THE HAUNTED PALACE
US, 1963, 87 minutes, Colour.
Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Lon Chaney Jr.
Directed by Roger Corman.
One of the last in Roger Corman’s series of film versions of Edgar Allan Poe stories. They were made from 1960 to the mid-sixties. Vincent Price is once again present in a role that by this stage he had mastered very well. Lon Chaney Jnr. appears as one of his diabolical servants. The same team that made the other films worked on this with the exception of the screen play by Charles Beaumont, instead of Richard Matheson who had supplied the earlier scripts. This one is less oratorical and highly drawn than the previous ones. Elements from stories by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft were incorporated with the Poe story and there was an emphasis on horror in New England and is part of the American tradition.
1. The appeal of the work of Edgar Allan Poe? Of H.P. Lovecraft? Horror, madness, the torments of the mind? The satanic, villages and atmospheres of evil, curses? The place of this in American literature and history?
2. Audience response to the film versions of Poe? The series made by Roger Corman? Their style, budget, scope? Vincent Price as the star with his presence and style? Common footage? Atmosphere of horror, eeriness? The cult of these films in subsequent years?
3. The American background of Poe's horror series? His attitude towards American society, evil and its presence, fear and superstition, the satanic, the belief in the satanic and its curses? New England and its witchcraft traditions? The place of horror within this context?
4. The presentation of the credits with the web, the spider and the butterfly? The prologue showing Curwan and his palace, the girl in the trance, the satanic rites? The angry reactions of the villagers and their frenzy, their lynching attitudes? The confrontation between Curwan, Hester and the villagers? The death by fire and its ugliness, the curse and its repercussions? The prologue creating atmosphere for the subsequent events?
5. The film's transition to the 19th century, the cursed village and its lack of life, the various sequences of the mutants? Creatures in cages? The atmosphere of doom, fear? History repeating itself and the attitude of the villagers?
6. The palace as the symbol of the evil of both periods? The 19th century ruin, the interiors, the overtones of European castles? The dungeons, the modern furnishings and their contrast? The palace and the attempts to live in it? Curwan's portrait and its hypnotic hold? The ultimate burning of the palace and the destruction of evil, of Curwan?
7. Vincent Price's presence and his style as Curwan? His evil, curse and death? The importance of the portrait and its style, the frequent close-ups of it? The attempt to take over Ward's personality? His diabolic henchmen and their presence in the house, the attempts to revive fiester, Curwan's revenge on the villagers and the goriness of the murders? Curwan as a devil figure in New England?
8. The contrast with Price's performance as Charles Ward? Restrained, pleasant, a gentleman? his love for Ann? Their arrival, his reaction to the warnings, his friendship.with the doctor? Decision to leave? The effect of his looking at the portrait of Curwan, Curwan's taking him over? How well did the film portray the changes of personality? Ward's strong will and his attempts to fight Curwan's presence? The erratic behaviour and its impact on Ann. on the audience?
9. Ann as heroine? Her love for Ward, reaction to the villagers and the stories of the curse? her fear in the house, her love for Ward and her puzzle at his change of personality? her dreams, walking in the night, a scared heroine and the audience sharing her fears? Her trying to cope, her continued love for her husband?
10. The sketch of the villagers, at the tavern, their discussions, motivations? Their mutant relations? The contrast with the doctor and his commonsense and sane approach?
11. The importance of the various tableaux during the film, of the mutants converging on Ward and Ann, the horror sequences within the palace. the shocks and scares?
12. The build-up to the climax and the new confrontation with Curran? The burning of the palace and Poe's epilogue?
13. Presuppositions about audience response to horror? To the presence of evil, its possibility of influencing people? The credibility of Poe's plots?
