THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)

 One of the all-time great Vincent Price performances here. Also one of the easiest jobs for Caroline Munro as his deceased wife and the catalyst for his revenge-fueled murder spree. Killer bats, rats, locusts and even a golden unicorn are among the tools used by Dr. Phibes to wreak his biblically-inspired vengeance(I don't remember any unicorns actually being in the bible but I'm no scholar). Fun horror flick that sorta inspired SAW(but they forgot the whole fun part). AKA DR. PHIBES

 There was a sequel the next year and a planned BRIDE OF DR. PHIBES that sadly never got made.   

 

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)

 In this last entry in the Roger Corman-directed Edgar Allan Poe series from AIP studios Vincent Price wears some snazzy shades and pines for his dead wife and then gets remarried and becomes a hypnotist. There's lots of ghost shenanigans and a naughty black cat and Price acting like a koo-koo nutbird which is his specialty. I'm not sure if I would rate this one all that high up in the series (PIT AND THE PENDULUM and TALES OF TERROR are my 2 favs) but they're all enjoyable enough for a look at by Price fans. 

TWICE TOLD TALES (1963)

  This was MGM studios answer to American International Pictures TALES OF TERROR which had come out the year before. Instead of Edgar Allen Poe the source material here is Nathaniel Hawthorne. Just like the earlier TALES though this is an anthology of three short stories featuring Vincent Price.  I'm way more of a fan of the AIP film since this one tends to drag for a bunch of time. The first story deals with bringing the dead back to life and restoring youth with some magical rainwater, the second tells about a dad(Price) who wants to protect his daughter from the world so much that he makes her touch poisonous to others and the third is about a family curse. Pacing is the main issue here and it's also missing the elemnt of humour that Peter Lorre brought to the other anthology. Without the excellent acting abilities of Vincent Price this might be a tough one to get through.  

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)

  This one was obviously influential on 68's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with it's hordes of undead roaming around after our sole survivor Vincent Price who's boarded-up inside his home during the night. Here, instead of flesh-eating zombies though, they are neck-biting vampires caused by a global airborne plague. This one gets extra credit for being the first version of the story that would go on to be filmed a few times as THE OMEGA MAN in '71, a big-budget CGI Hollywood piece of crap with Will Smith called I AM LEGEND(which was also the name of the original story) followed quickly by a shitty shot-on-video thing called I AM OMEGA(both in 2007). I would usually say stick with the original but the 70s version is the one I've honestly gone back to more often for a fun apocalyptic watch even if this one is in that semi-classic category..

 There is a slightly longer ending if you're not watching the AIP TV-cut which seems to be the most common out there on all the cheap-o public domain DVD sets. 

                                          Complete cut with baby ending!:

THE CHRISTMAS CAROL (1949)

 There are so many different versions of this story put onto film that it's hard to say which one is my favorite. This one has 2 things going for it, one is that it's narrated by Vincent Price and hearing his voice is always awesome, second is that it's only 24 minutes long but still manages to hit all the plot points. It does seem that ol' Scrooge is transformed from a miserly prick into a Christmas-loving maniac really fast but it gets the message across either way. Check it out if you aren't a Christmas-hating commie.

 

THE MONSTER CLUB (1981)

 Remember that movie where there's a stripper who strips all of her skin and flesh off and ends up just a dancing skeleton? Well if you do, this is that movie. I recall first seeing this one on t.v. as a youth which probably wasn't too long after it originally was released. So I assume it wasn't much of a big hit or anything. Vincent Price and John Carradine, both sadly past their prime, star in what is an anthology deal with 3 horror tales. It's in the Amicus studios mold(produced by Amicus' Milton Subotsky and the last film directed by Amicus regular Roy Ward Baker) but came out a few years after they went out of business. The stories are a bit slow for the most part but the wraparound scenes in the actual "monster club" are goofy fun. You get Donald Pleasence as a vampire hunter and Britt Ekland as a wife of a vampire who is somehow not a vampire herself. How does that work exactly? The new wavey musical bits(including The Pretty Things who were somehow still together since the 60s!) really bring things to a halt but at least I know what a shadmock is now. 

 

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

 

\

 Vincent Price hams it up as a Satanic prince in this AIP Edgar Allen Poe adaptation. Directed by Roger Corman, who is known for working as cheaply as possible, this one actually has some pretty good-looking production values since it was filmed on location in England. That "try the wine" guy from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Patrick Magee, has a pretty big role as a jerk who ends up in a gorilla suit getting his just rewards and the personification of death makes a few appearances kind of like in that DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY/BILL & TED style. 

 The story itself is a blending of 2 Poe stories which is more than some of the AIP Poe-inspired films were and probably one of the best.  

            Released in Germany as SATANAS: THE CASTLE OF THE BLOODY BEAST:

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1960)

 There have been quite a few versions of this Edgar Allen Poe story filmed over the years starting way back in 1928. This is the first in a series of director Roger Corman's adaptations of various Poe tales and it stars Vincent Price as a real creep who seems to be holding his sister hostage in what seems to be a haunted house full of ghosts of their ancestors. For the most part it's a real talky and pretty dull affair all the way up until the ending. Price does raise things above what they would otherwise be but even with someone being buried alive and the big climax this is still one of my least favorite things starring Mr. P. Corman, being the cheap guy that he was, would reuse some of the fiery special-fx shots that end this film in some of the other 7 films that would follow in the series. PIT AND THE PENDULUM still remains my favorite of the bunch.  AKA HOUSE OF USHER

Some other USHER'S:
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - 1950 (Made in England)
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - 1979 (TV-movie with Martin Landau)
REVENGE IN THE HOUSE OF USHER 1983 (Spanish Jess Franco production with Howard Vernon)
THE HOUSE OF USHER - 1989 (A British/U.S./Canadian co-production with Oliver Reed)



                                         Italian title THE LIVING AND THE DEAD!:

THEATER OF BLOOD (1973)

 Vincent Price overacts his ass off in this tale of a Shakespearean actor who fakes his own suicide and then goes about getting bloody revenge on the critics who gave him scathing reviews throughout the years. He's assisted by his daughter, Diana Rigg(that lady from the old British AVENGERS program), who wears some ridiculously unconvincing disguises as she tries to pass for a man several times. His vengeance consists of using deaths from various Shakespeare plays and improvising a bit when necessary. You get a few quite gruesome moments for such a classy flick(classy because it was filmed in England where people seemed classier to me anyway) including decapitation, a dude stabbed to death by dirty bums and a guy's heart ripped out of his chest. I imagine this would have been one of Price's favorite roles to play because he gets to do so much over-the-top stuff here, including my favorite the super-gay, afro-wearing hair-stylist, so that's fun to watch. There's obviously some similarities with the plot to the DR. PHIBES films but I think I like those better since this one has a long runtime(almost 2 hours) and towards the end you certainly feel it. I've also seen this film, and PHIBES, blamed for the "torture-porn" crap like SAW that came years later but that's like comparing pizza to a pile of dog-shit. AKA THEATRE OF BLOOD(classy spelling!)

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S THE HAUNTED PALACE (1963)

  Even though they put Poe's name in the title this movie is actually sort-of based on an H.P. Lovecraft story(THE STRANGE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD). And even though it stars Vincent Price and has Lon Chaney, Jr. in a big role, it's probably one of my least favorite in the Roger Corman Poe series. Price is great as usual as a guy who gets burned at the stake for feeding girls to a demon that he keeps in his castle/"haunted palace"-pit and then gets revenge a hundred years later through his descendant. It's all pretty basic from horror films of this era and there isn't really anything all that unique about this one except for, of course, seeing Chaney and Price together in their only team-up so at least that's something for old horror star fans. If that doesn't seem exciting to you then skipping this one is probably a good idea.  

THE BAT (1959)

 

 So The Bat is this dude who dresses like The Shadow but has claws and likes to rip out people's necks. Of course this was made back in the 50's so there's never any blood to be seen. Also the film is more of a mystery than a horror flick so if you're into those check it out. Vincent Price is pretty suave here and naturally is the #1 suspect of all these murders going on. Darla from The Little Rascals has her last appearance but it's only a small role. 
 This is actually the third remake of this story on film. It was originally done as a silent film in 1926 and then in 1930 as THE BAT WHISPERS. Before those it was a Broadway show.

THE MAD MAGICIAN (1954)

 
 This early Vincent Price horror/crime flick came out after his big hit HOUSE OF WAX and shares a few elements with that film.  Both star Price as a murderous fellow(in this he makes masks instead of wax figures) and both were shot in 3D so you get a yo-yo, a saw blade and some water thrown right in your stupid face.  Eva Gabor from GREEN ACRES shows up as Price's ex-wife and gets strangled.  There's also a beheading by saw and a guy burned alive but nothing graphic is shown since this is the 50's.  A pretty basic(and recycled) storyline but still an entertaining watch mostly just due to Price's charisma.

CONQUEROR WORM (1968)

 It's kinda weird that I've never seen this movie and yet MARK OF THE DEVIL is one of my favorite movies and I've seen it dozens of times.  Coming at the movie from my perspective I think it really works as the blueprint for that later Udo Kier witch-hunting flick and while it's tame in comparison, I can imagine at the time it was released this would have been a pretty controversial film for the masses.  There probably weren't a whole lot of things before this where we saw people burned alive while screaming.  You also get Vincent Price but it's a different Price than in anything I've seen him in before.  Not the usual stereo-typically flamboyant performance from him, here it's all very somber and convincingly evil and that fits perfectly with the subject matter.  He's also helped out by a real bastard of a sidekick who just can't wait to get to torturing suspects.  There's also some slight nudity and some eye violence depending on which cut you're viewing.  I'm pretty sure the old VHS copy I watched of this had a few bits missing so look for a nice widescreen print with the original WITCHFINDER GENERAL title if you wanna see the full picture of what was responsible for a lot of those great witchy/satany epics from the 70's.  The original title of WITCHFINDER GENERAL is way cooler and the only reason AIP changed the name here in America was to try and lump this in with the Vincent Price/Roger Corman Poe flicks which this has nothing at all to do with.  The director Michael Reeves went on to OD after making this which sucks because he was a talented guy and got what is considered by many people the greatest performance ever out of Vincent Price.  Donald Pleasence was the original choice to star here which I think would have been interesting but way different.

Responsible for this loner folk classic!: and for lovers of something a bit heavier!:

TALES OF TERROR (1962)

 The main draw here, of course, is seeing Vincent Price in three tales based on Edgar Allen Poe short stories acting up a storm as always.
 Directed by Roger Corman(his 4th Poe adaptation) the stories themselves don't always make much sense and stuff seems to happen very willy-nilly, especially in the first and last parts, but it's great seeing Price in pretty much anything. You also get Basil Rathbone and Peter Lorre in there with Lorre even managing to outdo Price in the second chapter as a drunk who gets revenge on his cheating wife and that whole segment(THE BLACK CAT) is definitely the highlight for me since you get two horror icons together playing off each other. Worth checking out even if just for that part.

 

HOUSE OF WAX (1953)

 Vincent Price plays the sort of role that he would become famous for in what is one of the most gimmicky horror flicks of the 50's. The fact that this was shot in 3-D is shoved in your face constantly(which woulda seemed way cooler if I was watching it in 3-D). There's stuff flying at your face, everything from battle mace's to rubber-balls, and seemingly a commercial for the 3-D process right in the middle of the movie as someone starts talking to the audience telling them to watch out for his bouncy balls and whatnot.  I do recall them showing this along with CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON on TV a lot back when they would do those 3-D TV specials back when I was a kid.  I was always more of a fan of the Creature since he was a way cooler monster and I guess I still feel the same way.  I also feel like this movie is specifically made to be viewed in a theater and watching it in any other way loses a great deal.  There was even an intermission in the DVD version that I viewed recently.
 So check this out if you get the chance to see it the way God intended or if you're just a big Vincent Price fan.  It's also got Mr. Charles Bronson in one of his earliest roles as a mute henchman  named Igor so that's something to see right there.
 This was remade in 2005 but all I remember from that one was that Paris Hilton gets killed in a pretty brutal way and there was an actual house made entirely of wax.  Like the screenwriters said "hey man let's take the title literally and make a house of wax!"- fucking idiots!  Also technically this 50's version is a remake of a 1930's flick called THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM which had Fay Wray in it.  I've never seen that one but I'm sure it's better than that new shit.

The most ballyhoo-packed trailer ever!:

THE TINGLER (1959)

Vincent Price can make me a believer in even the most ridiculous premise. In this movie, directed by the great William Castle, it's a pretty ridiculous story about a monster that lives in everyones spine. This monster, which looks like a big nasty worm, lives on fear and is defeated by screams, or something like that. The cool thing about this, as with almost every Castle production, is that they used a special gimmick when it was originally shown. This one had "Percepto" which was a buzzer under your seat that would give your ass a jolt when the monster appeared onscreen. Caught this a few years back at a revival showing and yes I got my ass buzzed. Good times plus where else can you watch Vincent Price trip out on acid?

William Castle doing his Hitchcock-shtick!: