Vincent Price Double Feature: Part Two

The second part of my Vincent Price Double Feature, is the second in the series of films Roger Corman and Vincent Price made in their series of films based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The Pit and the Pendelum was made in response to the widespread success of The Fall of the House of Usher and grossed even more than the previous film had. Those of you who are true Edgar Allen Poe fans will come to realize that this film version really has nothing in common with the original story, which can be read here. However, it truly is a remarkable film and a fitting sequel to House of Usher.

The story begins when Englishman Francis Barnard (John Kerr) comes to a castle in Spain, owned by his brother-in-law Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price). It was here that Francis's sister Elizabeth (scream queen Barbara Steele) died under mysterious circumstances and Francis blames Nicholas for his sister's death. In residence of the castle is currently Nicholas's sister Catherine (Luana Anders) who is worried for her brother's crazy behavior after the loss of his beloved wife. A frequent visitor is friend Doctor Leon (Anthony Carbone) who pronounced Elizabeth Medina dead. It is revealed that Nicholas and Catherine's father Sebastian Medina was in fact a torturer during the Spanish Inquisition and killed his own wife and brother for adultery against him. It seems that Elizabeth is still alive and her spirit is haunting the house. Those staying in it must find out what is causing Elizabeth's reappearance after her death. A few twists at the end provide for a wonderful climax.

Again, color is very prominent in this film and you can see the beginning of Sixties experimentation in film through the colorful flashback sequences in this film. A 40 mm wide angle lens was used to make the sets look larger than normal because they budget was too low to afford very elaborate sets. Another low budget trick was using 20 gallons of fake spiderwebs to create an eerie atmosphere throughout the castle set. The shots of the sea near which the castle is supposed to be located are actually shots of the Palos Verdes coast in the South Bay near Los Angeles. To make the movement of the pendulum even more horrifying, Corman took out every second shot to make it look as though the pendulum was moving twice as fast.

This film is even better than the previous one, though the two of them are obviously connected. Price is at the top of his game in the genre he does so well. Themes of alive entombment, torture, and madness abound in this film as well, but work in a completely different way as in the previous. Want a second opinion? Excellent source for this genre, the blog Horror Movie a Day has also reviewed this film and talked about it in depth, which you can read here. I really recommend that you watch not only this film but also the rest of Roger Corman's Poe films, which will surely give you a night of fright.

Vincent Price Double Feature: Part One

A copy of MGM Midnite Movies came into my possession recently, a double feature of two Vincent Price movies. I plan to talk about both, but in this post I want to focus on the first of the movies, The House of Usher. Price is perhaps best known for his terrifying feature films based on the works of revered American literary genius Edgar Allan Poe. It was Poe who wrote stories of mystery, the macabre, was involved in the Romantic literary movement and pioneered the short story, detective-fiction, and science-fiction genres. The frightening natures of these stories are brought fully into life by King of Horror Vincent Price in these many films. The House of Usher was the first of eight films directed by Roger Corman based around Poe works, many of which star Vincent Price.

The story Poe wrote was changed up a lot for the film. The film version follows the path of wealthy Bostonian Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) who comes to visit his fiancée, Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey). When he arrives, the butler (Harry Ellerbe) does not wish to let him into the house, but Philip persuades his way in and then encounters the extremely sensitive to noise, light, and sound Roderick Usher (Vincent Price), older brother and ward of his beloved. Roderick tells him Madeline is ill, though she seems perfectly fine to Philip. Roderick begins to warn Philip of the horrible history of their family and the curse that lays over the house. Philip thinks it is all in Roderick's head, until he discovers that Roderick is not the only thing who is possessed.

For a low budget, early Sixties horror film, the effects are pretty decent. The use of color in the film is remarkable. The color red is extremely noticeable and focused on for dramatic effect but several monochromatic scenes throughout also help create a sense of eeriness and fear. Corman usually directed B-movie black and white double features, but he was allowed to film this movie and consequently others in color and CinemaScope.

This film and the other Poe/Price/Corman collaborations have gained considerable cult status, especially among horror fans. A review on eccentric-cinema.com praises how well the film was made with such a low budget. Another review and analysis can be found here, thanks to classic-horror.com. I do highly recommend watching not only this film but the other ones in Corman's Poe series. And stay tuned. The second part of this double feature is coming up soon.

48 Hours of Horror on TCM

Turner Classic Movies has some big plans to make this Halloween even scarier.They are doing a "48 Hours of Horror" special movie marathon on Thursday, October 30 and Friday, October 31. This marathon includes a collection of horror anthologie as well as movies based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. You can find the schedule for the 30th here and the one for the 31st here, so you can better plan which films you want to watch and see what is on the list for those days. The TCM site also allows you to send reminders to yourself that these movies will be on and when.

Additionally, TCM is keeping you updated with their own blog. From October 25 to 31, the TCM blog Movie Morlocks, will be blogging about their favorite horror movies and why they enjoy these movies so much. The blog-a-thon will touch on several different movies and topics about old horror films and their significance. I hope you will take advantage of these great resources.

"The Ghosts are moving tonight..."

As you may have guessed, Vincent Price and Alfred Hitchcock are my two favorite people when it comes to suspense and horror movies. Price to me is the undisputed king of Horror Film Actors and I have always loved his work. Another great public domain film you can watch here is one of my all time favorite scary films and the first film I ever saw with Price in the lead role. The House on Haunted Hill was made in 1959 and is still one of the most suspenseful, terrifying, atmospheric films I have ever seen. To this day, I still have to watch this film in the middle of the day with all the lights on so it doesn't cause me to have nightmares. Maybe I'm a chicken and maybe this film won't be as scary to you, but I am still utterly frightened by it.

The remake in 1999 was good, but didn't manage to recreate the wonderful acting that Vincent Price did. The premise seems simple enough. The frightening millionaire Frederick Loren (Price) rented what might be the most haunted house in the world so his equally dark and depraved wifeAnnabelle (Carol Omhart) can through a "ghost party". Loren has offered each of the guests $10,000 if they can stay in the house for one full night and each of the guests has their own reasons for needing the money Loren is offering. The film begins with introductions as the cast rides to the haunted house in funeral cars, preparing for the spooky night ahead. Chandeliers fall, doors shut themselves, blood drips from the ceiling, and strange murderers are recounted only in the first fifteen minutes of the film. At midnight, the group is locked in the mansion for the night by the creepy caretakers and it is then that the truly scary stuff begins to happen.

The music is absolutely haunting and fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the film. The cast does not overact but does their job superbly, making the plot very believeable and very spooky. The special effects are spectacular for the period and gruesome heads as well as moving skeletons manage to strike fear into viewers. This film is still one of the best horror films ever made and belongs on anyone's list of films to watch if you're planning a scary movie night.

"How does one explain what one cannot see?"

Vincent Price is one of the undoubted Kings of Horror films and playing the menacing, frightening, dark characters that make these movies so terrifying. This afternoon, I had the pleasure of watching Diary of a Madman, a 1963 film with Price in the lead role and directed by Reginald Le Borg. The Diary of a Madman is based on a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant called Le Horla or The Horla, the entire text of which can be found here if you want to read it.

The film begins after the death of magistrate and amateur sculptor Simon Cordier (Price), when those left to inherit his possessions begin reading the diary he left behind. The diary begins with Cordier's visit to a man in prison who he has sentenced to death for murder. The man tells him that he did not really kill the four people he was convicted of but was possessed by some evil force, called the Horla, that made him commit the crimes. The man tells him that he wants to die, his eyes begin glowing, and he attacks Cordier. The man ends up dying and Cordier cannot help but think about what happened in the jail cell. After the incident, mysterious things begin to occur around Cordier's home and he begins to think that the death of his wife and son are somehow linked to all of these strange things.

Soon, Cordier begins to doubt his own sanity and wonder why he can see all of these strange things when no one else can. On the advice of a doctor, he decides to focus on his sculpting to help with his sudden madness and hires a model, Odette Mallotte DuClasse (Nancy Kovak), who instantly intriques him. Odette is married to Paul DuClasse, a struggling painter who is not too thrilled about the idea of her posing for anyone other than him. The sculpting seems to help with Cordier's condition at first but when his sculpting with Odette is over, the spirit returns. The Horla spirit accuses Cordier being a murderer and tells Cordier the spirit will haunt him until it breaks his will. The spirit gains hold of him and tells him to persue Odette, taking control of Cordier's life and sending him spiraling into madness.

Though not one of Price's very best films, the film still has Vincent Price and still has his magnificent touch in it. I would say that this particular film should be more popular and well-known than perhasp it is. I would say this film is very superior horror wise to many of the horror films out there, especially the modern ones that are all about gore and violence rather than requiring their audience to think. Diary of a Madman focuses on scaring the audience psychologically, as it does for Cordier, and builds up a sense of suspense and drama through it that create the horror instead.

Fright Fest Begins

The month of October is upon us and this month I have decided to celebrate some of the shocks, screams, thrills, and chills Old Hollywood had to offer. From the terrifying long nails of Nosferatu to the hair-tingling transformation of Lon Chaney, Jr. into The Wolfman to The Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, Hollywood had us on the edge of our seats with fright and anticipation.

Unlike the horror movies of today, which rely more on straightforward gore, violence, and sexuality to draw in viewers to the box office, this movies relied more on suspense, drama, and a creation of a frightening realm through makeup, costuming, scenery, and spectacular acting to keep audiences paralyzed with fear. Though many see these films as outdated and their horror not quite as petrifying as the modern films that push all the limits and sometimes manage to desensitize us to the truly horrible, many are still relevant and still relevantly spooky if you watch them at the right time of night with the lights off. I dare you to stay up late and watch one of the old movies where Vincent Price interprets the works of Edgar Allan Poe then have pleasant dreams that night.

Of course, there are some films whose once innovative and frightening special effects now emit laughter and certain films that missed the mark, becoming more horrible than horrifying. Still, we need to explore what it was that once made these movies so terrifying to audiences, what about audiences have changed, and the major innovations these first frightening films made that allowed for modern advancement in the movies. I like to think that even the bad films did some good, even if the only good is giving us something to laugh at.

So I invite you, if you dare, to join me this month in celebrating what is scary and what is scarily funny about Old Hollywood. Who knows? We might all get a good scream out of it.