"The Haunted Palace" (1963) d/ Roger Corman

This sixties slice of gothic garishness masquerades as an adaption of E.A. Poe in name only, when in reality, it's a loose adaption of Howard Phillips' own The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, as realized for the silver screen by such genre heavyweights as Lon Chaney, Jr. and the inimitable Vincent Price in the title role, with Debra Paget, who you'll recall from The Ten Commandments or Love Me Tender opposite Elvis, as his faithful spouse. My current copy is an MGM dvd double bill with another Price favorite, 1962's Tower of London, for those collectors out there that might give a damn about such things. Anyway...Onward!


 Mrs. Ward (Debra Paget) is surely a dime piece of early sixties arm-cake, dads.
100 years after being burned alive for sordid warlockery and young maiden-based Necronomicon rites by the inhabitants of Arkham, placing a wicked curse of rotten luck upon them for this thing they're now guilty of, Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) is given a living vessel of reincarnation in his own great grandson, Charles Dexter Ward (Price), who's arrived in town with his beautiful young wife, Ann (Debra Paget), to assess the value of his grandfather's estate, which he's recently inherited. He's instantly recognized as a descendant of the male witch by a descendant of one of the men who condemned him to death, Edgar Weeden (Leo Gordon), and treated with much prejudice and scrutiny on account of this, by the townsfolk who've seemingly sired a weird sub-race of mutants that they lock away like wild animals. Then there's Simon (Lon Chaney Jr), a servant that suddenly turns up out of the darkness at the estate, to generally assist the warlock's spirit and creep everybody out.


"I shouldn't have displayed my 'Trump 2016' badge in front of this unreasonable gaggle of social justice warriors..."
Naturally, Ward is hypnotized by a portrait of his ancestor, which leads to spiritual possession, further Necronomicon spells in the estate's secret witchcraft chamber, handily equipped with it's own multi-armed and budget-shabby demi-god at the bottom of a well, and Ten Little Indians-style retribution upon those specifically responsible for his death over a hundred years earlier. For Ann, it's no picnic either, as she's projecting her husband's sudden transformation into an abusive heel, into attention from the town doctor, Willet (Frank Maxwell) who tries to help her free her husband from the clutches of the vengeful ghost, before he can resurrect his lost love from her current status of long dead, and rotting in a coffin. If all of that doesn't interest you, perhaps there'll be a twist ending of sorts to win you over in the final reel. Perhaps...


I had a rubber Kresge's bought one just like this that Big Jim and G.I. Joe had to combine resources to defeat in the killing fields of my backyard.
You'll recognize Elisha Cook, Jr. from his memorable roles in genre-stuffs like Blacula (1972), Dead of Night (1977), Salem's Lot (1979), and Messiah of Evil (1973). Frank Maxwell showed up in Corman's own The Intruder (1962) as well as the Bronson vehicle, Mr Majestyk (1974). Arguably the last decent thing Lon Chaney Jr was ever to appear in, I'd wager. The participation of Price alone, with his masterfully theatrical take on duality of character, complete with the full range of exaggerated facial expressions we came to recognize and love to watch, elevates this one into intermediate levels of watchability, and would've been a hoot to see at the drive-in of the period, I'd imagine. Two Wop respectability here, one of the better Corman films of the era. Snag a copy.


"Not good enough for Instagram, not even good enough for a FaceBook selfie, as it were, my dear..."

"Scream and Scream Again" (1970) d/ Gordon Hessler

Tigon Studios really left the crazy cage wide open on this one, a minor masterpiece of espionage and mystery, well seasoned with elements of  horror and sci-fi, purveyed upon the screen by an all-star genre cast of casts, the first time the likes of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and no less than Vincent Price himself all share the marquee, though I warn you up front: the elder statesmen of horror never appear in the same scene all together. Still, that's a small complaint to register against such a dizzy nuthouse of a cult classic as this one. Veteran genre director Gordon Hessler, who'd done movies like The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee(1970) for A.I.P., builds a rambling, schizophrenic narrative off the foundation of a sci-fi novel by Peter Saxon, but pulls it all together nicely for a wild finish if you can manage to stay on board the whole time.


"Sometimes I'm not very nice at all... a dreadful chap to make your acquaintance, really."
Just as London's getting it's swing on, the groovy partying is disrupted by a series of modern-day vampiric slayings, only this Dracula's more on the Thin White Duke side, with flash clothes and motor, C.T.F.O.ing go-go birds and draining their blood just as they're thinking they've landed themselves a real keeper. Meanwhile, a poor heart-afflicted bloke gets poorer by the minute, waking up in hospital significantly less of a man than he was the last time he checked. Also, there's a cyber-bully uber-fascist (Marshall Jones) who's been rising through the regime's runic ranks via a neat little trick he learned from Sifu Spock: the old Vulcan nerve pinch-to-the-shoulder, Achilles heel to both intergalactic dictators and Peter "One Scene" Cushing, alike.


" ...I think I'll just skip this round of 'If You're Happy and You Know It', if it's all the same."
When the Old Bill finally gets the bead on the young psycho (Michael Gothard) after a well-lengthy chase sequence, he pulls his own hand off while handcuffed to a car bumper, proceeds to ascend a real nose-bleed of a vertical climb, only to get pegged in the dome with a rock by one of the unarmed constables below, causing him to tumble awkwardly back down to justice. Was that trip worth it, young man? The trail leads to a private clinic that specializes in organ replacements and transplants, as run by Dr. Browning (Price), who's been secretly building a super race of cyber-men for that shadowy militaristic organization we saw earlier, and he's paid a visit by the synthetic uber-fascist, which leads to an enjoyably hammy nerve pinch-off between the two, culminating in the good doctor dunking the hit man in his nifty acid bath like a two hundred pound glazed kruller in coffee. Finally, Fremont (Christopher Lee) makes the scene, revealing himself as the real head honcho in the insane precedings, and wills Browning to dip himself into his own acid tub, which he does, emotionlessly.


"These swollen tonsils should be removed right away!"
You'll remember Gothard from Russell's The Devils the same year, and Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce(1984), while Yutte Stensgaard later made herself famous as Carmilla/Mircalla in the Hammer production of Lust For a Vampire (1971), the sequel to it's own Vampire Lovers(1970). Welsh pop group Amen Corner also appear in one of the nightclub scenes. Originally, the final reveal was to be aliens behind the sinister plot, just as in the novel, "The Disoriented Man", but the film's producers chose to roll with unexplained and mysterious, instead, which worked out just fine, I think. On the scale, Scream earns a well-deserved three Wops, and stands as an enjoyably ludicrous ride that comes with my recommendation. See it!


Say, what's that your ham is soaking in...

"Cry of the Banshee" (1970) d/Gordon Hessler

Banish any visions of crimson-locked fairy women chasing hysterical celt lasses through the Scottish highlands from your consciousness before sitting down to watch tonight's review, as you're not gonna find such things in it. In fact, if you're looking for three dimensional characters, or even some semblance of originality from the screenplay, you may as well forget that, too. What you will encounter here is a generous helping of immortal genre-god Vincent Price, portraying as a barbaric magistrate/witchfinder as you're likely to find in one of these period pictures (certainly one of his, anyway), lustily pawing at wenches with the unmistakable pomp and pretense that old school horror fans know well and love even more. On top of that, factor in loads of  tasty eye candy of the day, not excluding Swedish Gemini, Essy Persson and A.I.P. genre reg, Hillary Heath of 'Oblong Box' and 'Witchfinder General' fame, none of which seem too concerned with being topless in a movie that was rated GP (all ages permitted!).


"...Its! Vincent Python's Circus of Religious Persecution-on-on."
Lord Whitman (Price) graciously invites a pair of dirt merchants into the hall where an ostentatious feast is being held in his honor, to ridicule their impoverished state as Elizabethan magistrates often did in those days, but more so, to accuse of witchcraft and condemn to death, as was also wildly popular among the aristocratic class during that time period. Wenches get ogled, fondled, stripped, accused, publicly humiliated, and tortured according to schedule, with Whitman's eldest son (who blackmails his own step-mother for sex! Hot DAMN, this family is effed up.) and his two foul henchmen, Burke and Bully Boy (Michael Elphick, Andrew McCulloch), all doing their sadistic part to keep the villagers nicely gripped by constant terror. That is, until the magistrate's zeal leads him to an actual coven of real witches flitting around in the forest nearby, who's leader, Oona (Elizabeth Bergner), feels instantly compelled to bring a curse down upon the lascivious land baron and his entire house when she discovers that he's caused many of her followers to eat axe chop-death while netted like so many animals.


"I want my tree pahdeydah's in advance, boyyo..."
The witch's curse takes the form of a sidhe, a magical shape-shifting/fake looking beast called upon to exact bloody off-camera revenge upon Whitman and his kin... or in this case,his faithful manservant, Roderick (Patrick Mower), who's got a way with animals and people (especially Whitman's daughter, Maureen) alike that deeply concerns Father Tom, who's only just returned home with the magistrate's youngest son, Harry.When family members start dropping like the Chicago Bears playoff hopes in November, Harry and the priest extirpate Oona from existence, while Maureen speeds a transformed Roderick to his maker via blunderbuss(!). Relieved to have lifted the curse from his family once and for all, Whitman packs up his remaining son and daughter into a coach for greener future pastures, but when he brazenly stops at Roderick's grave for a final hammy gloat, he finds the coffin empty, and once inside the coach, he discovers that Harry, Maureen, and Bully Boy have all been dispatched by Roderick, who drives off in the midst of the sounds of the lord's feeble screams...


Stop, collaborate, and listen. Price tortures witchy bitches like the Inquisition...
After collecting this third collaborative credit with director Hessler (Oblong Box and Scream and Scream Again would precede), Price did some tv work on shows like Love, American Style, Mod Squad, and Hilarious House on Frankenstein in the year leading up to his appearance in the Fuest cult classic Abominable Dr. Phibes(1971).You might recognize Michael Elphick from his later roles in movies like Quadrophenia (1979) and The Elephant Man (1980). You might also recognize the clever title sequence as one of Terry (Monty Python, Time Bandits, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, et al) Gilliam's.Not nearly as good as other similar Price vehicles, like 'Conqueror Worm', but still packed with enough classic Pricery, groovy topless witch-wenches, and hokey period sadism/misogyny to please the average genre nut. Despite some faults, it still merits a healthy three wop score in the end. Check it out!


Her hair turned white while trying to memorize all the words to Edgar Winter's Frankenstein...

"The Tingler"(1959)d/William Castle

Though we're a month late for official Vincentennial celebrations(you never met me in St Louie, ya mamaluccos), covering campy cult classics starring the late genre king is never untimely, especially when they're produced and directed by the legendary showman William Castle, who dusted off one of his greatest theatrical gimmicks for the film, in "Percepto!", where he had certain seats in larger theaters wired up with small buzzers from leftover WW2 surplus that vibrated upon cue from the projectionist when the titular Tingler breaks loose in the film.In some instances, Castle even hired planted moviegoers who'd faint and scream, and even faux nurses and ambulances to gurney off the phony vertiginous victims.The uncredited actor portraying the projectionist was Dal McKennon, the voice of familiar green claymation icon, Gumby.The movie, released as a 40th Anniversary Special Edition dvd in 1999, also boasts of an ahead-of-it's-time color sequence, a wonderfully rotten rubber spinal loberstail/centipede combo creature, and Vincent Price trippin' face on acid.Really, how fucking great is that?

Trippin' balls, Dr. Chapin(Vincent Price) suddenly gets The Strawberry Alarm Clock.
After a historic three screaming disembodied head prologue by Castle himself, we're introduced to Dr. Warren Chapin(Vincent Price), on hand to perform the autopsy for a state execution by electric chair; a sideline for pathological studies into the very nature of fear itself.While cracking open the ex-convict up like a gruesome pistacchio in front of the man's brother-in-law, Ollie(Philip Coolidge), Chapin discovers vertebrae that have been pulverized by tremendous pressure, which the good doctor surmises must have originated in the power of fear.Makes sense.After driving him home to the movie theater he helps his deaf mute wife run, the doctor accidentally cuts himself which sends Martha(Judith Evelyn), unable to scream and release her expression of hemophobia, into a psychosomatic coma.He revives the theater's owner/moneyhandler, who immediately rushes to the safe nearby, ensuring her money is still all there.Oh, it's one of those marriages.Suffering a toxic union of his own, Chapin's wife Isabel(Patricia Cutts) is a philandering floozie who not only conspires against her sister Lucy(Pamela Lincoln) and her main squeeze David(Darryl Hickman), who works as Warren's lab assistant, but also poisoned her pops for her legacy.After peeping the bold bitch's latest indiscretion tangling tongues with her in the street, Chapin puts a hot lead one in Isabel's labonza, afterwards throwing her on an x-ray slab and exposing a few plates.He then revives her, revealing that he merely plugged her with blanks as part of his latest research experiment.The frazzled harlot remarks that when she turns the tables on her husband, it won't be an experiment.Whoa.The next day, Warren shows David the photographic fruit of his labors, evidence of a creepy-crawlie that exists in all human spinal columns, absorbing fear and growing along the vertebrae, only shrinking back to its original microscopic size when the feeling subsides.Chapin proudly remarks that he's dubbed the beastie, "Tingler"(how scientific!).

"Forty bucks worth of hardshell Maine lobstertail!Papa's chowin' like an Ottoman suzerain tonight!"
To further research his findings, Chapin jabs himself with 100 micrograms of a new experimental drug, lysergic acid diethylimide 25(sigh....cue the stomach butterflies of love), cartoonishly freaks out on a bad trip, screams like a girl, and passes the fuck out.Later he gives Ollie a script for sleepers for his troubled mate, who comes off her dose only to see self-opening and closing windows and doors, a disfigured fiend with obligatory shiv in her bed, and in the bathroom, a tub full of claret from which an arm rises ominously.The mute, unable to scream and pushed to the brink, collapses dead.Ever the opportunist, Warren hurriedly autopsies the bitch, extricating the fear-eater which overpowers the doctor, wrapping its pincers around his arm until his pain-laden yelp freezes the thing.Isabel, confessing she's been unworthy, suggests a celebratory drink to his astounding find, that contains a mickey her husband ironically drinks after switching glasses with her as a safeguard against just that.She unleashes the "Tingler" on his throat, but Lucy arrives screamingly before the scare-sucking lobster can kill him.Warren, unwilling to further play God after discovering the creature is virtually indestructible, decides to replace the "Tingler" in Martha's corpse from whence it came...only Ollie hasn't contacted the authorities or a funeral parlor as of yet.Chapin stumbles in on him as he's packing for an abrupt get-outski,and while confronting him about his criminality, the "Tingler" breaks loose from its steel box and into a packed theater.Cue:Percepto.Warren announces to the audience:"The Tingler is loose in the theater! Scream! Scream for your lives!"as the screen goes dark amidst ad libs from the crowd.The chill-chewing crustacean latches onto the projectionist whose scream immobilizes it long enough for Chapin to subdue it and place it back into Martha's dead body before he leaves to alert the authorities.Ollie tries to make a break for it, but his attempt is met by windows and doors slamming shut on their own, and the shrouded corpse of his dead wife rising from the table and walking towards him, his face twisted into an inaudible scream...

Martha(Judith Evelyn) regrets her thrifty switch to Mr. Plasma from Mr. Bubble.
Despite the obvious stretches-in-basic biological principles this classic's plot be-nudgingly asks the viewer to accept with or without sodium chloride, this, like most of Castle's work during his period of theatrical carny exploits, is highly enjoyable fluff of the campiest order.Price, as always, purveys more emotion with his eyes alone than a dozen of Hollywood's current upper eschelon could with full bodies.Revisiting movies like this only reinforce what an irreplaceable force he was on the silver screen.As a memorial to genre icons like Castle and Price, Tingler is a must for the shelves of horror fans of any generation to enjoy, and well-deserving of the three wops it receives on the rating scale.Highly recommended.

Insert comic book scream here.You know, something like..."YEEEEEAAAAARRRGHHHH!!!"

"The Abominable Dr. Phibes"(1971)d/Robert Fuest

As Vincent Price is one of the greatest character actors of all-time, so then is this perhaps the single most persuasive testimony to his brilliance upon the silver screen, and undoubtedly the acmatic cult classic of our time.His unrivalled presence and flair,stolen too early from this world in 1993,are never more apparent than in this Fuest vehicle,irreplaceable by any, savoured by all.He delighted in the inexhaustible array of acting gifts he was blessed with, and never shrank from the task of drawing raw emotion from an audience with them.As a tribute to this immortal legend of the cinema, and specifically, his performance in this paradigm of genre art, I thought we'd depart from the ordinary review just once, and dream up something special, that were he present to read himself, just might bring that familiarly sardonic grin to his face one more time.Forward...

"Nine killed her; nine shall die! Eight have died, soon to be nine. Nine eternities in doom!"
We embark on a fable about a man, Anton Phibes(Vincent Price)
whose Victoria(Caroline Munro)perishes on an operating table
whose vehicle wrecks as he recklessly drives
silently assisted by Vulnavia(Virginia North), who's decked out in sable
A concert organist and doctor of music and theology
Gruesomely disfigured, he rebuilds his face
from the responsible doctors he'll accept no apology
with Inspector Trout(Peter Jeffery)of the Yard assigned to the case
Inspired to blood vengeance by the plagues of the Pharoah
He plots the horrific demise of all parties involved
Dunwoody's bat-shredded body chills constables' bones to the marrow
with no clues to build on, the murder's unsolved
Hargreaves is strangled by a masquerade frog
and Longstreet is siphoned of every drop of his life
While no suspects get penned into the inspector's crime log
Phibes continues to avenge the premature loss of his wife

"There are a lot of strange men practicing medicine these days."
On a countryside road,Hedgepath freezes to death
while rats in the cockpit signal Kitaj's demise
A catapulted brass unicorn steals Whitcombs last breath
as Trout starts to flesh out where the real blame lies
He teams with Vesalius(Joseph Cotten)to predict the upcoming curse
Nurse Allen's face is devoured by locusts right under their noses
For Victoria's head surgeon,Trout fears the worst
when his first born is abducted, it's clear what his biblical dose is
He has just six minutes to free his son from a shackled gurney
before acid drops from above upon his young face
while Phibes makes preparations for his final journey
to disappear from this world with nary a trace
As Vulnavia destroys, the inspector arrives
embalming fluid replaces blood from jars on the shelf
The surgeon rescues his boy, but there's no sign of Phibes
It seems he saved the last plague of dark for himself.

"The curse of hail in the bloody middle of nowhere."
For any horror aficionado or fan of cult cinema this should be regular viewing, without an iota of resistance.Price, who had memorized everyone's lines in the script, and whose post-dubbed delivery drew legendary balks of disapproval from co-star Joseph Cotton, serves up a tour de force of under and overstated campiness and black humor.The supporting cast which includes Cotten(in a role Peter Cushing was forced to decline due to health issues),an uncredited Caroline Munro,Virginia North,the ever smarmy Terry-Thomas,and Hugh Griffith,are all solid in this witty and original revenge-aganza opus.The soundtrack by Basil Kirchin is appropriately incredible.The black humor,inventive deaths,and witty dialogue are second to none.An enjoyable sequel surfaced a year later.Both films are available as a double disc,essential to every self-respecting woprophile's collection.Bravo, dear Vincent.Four big ones to an all-time favorite.Highly recommended.

"...when the acid reaches him, he will have a face like mine!"

Madhouse(1974)d/Jim Clark

Stills from the 1974 A.I.P. release were all over the place in magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland when I was a kid,making me anxiously await seeing it back then.Despite that,and the pairing of legends Vincent Price,Peter Cushing,and cult actor Robert "Count Yorga" Quarry, who all give acceptable performances,the production is bogged down by uninspired direction,unimaginative deaths(for the most part),hokey effects,and a Phibes-esque twist ending.Price's movies,for the most part,are like pizza though.When they're good(Witchfinder General,Abominable Dr. Phibes) they're phenomenal,and when they're bad(Beach Party,War Gods of the Deep),they're still pretty good.Price always delivers.That said,this is no doubt a lesser example of his rich body of cinematic work,spanning fifty-five years until his death in 1993.

Dr. Death(Price),whose presence commands a lot of ...well,death.
Paul Toombs(oh brother),a Hollywood actor known for playing horror icon "Dr.Death",is having a party,screening his older films for his guests before announcing his upcoming marriage to an up and coming blonde starlet.Producer Oliver Quayle(Quarry) mentions in passing that Toombs' wife-to-be,was a former porn actress of his.Oops.Then someone lops off her head upstairs in the bedroom.When Toombs discovers her body,he screams into the camera,giving the viewer an unsettling fish-eye view of each and every one of the fillings in his mouth.Brrrrrr.This nervous breakdown forces the actor to take a long sabbatical in the local squirrel farm.

Toombs(Price) does a heckuva lot of extreme close up screaming in this one.
Writer Herbert Flay(Cushing) scores a tv series based upon the Dr. Death character,and calls upon the frazzled Toombs to revisit his famous part,produced by the same Quayle who pissed upon his disastrous wedding plans years earlier.Only now,people are dropping like flies on the set and off,being killed by someone dressed as the diabolical doctor.But is it Toombs,driven mad by watching archival footage from The Raven,Haunted Palace,and Tales of Terror(all earlier Price films,mind you)?Or is someone trying to finish the job they started earlier when they removed his fiancee's head?Will Toombs get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings or will he deliver a hammy ten minute solo speech,burning the corpse of a young love interest,the horror set,and himself,before revealing he knew all along that it was Flay's jealousy that caused him to try and frame Toombs for the murders,leading to a final battle that kills the writer in a pit of daggers,leaving Toombs to make himself up like Flay and laugh about the whole thing over dinner with a horribly burned former fling who now plays with spiders,some of which are of the dime store rubber variety?I think we both know the answer to this one.

Flay(Cushing)and Toombs get some down their necks.
At a costume party,Cushing and Quarry both dress like vampires,ironically,since Cushing made the Van Helsing character famous in Hammer films,and Quarry played A.I.P.'s hit vampire Count Yorga years earlier.Wink,wink.There are some gaping continuity problems here as well,dead bodies that breathe heavily,Cushing's character never leaves a tv audience during the time he's supposed to be off murdering,and the aforementioned rubber dime store spiders,but still,a decent way to occupy some Wednesday night time,regardless of the many shortcomings.You never really can go wrong when sitting down to a Price film,even one so lifelessly produced such as this one.Due to the cast and their admirable go of it,I give this:

What Vincent Price movie would be complete without a lengthy delivery of grade A ham?

Alice Cooper:The Nightmare(1975)d/Jørn Winther

This television special cemented the Coop in my personal "Hall of People Who Will Remain Cool Forever"(visit it the next time you're on the Blackhorse Pike between Philly and Atlantic City) back in 1975,and it's easy to see why.Giant cyclops,black widow spiders,dancing skeletons,witches submerging the Coop into a simmering cauldron,the legendary Vincent Price tying the whole theatrical production together with his inimitable hammy interludes;it was like Christmas for a creepy little six year old kid like me.The original Alice Cooper band had called it quits the year before,and the "Welcome to my Nightmare" album was Alice's premier solo effort,backed by Bob Ezrin's Hollywood Vampires,and an ambitious concept album it was,overbrimming with bombastic orchestral pieces and incendiary guitar riffs in the same four bars.So naturally when it came together as an ABC special that fateful April 25th,1975,yours cruelly was glued to the big woodgrain floor model television in our living room.

A nocturnal vacation,unnecessary sedation...
The Coop is Steven,in the midst of a terrifying(maybe if you thought "Cats" was terrifying)nightmare.He is led through by the "spirit of the nightmare" as aptly portrayed by maestro Vincent Price,who pulls our rock hero around on a short leash(!).Alice performs "Welcome to my Nightmare" in a signature top hat,then is poked and lowered into a bubbling cauldron by a witch and her cronies as he sings "Devil's Food".He then tapdances with skeletons through "Some Folks" before slowing it down with the ballad "Only Women(Bleed)".In between songs,Price reminds him that everything he sees and experiences are creations of his own mind,and that he will be fine...so long as he reminds himself he cannot escape.

She's cool in bed...yeah,she oughta be,cos Ethel's dead.
Out of a refrigerator comes Alice's dead lover, (Cold) Ethel,who dances around a frozen stage as he sings to her.Price then shows the Coop his spider collection,becoming sidetracked when he comes to Lycosa Raptoria,the Black Widow,which Alice sings as he's harrassed by dancers in goofy black widow costumes on a giant spider web.The nightmare becomes nostalgic,as Alice rides a merry go round to the tune of "Years Ago".He's then superimposed over his own newspaper clippings and magazine articles as he sings "Department of Youth".He reprises "Years Ago",then sings "Steven" and "The Awakening",before harkening back to the Love it to Death album for the memorable track "Ballad of Dwight Frye" which he croons sinisterly in trademark strait jacket.The show ends with "Escape" and Alice being chased by a giant cyclopean monster with a spotlight eye,and Price's minions dragging Steven out of bed back into the nightmare to strains of "The Awakening".

The bedroom is only a temporary safe place from nightmares...
This Emmy winning special never gets old to me,but has yet to be released on DVD,lucky fans having had to pick up the VHS or Beta(!)tape way back in 1983.The Coop has always been a master showman,and here he shines amidst his own creepy theatrics for the tv audience.The producers had Alice change the "Man's got his woman to take his seed" line for youngsters watching at home,but Cooper has always been notorious for flubbing his own lyrics live so it doesn't really matter anyway.If you can get your hands on this classic,do so,as I bestow upon it,my highest rating:

Man has ruled this world as a stumbling,demented child-king LONG ENOUGH!

"Witchfinder General"(1968)d/Michael Reeves

You can imagine how excited I was when MGM released "Witchfinder General" through their Midnight Movies DVD series recently.I've always been a huge fan of Vincent Price,and this film is one of my all-time favorite Price vehicles.It was re-released as "The Conqueror Worm" in the United States to cash in Roger Corman's earlier string of Edgar Allan Poe movies starring Vincent Price,but has precious little to do with the author or his work,only briefly alluding to his poem.Where Price is concerned,this one is an absolute must,and a far cry from the hammy thespian we've come to know and love.There's no shrunken head apple makers here,he's a power-mad prick(roll your tongue dramatically here)who concocts all sorts of on-screen violence in the name of the good lord that had sixties audiences aghast in the aisles.

Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins,the titular Witchfinder General.
Matthew Hopkins and his bestial associate Stearne are opportunists in the civil war-torn 1645 English countryside,torturing villagers into confessing diabolical acts of witchery,and collecting a fortune from the local magistrates for services rendered.While her lover is away fighting for the roundheads,Sara(Hilary Dwyer),the niece of a parson who is looked upon with disdain by the villagers for his unorthodox ways,encounters Hopkins and Stearne,who gleefully arrest the parson on charges of witchcraft,jabbing needles into his back in search for the "devil's mark" before Sara offers her own body to the Witchfinder in exchange for the old man's life.After Stearne takes for himself what is given to Hopkins,the young girl loses favour in the Witchfinder's eyes,and he resumes torturing her uncle,executing the parson and two women before travelling on to the next town.

Stearne(Robert Russell)tries out his new human pin cushion.
Sara's lover Marshall returns to her town of Brandeston and hears of the lurid details of her time away from him,and Hopkins' dastardly deeds,vowing to kill the men of God.Meanwhile,Hopkins and Stearne become separated when a roundhead patrol tries to comandeer their horses for the war effort,with Hopkins leaving his partner to be captured.Marshall fights with Stearne, who escapes and reunites with his co-conspiritor and warns him of the young soldier's plans for revenge.While separated from Stearne,the Witchfinder works alone,devising new methods for purging the devil out of accused witches,burning them at the stake alive.

Anyone bring marshmallows?
In Lavenham,Hopkins and associate find Sara,who had been sent there earlier for her own protection,and set a trap for Marshall who learns that the witchhunters are in the town.The Witchfinder accuses the young couple of witchcraft and arrest them both,dragging them to a dungeon where the torture commences.Marshall is forced to watch Stearne drive needles into Sara's back,refusing to confess,and instead vowing to kill both men with his bare hands.Marshall's army troop converge on their place of confinement as the young soldier breaks free of his bonds and a fight ensues.Does love triumph over all?Does the Witchfinder live to carry out God's work another day?Buy the MGM dvd and find out the action-packed climax for yourself!
As I stated earlier,this predecessor to "Mark of the Devil"(1970)(another favorite of mine,of course) delivers on solid performances by the cast,unusual amounts of grue for the time period,and strong direction and script.The dvd offers a crisp clear print of the film,and the original trailer,and is most deserving of a place on your shelves if you fancy yourself a Vincent Price enthusiast.The master does not disappoint!

A witch gives new meaning to the term "well-hung".
Four out of four B.W.'s