Twice-told Tales
by Sidney Salkow
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Beverly Garland, Brett Halsey, Richard Denning, Sebastian Cabot, Vincent PriceDirector: Sidney Salkow
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Twice-told Tales
Movie Review: Despite the 2-star rating, Twice Told Tales is a decent watch
Summary: 2 Stars
Twice Told Tales was released in 1963 during an era in which the Anthology was quite popular and would remain that way until about the early 70s when they were being produced few and far between. Twice Told Tales stars horror legend Vincent Price and all 3 stories are written by Robert E. Kent based off the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and all 3 segments are directed by Sidney Salkow who also worked with Price on The Last Man on Earth.
The biggest complaint when it comes to Anthology's is a lot of the times people feel the stories needed to be longer, but in the case of Twice Told Tales I felt the opposite, with 3 stories in 120-minutes they seemed to drag on a bit longer than they needed to be. Despite my rating I did enjoy Twice Told Tales, but I do feel as if the running time on each story could have been cut down a bit and while it wouldn't make this a classic of the genre it would make it more enjoyable.
The first story was Heidegger's Experiment and in my opinion was the best of the three. This story is about a potion that can restore youth and not only preserve a body in perfect condition, but can also bring them back to life. This one is mostly filled with talk, but it's quite interesting and the potion leads to secrets, betrayal and murder. I quite enjoyed this story a lot, but in all honestly it could have been cut down by a few minutes to help the pacing. But when all is said and done this was highly enjoyable.
The 2nd story was Rappaccini's Daughter; Price plays Rappaccini and he infects his daughter with a poison, so she can never leave the garden and anything she touches dies. A young Brett Halsey also stars. Like the first story, this one tends to drag in some areas and while editing would have helped the pacing unlike the first story it wouldn't help that much. Rappaccini's Daughter is a good story, but also kind of boring at times. This one has Romeo and Juliet type ending and again is good, but slightly boring and a little on the slow side at times.
The last story is The House of Seven Gables and was probably the most interesting of the three, but doesn't quite work; it's slightly slow paced and at times just not that interesting where as other times it is very interesting. This one though is growing on me after another viewing or so, I would possibly rate this higher.
Overall Twice Told Tales is a fun Anthology, but has some pacing problems I would recommend this to those who like Anthology's and or Vincent Price. It's a decent watch, but doesn't hold up as well on repeated viewings in my opinion. The biggest problem really is the pacing. Like I said most complaints with Anthology's is the stories need more time where as in this one, they might have been better off with a lesser running time; Still worth checking out at least once.
Summary of Twice-told Tales
After the horror-triptych format proved a box-office winner in Tales of Terror, Twice Told Tales repeated the idea. this time not with Edgar Allan Poe stories, but the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Good idea, as Hawthorne delivered some eerie stories in his time, but the execution here is less than scintillating. The first story, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," is the most entertaining of the bunch, in part because Vincent Price (the star of all three stories, natch) and Sebastian Cabot appear to be enjoying the premise: two old friends discover a Fountain of Youth elixir. This will come in handy in erasing their own wrinkles and gray hair, as well as reviving the corpse of Cabot's long-dead bride. but be careful what you wish for. The second is "Rappaccini's Daughter," with Price as an overly protective father with a novel way to keep his daughter from the sins of the flesh. It is fatally dull, and the final segment, a severe condensation of Hawthorne's novel "The House of the Seven Gables," is even more annoying, although at least it moves along a bit. The story does offer foxy scream queen Beverly Garland in her prime. Journeyman director Sidney Salkow is responsible for the deadly pace, which leaves only Vincent Price as the reason to watch the proceedings. He's just dandy, but the Roger Corman films of the same era are the ones to see. --Robert HortonHorror DVD Video
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