While we've finished with the cinematic works of Robert E. Howard, I felt we could switch the focus to one of Howard's closest friends, namely H.P. (Howard Phillip) Lovecraft. Lovecraft's stories were of a different thread than Howard's works. Lovecraft's mythos told of dark inhuman and utterly alien things that mankind could never hope to truly defeat.
It seems that making a film based on his works would be difficult if not outright impossible. Filming something that couldn't be imagined by the human mind is a tall order even for the most talented director. So, for Lovecraft's first foray into motion pictures, Roger Corman presented it as a story based on Edgar Allan Poe, and the script was based on one of Lovecraft's stories that dealt with something a bit easier to imagine, namely "the Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward"; even with the tweaks to the original script it ties it more into Lovecraft's better known Cthulhu Mythos.
In 1765, the New England village of Arkham is besieged by a warlock Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price). Local woman from the village have been seen entering Curwen's estate and leaving worse for wear. A mob of angry torch wielding villagers, lead by the most prominent citizens, surround the house. When the latest girl leaves, seemingly of her own free will and recalling nothing of what happened to her, the good people of Arkham decide to burn Curwen to death anyway. As he dies, Curwen places a curse on the people and village, and swears to return...
Exactly one hundred and ten years later, Charles Dexter Ward (Price again) and his wife Ann (Debra Paget) arrive in town. It seems Charles has inherited the Curwen house. He also looks exactly like Curwen. Both features don't endear him to the locals. In fact, the only Arkham resident who doesn't give them the evil eye is Dr. Willet (Frank Maxwell), who gives them directions.
The Curwen house is a palace in every sense of the word, and if ever a place appeared to be a haunted, it would be. It also has resident creepy guy Simon Orne (Lon Chaney, Jr.) already living in it. During their stay, Charles becomes different. He spends more and more time staring at a portrait of Curwen and finally starts suffering blackouts, during which time he seems colder and crueler.
One night, after Charles recovers from another spell, he and Ann walk through the fog enshrouded streets of Arkham. The encounter a small child being led around by her mother. The reason is the girl isn't simply blind, rather the girl has no eyes at all. They are soon surrounded by a motley gang of residents, all of whom are missing some key feature like eyes and limbs. Before things can go any further, the ringing of the church bell drives them away. Hurrying to Dr. Willet's home, the doctor explains that Arkham has suffered higher than normal rate of birth defects, and has since Curwen's death 110 years before. He also explains that Curwen, along with two other unknown parties, were believed to have been involved in the worship of strange deities. Elder gods, who once ruled the world until their banishment. Curwen, it was thought, was trying to breed a new race in an attempt to usher their return. Nonsense and superstition, or is it?
Yes, the blackouts are actually Curwen taking over Charles's body and Simon is one of his circle. When Jabez Hutchinson (Milton Parsons); another member of Curwen's circle, comes back, Curwen decides it is time to put his plans back in motion. Can Ann save her husband or will she become victim to whatever foul horror lives in the Haunted Palace?
Slower paced than most Corman films, although Price is a delight as both Curwen and Charles. The palace is a thing to behold, appearing to be both massive and decrepit with age. The interior shots are wonderfully atmospheric, filled with menace and macabre. The Poe connection is a loose one, but hearing Price recite Poe makes it worthwhile.
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