Dark deeds follow soon afterwards, but Simon continues to resist and deduces a possible way to destroy the Horla. The final confrontation proves that the Horla does have a weakness after all.

Not having heard anything about this movie at all, I was expecting the worst, but instead I found myself being pleasantly surprised. While the movie does have a “low-budgetness” to it, it’s generally well done and reminiscent of the House of Wax. All of the performances are good, with Vincent Price carrying the movie. (he’s in almost every scene) The plot, like it or not, never wavers from its premise or wanders off target like so many of the low budget horror movies.

Released in 1964
Directed by Roger Corman

“and darkness and decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.”

The Masque of the Red Death is an interesting movie that finds itself in the middle of Corman’s Poe cycle. Its existential theme marks a departure from the previous Poe films, with a corresponding change in style. The movie is a combination of ideas from Poe’s short story of the same name and Hop-Frog, another one of his stories.

Vincent Price plays the malevolent Prince Prospero, who is a ruthless nobleman in medieval Europe. Prospero is evil; he openly worships Satan, and encourages his subjects to do the same. The interesting thing about the Prince is that he claims he arrived at his philosophy through empirical observation. A world with so much terror, death, war and disease could not possibly be ruled by a compassionate and loving god, but rather a god like Satan. (he might have a point there)

To please his Master, Prospero rules his subjects without mercy. He demonstrates his lack of compassion throughout the film, beginning in the opening scene where he orders an entire village burned to the ground after he witnesses a woman die from the Red Death, which is a plague that causes bleeding from the pores and can kill the infected within an hour’s time. After being insulted by two of the local villagers, Prospero orders them to be garroted, but decides to temporarily delay their executions because of the pleas of the young village girl Francesca(Jane Asher). Prospero takes all three as captives and returns to his castle, which is believed to be the only haven in the region safe from the Red Death.

As a show of generosity and power, Prospero invites the nobles from across the region to stay within his castle and remain safe from the deadly plague. Most of them come immediately, and are lavished with feasts, parties, and other entertainment from the decadent prince. In the meanwhile, Prospero courts his lovely captive Francesca, much to the dismay of his current wife Juliana(Hazel Court). The fate of the other two captives, Francesca’s father and her boyfriend, is eventually determined by Prospero. For the enjoyment of the audience, he forces the prisoners to cut themselves with a different knife alternately; one of the blades being envenomed by a deadly poison.

This deadly spectacle is not enough to satisfy the crowd’s appetite for amusement, so the Prince declares a Masque will be held at midnight. Near the end, Prospero’s power is put to a final test: Death personified comes calling at his castle in the form of a red-robed figure, and the Prince learns who the master of Death really is.

I found this film difficult to critique because it’s so unlike most of the other Poe adaptations. I enjoyed watching Price as Prospero expound his Satanic philosophy, but found the movie dragged out a bit. It’s not as scary as some of the more straightforward gothic horror movies, but it is definitely more brutal. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, this movie is more existential in style; it ponders over the concepts of religion, power, and death, and how the common human fits in.

The script and dialog waver back and forth between excellent and perfunctory, and the performances vary accordingly. Vincent Price delivers some great lines, but has his share that fall completely flat, especially during some of the more dramatic moments. Jane Asher as Francesca was decent, but I found myself much more interested in the very dishy Hazel Court. It’s a shame she didn’t have a larger role.

It seems Corman had a bit more time and money to make this movie, and the sets reflect it. The interior of the castle is well done, and the single colored chambers add a dramatic touch, especially in the black and red room where the satanic ceremonies are held.

The avatars of Death were probably my favorite part of the movie. The costumes and the dialog were great. The scene where the avatar of the Red Death is conversing with Prospero is gripping, and the final scene where the multiple avatars of Death are discussing how many people they killed ends the movie perfectly.

The closing credits are nicely done as well. I wish they would have used those as the opening credits instead. Pretty creepy stuff there.

Released in 1960
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Richard Matheson

“and the deep and dank tarn closed silently over the fragments of the House of Usher.”

The House of Usher starring Vincent Price is the first movie in the decade-long cycle of Poe adaptations by Roger Corman and AIP. These movies are not strict interpretations of the Poe short stories because they are not generally suited to being converted into full length motion pictures as is; the movies feature expanded storylines that are usually in the spirit of the Poe’s original work. (towards the end of the cycle AIP started labeling movies with Poe titles even though the script and the short stories shared little in common) The House of Usher was a breakout success at the time of its release, and is still considered a gothic horror classic today.

The film begins when Philip Winthrop(Mark Damon) journeys to the dilapidated Usher mansion which is isolated in a desolate landscape. Winthrop has traveled there to call on his fiancée, Madeline Usher(Myrna Fahey), and return to Boston with her. Upon arrival, he is denied admittance to the residence by the butler on the standing order of Roderick Usher(Vincent Price). After demanding to see Madeline, Winthrop is confronted by the eerie, brooding Roderick, who suffers from a “morbid acuteness of the senses.” The story slowly unfolds as Winthrop learns more about the treacherous history of the Usher family and the curse of the mansion. Tension builds as Roderick forbids Madeline to leave with Winthrop, and the conflict causes the delicate Madeline to fall ill. To the dismay of Winthrop, Madeline suddenly dies and is interred in the family crypt almost immediately by a relieved Roderick. Winthrop seems resigned to Madeline’s death and makes plans to return to Boston until the butler carelessly slips and reveals that Madeline suffers from frequent episodes of catalepsy. The climax comes soon afterwards as the horrified Winthrop learns Madeline’s fate, which is shared by Roderick and the house itself.

I have watched this movie countless times, and upon each viewing I still find myself gripped by Vincent Price’s performance, which is subdued yet chilling. He manages to seem both effete and menacing, with the assistance of the superb costume and makeup. I can say without reservation that his performance in the House of Usher ranks among the best of his career.

The supporting cast is excellent as well. Mark Damon has the difficult task of portraying Winthrop, which demands him to tread the fine line between being emotional yet strong willed. He must also shoulder the sympathy of the viewer in the process, which he does effectively.

The only criticism of the movie that I have deals with the quality of some of the scenes in the climax. Some of the shots seem a little cheesy, which are undoubtedly due to the limited budget and constraints of the special effects. This doesn’t impact the movie’s overall success, however.

The House of Usher is certified Vincent Price gold, and easily makes it into the top 10 best movies of his career.