"The Haunted Palace"** 1\2 (out of ****)
The events of the past haunt the present in "The Haunted Palace" (1963).
Although the movie's opening credits acknowledge Charles Beaumont's screenplay is from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (whose name is misspelled twice in the credits as "Allen") and a story by H.P. Llovecraft, the movie is often lumped with Corman's series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations.
Taking Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", the movie does have a visual aesthetic similar to Corman's Poe movies and could be compared to "The Fall of the House of Usher", which Corman did adapt. It was the first of the Poe series.
"The Haunted Palace" begins in 1765 in the fictitious town of Arkham, located in Massachusetts. It is a dark and stormy night (what did you expect?). One of the townsmen, Ezra Weeden (Leo Gordon) seems on edge. He anxiously stares out of the window at a local tavern. His friend, Micah (Elisha Cook Jr.), tries to calm his nervous and asks him to have a drink with him. Nothing doing. Ezra is intently focused on staring out into the stormy night. Suddenly it happens. A figure is seen walking, a young woman. Erza and Micah follow. The woman walks through a cemetery to the home (or palace) of Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price).
Before going any further lets take a moment to appreciate this sequence. Roger Corman has acquired a reputation for making schlock. It is not necessarily unearned on Corman's part however when working with good material Corman can give us something to admire. The sequence is filmed in a blue / grayish hue. There is a mist in the air. The sound of thunder and lightening fills the soundtrack. This is how you create atmosphere. Pay attention to all the trees with crooked and twisted branches. They create obstacles for Ezra and Micah to maneuver through. Corman and cinematographer Floyd Crosby shoot the sequence using different angles and shots going from long shots to over head angles. It is all done to create distance.
When inside Curwen's palace we can see the woman's face. Her expression implies she is in a trance. Joseph leads the woman through a secret door to the basement where a satanic (?) ritual will take place. The woman is being sacrificed to, as far as we can tell, a creature. The appearance of which snaps the woman out of her trance as she bellows in horror.
Erza and Micah have gathered more townsfolk, yes with burning torches in hand, to the Curwen palace. They believe Curwen has put a spell on the woman and have decided to burn Curwen at the stake after declaring him a warlock. Before meeting his untimely death Curwen warns the town he will rise from the dead and exact his revenge.
The movie jumps to 110 years later when the great great grandson of Curwen, Charles Dexter (Price) arrives in Arkham, which is still covered in fog. Charles and is wife Anne (Debra Paget) are greeted coldly by the town when is it revealed who Dexter is related to. He is advised it would be best if he and his wife leave.
It is befitting Price would play duel roles.Charles is supposed to look like Curwen which adds to the town's fear that Curwen has come back to life to get revenge. However every other actor plays duel roles. This was not a good idea as it causes confusion. The characters don't speak as if they are descendants of those that burned Curwen alive but as if they were the ones responsible. They speak in intimate terms of what happened that fateful night. Even their age hasn't changed.
As in "The Haunting" (1963) and "The Shining" (1980) it is suggested Charles is being possessed by the palace. The spirit of Curwen is trying to take over his body. Upon first entry into the house Charles seems to know his way around. Charles becomes dismissive with Anne and tries multiple times to get her to go home. He has momentary blackouts. Also living in the palace is Simon (Lon Chaney Jr.), a caretaker, who has anticipated the arrival of Charles and Anne. He seems to have a knack for showing up at the right moment to startle Charles and Anne.
Lon Chaney Jr. and Vincent Price had never acted in a movie together prior to this. Although the roles aren't demanding and require a versatile display of emotions, they are the highlights of the movie. Just being able to see them stand side by side should put a face on your face. Here are two legends of the horror genre. Like other actors before Chaney known in the horror genre, he sometimes took on roles parodying his iconic characters (The Wolf Man) here though Chaney is given a decent character to play.
The question is, is the palace and the spirit of Curwen trying to possess Charles? The answer is rather obvious but I won't reveal it here. The other question is, what does this all lead up to? What is "The Haunted Palace" about? Is there any deeper meaning to what is on the surface? There doesn't seem to be. This is a tale of revenge.
Where "The Haunted Palace" goes wrong is it is all set-up and no execution.
SPOILER ALERT
It is true Curwen is trying to take over Charles' body. By the time he does, nearly 45 minutes have expired in this 87 minute movie. Curwen doesn't seem to have a well worked out plan for revenge. You would think he would after 110 years of planning. The movie needed to focus on Curwen's revenge in the second half of the movie and fully explain what that plan is. And a couple of scenes showing him exacting his revenge against the townspeople wouldn't hurt either, despite the ones we do see.
END SPOILER
There is however much to enjoy watching "The Haunted Palace", the production design, a terrific musical score by Ronald Stein, and the performances by Price and Chaney. But ultimately the movie doesn't effectively lead up to anything. It does such a good job creating atmosphere and setting up the premise that it forgets to do anything with it.
By the end of the movie we are left with something that might recall "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and every 1930s and 40s horror movie we have seen with the villagers storming to the palace with torches in hand. But it doesn't leave us with a satisfactory ending. It settles for a teaser ending which doesn't feel earned.
"The Haunted Palace" shouldn't necessarily be avoided but the other entries in the Poe series are better. Don't start with this one.
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