Director: Roger Corman
Year: 1963
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Arriving in town to inherit a family-owned castle, a man and his wife find the local villagers warning them away in fear of a curse about an ancestor crucified and burned for being a witch, and they soon fear it has returned and set out to stop him from reliving his actions.
Review:
This is one of Price's more underrated efforts. One of the most impressive elements here is that this one really joins the others in the series by making the mood in here very apparent from the outset. The opening scene is extremely moody, with the large amounts of fog, the dark night, and the angry mob making for great Gothic undertones while parlaying the perfect set-up used for the story of witchcraft and secret curses, displaying the right action for the sequence as well. That is also stated elsewhere, as the de-rigeur castle is one of the better ones from the time period that looks suitably spectacular with the long hallways leading off into the distance, the large elaborate and brightly-detailed paintings, cobweb filled rooms, candle-lit rooms and large, open Gothic chamber-spaces also adding to it's charm and are all mood- inducing ways of getting the best out of the film, and it works marvelously.
Likewise, with the cliff-top locale and the constant, raging thunderstorm blaring away in the background, it makes for quite an impressive effort. This is aided nicely by the idea of the curse coming back to the present-day inhabitants, which makes for a great overall viewing experience and carries on the usual antics found in these types of Gothic efforts. It feels quite modern because of this, and it's hard to believe that it came from the early 60s by going far more into those traditional tropes featured here and even making this quite violent for its time, mixing between the supernatural antics of his curse and the mutants of the original story. The remains of the curse that was left is pretty gruesome to watch, and they have some impressive make-up work as well as seeing several people lit on fire, another is viciously killed, and a corpse is seen in all its burnt glory, which is all quite enjoyable.
The ending is pretty exciting, from the secret experiments down in the basement with his resurrection spells leading into the by-now- usual ending of a burning down castle that makes for some nice action sequences as the flames get higher and higher with the fun of the approaching crowd and the chaotic action leading to a fine finale. Finally, getting together Price and Chaney is a great coup and allows for two greats of the genre opportunities for scenery-chewing performances, and both do commendable jobs. There's only one real factor to this one that holds it back, which is the somewhat stumbling pace. It moves a little slow compared to most modern horror films, as after the promising set-up, the film slows a bit down in the middle section, with its gradual descent into possession following their exploration of the castle really taking up a bit too much time than normal. This is the only real complaint about this one.
Overview: *****/5
An underrated Price/Poe edition that's one of the best in the series, there's far more to like with this one than expected, and it keeps it one of the more engaging efforts over one minor detrimental issue. Those who appreciate this era of genre fare, are curious about it, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here, while most others might want to exercise caution.
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