Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Brilliant and touching

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Frank Maxwell and Lon Chaney Jr. star in Roger Corman's 1963 horror film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." This begins in 1765 in New England town, Arkham where we meet wealthy man, Joseph Curwen (Price) who gets confronted by the townsfolk for being a warlock. He places a curse on the people and town before they burn him alive. 110 years later, we meet Curwen's great grandson, Charles Dexter Ward (Also played by Price) and his wife, Ann (Paget) who come to Arkham where they inherit Curwen's palace which makes some of the townsfolk suspicious. Soon, Charles' behavior changes and Ann is concerned. She seeks help from doctor, Marinus Willet (Maxwell) and they learn that Charles may be possessed by Curwen's spirit. Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man) plays Simon Orne, the caretaker of the Curwen palace. Price was great in this usual and Chaney Jr. was also great and creepy. I recommend this good horror flick.

Perhaps the most Underrated of Director Roger Corman's 1960's Films with Vincent Price. This is indeed the darkest and for sure a scary haunting. It has an opening Scene that almost steals the Movie before it starts the Flash-Forward.This is a great looking Movie, as are all the Floyd Crosby lensed Corman Horrors, but it is the relentless and brutal downbeat tone of the Movie that resides in the Subconscious like Poe and Lovecraft. It is a brooding affair and never ventures into Camp or Corniness as these things might.It is Supernatural Horror as good as Fifties and Early Sixties could be with its Moonlit Gothic Sets and fog drenched atmosphere. Along with Price there is the added allure of the beautiful Debra Paget's Swan Song and an Excellent and Eerie Musical Score. It does seem, at times, a bit rushed and compacted, but what is here is a grabber and all involved can be proud of this neglected entry in the Corman/Poe Pantheon.

Somehow I have managed to never having seen this film before and actually found it quite difficult to get hold of a copy in the UK. In the end I sourced it in the Czech Republic and it came very quickly, complete with Christmas gift packing and helpful English translation of the set up screens to enable the removal of the Czech subtitles. That was all good fun but as soon as the film started I had feelings of deja vu as lightening crashed across the screen, dry ice lingered in set built forests and the locals were out with their burning torches. A bit unfair, because much of this is very well done and such things have, of course, only become clichés through over use but this is 1963 not 1933. The performances could have been improved upon, I felt, for whilst Vincent Price is sensational in the lead and Lon Chaney Jr, fine as a side kick, Frank Maxwell makes for a very dull doctor and Debra Paget is most uninspired. Hammer would have brought a little more out of her, I'm sure. If only there had been a single scene as good as the poster.

Among the lavish literary adaptations that Roger Corman made during the 1960s, "The Haunted Palace" stands out, mainly for not being a Poe adaptation, but rather a film version of the Lovecraft tale "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (with some utterances of lines, and the title, taken from the Poe poem). Corman was looking for a change of pace, and decided that the writing styles of the two authors were similar enough. Here the filmmaker does typically solid work, utilizing regular collaborators Daniel Haller (production design) and Floyd Crosby (cinematography) and giving the film that wonderful old school atmosphere. Overall "The Haunted Palace" is not as good as the best in the Corman-Poe cycle, but it's still consistently enjoyable.Vincent Price again is in fine form, as he delineates two characters: one a cheery man, Charles Dexter Ward, who comes to the small New England town of Arkham to claim family property, and the other his great-great-grandfather Joseph Curwen, an evil warlock burned alive by an angry group of villagers worthy of a Universal horror flick. Soon Curwen (who, quite naturally, placed a curse on the town and the townspeople who targeted him) is exerting a malevolent influence over his descendant, while Charles's scared wife Ann Ward (gorgeous Debra Paget ("Tales of Terror"), in her final feature film) teams with a well-meaning doctor, Marinus Willet (Frank Maxwell) to try to save her husbands' soul.The film is impressive to look at; Corman had Crosby shoot this film darker than the Poe adaptations, feeling that style suited Lovecrafts' writing better. Ronald Steins' music is wonderful and among his best scores. There are some great horror moments and a monster or two, which we fortunately never get too good a look at. There's also a couple of mutated humans (with decent makeup effects by Ted Coodley) to add to the mix. The cast is certainly a joy. Also to be seen are Lon Chaney Jr. ("The Wolf Man") and Milton Parsons ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty") as Curwens' villainous associates, Leo Gordon ("The Intruder"), beloved Old Hollywood character actor Elisha Cook Jr., John Dierkes ("Premature Burial"), Harry Ellerbe ("House of Usher"), Barboura Morris ("A Bucket of Blood"), and Bruno VeSota ("Attack of the Giant Leeches").With this much going for it, "The Haunted Palace" is never less than entertaining.Lovecrafts' story would be adapted more faithfully as "The Resurrected" in 1992.Seven out of 10.