two steps down from the sophistication of “The Black Cat” or the later Matheson-scripted THE COMEDY OF TERRORS, but its broader, more obvious quali- ties made it a huge popular hit. Indeed, the film becomes more entertaining in direct proportion to the size of its audience. The cast—which includes an early young male lead turn by Jack Nicholson, who had yet to master comedy and was probably miscast, and a luscious Hazel Court being exquis- itely comedic as Lenore—carry the film with a tsu- nami of charisma, and Daniel Haller’s set design (always a major component of the series’ appeal) reaches a new plateau of grandiosity. Stateside, THE RAVEN is found on Blu-ray only
as part of THE VINCENT PRICE COLLECTION II. To date, Arrow Films has made it available only as part of SIX GOTHIC TALES. In the case of this film, the Scream Factory presentation is somewhat disappointing, given not only to a russet color bias but to overly pale, realistic color that doesn’t quite support one’s memories of seeing the film theatri- cally. Arrow’s presentation has the edge here. The two releases share most of their supporting content in common, including “Richard Matheson: Story- teller—THE RAVEN” (6m 37s), which finds the au- thor remembering hammering out 30 pages of the script while in a motel on vacation, and praising the horror stars for their expertise with comedy. Also shared by the two releases: “Corman’s Comedy of Poe” (8m 11s), an interview with the director, who covers the usual familiar ground; a promotional record of interviews produced at the time of the film’s release (5m 41s); a theatrical trailer (2m 26s), and a robust stills and poster gallery (5m 43s). Exclusive to the Scream Factory release (though not mentioned on its packaging!) is a very fine au- dio commentary by Steve Haberman. In addition to biographical notes for the principals, and providing a eureka link between Poe’s poem and Charles Dickens’ now-neglected novel BARNABY RUDGE, he delves into comedic theory (with a fascinating aside comparing the film’s “amicazation” of Poe to that of post-war Japanese influence on American décor and design) and also Freudian interpretations of certain scenics, extending to Price’s somewhat childlike adult male character. Even if his observations seem to reach a bit at times (is that telescope necessarily “phallic”?), his discussion is always thought-pro- voking and well-supported by aspects he doesn’t note, such as the glass of warm milk Erasmus likes as a nightcap, which seems psychologically linked to his longing for the lost (and bosomy) Lenore. The Price- hosted wraparounds produced for Iowa Public Television’s showing of THE RAVEN finds Price speak- ing with great pride and nostalgia for his co-stars.
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Showing both imagination and whimsy in their supplementary selections, Arrow Video further ap- pends the film with Harun Farocki’s pensive docu- mentary THE TWO FACES OF PETER LORRE (1984, 61m 21s), subtitled in English for the first time, and also “The Trick” (2m 27s), Rob Green’s film short about rival magicians.
THE HAUNTED PALACE 1963, Scream Factory, 87m 9s Arrow Video, 87m 8s
One of the most delicious buried pleasures of the SIX GOTHIC TALES set can be found as one scans the BBFC ratings on the back of each individual disc case. USHER: “12—Contains infrequent moderate horror.” PIT: “12—Contains moderate horror and vio- lence.” TALES OF TERROR: “15—Contains moder- ate horror and violence.” (Yet apparently somewhat less moderate than in PIT.) THE RAVEN: “PG—Con- tains infrequent moderate violence and mild horror.” TOMB OF LIGEIA: “12—Contains moderate horror.” But the back of THE HAUNTED PALACE carries a
bracing warning: “15—Contains strong horror.” Indeed. Though it takes its title from another of Poe’s poems, THE HAUNTED PALACE—scripted by Charles Beaumont (TWILIGHT ZONE, THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAO)—is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s novella THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD, a fact that may be hinted at by the unusual misspell-
ing of Poe’s name above the title. In this story, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price and Debra Paget) arrive in the New England seaside vil- lage of Arkham, where they have inherited an an- cestral castle reportedly transported to America stone by stone from Europe. The villagers, which include some misshapen individuals, look upon Charles with a dread that reaches fruition when he falls under the spell of a portrait of his great grand- father, the warlock Joseph Kerwin. Truthfully as indebted to Mario Bava’s BLACK SUNDAY as to Lovecraft, with its dual role for Price, who opens the film as Kerwin, placing his curse upon the villagers and their descendants—it’s one of the actor’s most underrated performances and one that looks forward to his more acclaimed work in WITCHFINDER GENERAL. Corman’s direction here is unusually grave and stately, the film is (for a change) thoroughly well-cast (Leo Gordon, Elisha Cook, Frank Maxwell, Cathie Merchant and the only
Poe series appearance by Lon Chaney), the sets are enormously impressive (and enormous!), and
the score by Ronald Stein looms ogreishly over the viewer from beginning to end, making this arguably the first color horror film driven by its own musical
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