The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London

The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London
by Roger Corman

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Movie Reviews of The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London

Movie Review: This one almost slipped under the radar.
Summary: 5 Stars

In the movie, Ward inherits the palace where his nefarious warlock ancestor, Curwen, practiced bizarre rites and experimentations designed to help the Old Ones regain their earthly dominion. Unlike the Curwen from the story, who mainly specialized in summonings and necromantic resurrections, the movie Curwen was a warlock trying to create a hybrid race between mankind and the Old Ones that would give Cthulhu and the troops their doorway back to earth. His plans were cut short, however, when the townspeople set upon him and burned him alive. Curwen placed his curse on the whole town, which came both in the form of the longterm effects of his experiments and in the form of Curwen himself, when he returned from the grave. In the movie, Curwen is a spirit that possesses Ward, gaining physical control and falling in with his two warlock cohorts to begin his experiments again. Initially, Curwen is sidetracked by the business of revenging himself on the townspeople and resurrecting his former mistress. However, unlike the Ward in the story, this Ward is resistant to Curwen, strong-willed and fueled by love for his super-hot babe of a wife.

Overall, I thought the movie looked pretty sleek, somber but hard-hitting when it needs to be, with elaborate sets, ghoulishly-perfect lighting, and that cool music, much more dignified and deserving than most of the Lovecraft stuff that's floating around out there. It tends to be a little bit light on the supernatural side, though; the ghost aspect doesn't get quite enough play, and the freakish results of the experimentations could have been better. Still, Curwen did have some kind of aquatic monstrosity in the lower depths of the palace, and even though that particular phase of the movie just sort of fizzled out, I liked to think that the creature was something cool like a servitor to the Old Ones, maybe a Deep One or something like that. Either way, even if you're not a Lovecraft fan, this movie would appeal to any true horror fan, I think, although in my case it did take the Lovecraft aspect to really draw me in. Two BIG thumbs up!

Tower of London was, for me, just an extra movie thrown into the deal. It was okay I guess, and it did have a few hot chicks, but it's nothing I would have endeavored to track down for its own merit. It's one of those ponderous sort of movies that comes off more like a play, a little bit convoluted, inclined more towards wardrobe than anything else. But, I like just about anything with Vincent Price, so it wasn't a difficult movie to watch. The real prize is The Haunted Palace, which tought me to stay on my toes when it comes to old movies. I think Lovecraft would have been pleased.

Summary of The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London