“Darkness falls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand / Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorise y’all’s neighbourhood / And whosoever shall be found / Without the soul for getting down / Must stand and face the hounds of hell / And rot inside a corpse’s shell…”
Widely regarded as a cinematic icon of the horror genre, Vincent Price’s first foray into the world of the macabre was working alongside Boris Karloff in 1939’s Tower of London for Universal Pictures. This experience later led to Price being cast as “invisible until the last reel” in Universal’s The Invisible Man Returns; a 1940 sequel to James Whale’s classic tale of terror! However, it was 1953’s House of Wax – a 3D remake of the 1933 pre-Code “lost” horror film, Mystery of the Wax Museum – that would elevate Price into the pantheon of horror stardom.
Following the success of 1952’s Bwana Devil, the first independent feature-length motion picture in Natural Vision 3D, Warner Bros. would compete with Columbia to release the first 3D feature from a major American studio; contracting Natural Vision 3D for their remake of Mystery of the Wax Museum, an adaptation of Charles Belden’s 1932 short story, The Wax Works. Starring Price as a disfigured sculptor who populates his museum with the wax-coated remains of those he has murdered, House of Wax was released two days after Columbia’s Man in the Dark premiered in New York, but to much greater success; attributed to director Andre DeToth’s inability to see depth! Price recalled:
“It’s one of the great Hollywood stories. When they wanted a director… they hired a man who couldn’t see 3D at all!”
From 1958’s “science gone wrong” thriller, The Fly – and its 1959 sequel Return of the Fly – to 1959’s mysterious The Bat, to William Castle’s 1959 chillers, House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler, Price continued to terrify audiences with his intimidating stature and menacing stare. Adapted from the 1957 short story of the same name by George Langelaan, Kurt Neumann’s The Fly stars David Hedison (credited as Al Hedison) as a scientist whose experimentation with molecular transportation causes him to mutate into a grotesque human-fly hybrid; the result of his atoms combining with an unseen insect entering the “disintegrator-integrator.” The success of Neumann’s body horror, elevated by makeup artist Ben Nye’s sophisticated fly costume and Price’s iconic final monologue, prompted 20th Century Fox to produce the 1986 remake, directed by David Cronenberg; one that surpasses the original!
Around the same time, unsatisfied with his work at Columbia Pictures, William Castle transitioned towards independent filmmaking; financing the 1958 horror flick Macabre himself. To ensure it would attract an audience upon its release, a certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd’s of London was given to each customer, just in case they should die of fright during the screening! Macabre was a financial success, so Castle quickly began work on his next independent feature: House on Haunted Hill, starring Price as an eccentric millionaire, who, along with his wife, invites five strangers to stay at an allegedly haunted house, promising each guest $10,000 if they are brave enough to stay the entire night… Like Macabre before it, Castle relied upon a promotional gimmick to entice punters into the theatre: “Emergo!” An effect exhibitors rigged in theatres screening House on Haunted Hill; an elaborate pulley system allowing for a plastic skeleton to emerge over the audience during the frightful final act!
Teaming up with legendary low-budget auteur Roger Corman, Price spent much of the 1960s working with American International Pictures (AIP) on a series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, including 1960’s House of Usher, 1961’s The Pit and the Pendulum, 1963’s The Raven – once again working alongside Boris Karloff – and 1964’s The Masque of the Red Death. House of Usher (aka The Fall of the House of Usher), the first in AIP’s “Corman-Poe” cycle, ushered (pun intended) in a financial renaissance for the dwindling production and distribution company. Known for their low-budget, black-and-white double creature features, Corman’s House of Usher was instead a modestly budgeted gothic horror filmed in CinemaScope and grotesque colour; AIP’s most ambitious motion picture at the time of its release. Price’s masterful central performance resulted in Corman casting the actor in all but one of his “Corman-Poe” films: 1962’s Premature Burial.
Post-apocalyptic horror followed in the 1964 adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend – re-titled The Last Man on Earth – before Price portrayed his most sadistic character; the historical Matthew Hopkins. Controversial at the time of its release, paired with The Blood Beast Terror 1968’s Witchfinder General was Price’s greatest challenge and one of his best performances. Struck by an axe at the hands of the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) prior to its release, Witchfinder General (aka Edgar Allan Poe’s The Conqueror Worm) was as controversial behind the camera as it was for its extravagant sadism. An antagonistic relationship had developed between Price and director/co-writer Michael Reeves, with Reeves deliberately telling the actor:
“I didn’t want you, and I still don’t want you, but I’m stuck with you!”
On the first day of shooting, Reeves requested that Price shoot his flintlock between the ears of the horse he was riding. An actual blank charge was placed in the breach, but Price argued against the idea, concerned that the horse would react violently. Not backing down, Reeves insisted and, when the gun went off, the horse reared, sending Price tumbling onto the ground. Angered by this incident, and Reeves inability to direct the actors, Price could not contain his loathing for the director. After arriving on set worse for drink on the final day of shooting, an enraged Reeves instructed co-star Ian Ogilvy to “really lay into Vincent” with a stage axe in the name of realism. The blows should not be faked! Fortunately co-producer Philip Waddilove overheard the conversation and arranged for Price’s costume to be fitted with protective foam padding to absorb the strikes! Despite this tension, Price would later understand Reeves artistic vision for Witchfinder General – a subversive masterpiece – and claim the murderous witch-hunting exploits of Matthew Hopkins to be his most menacing performance!
Price continued to work with AIP throughout the 1970s, portraying the titular villain in 1971’s The Abominable Dr. Phibes, its 1972 sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, and as the star of the fictional “Dr. Death” films in 1974’s Madhouse; adapted from the 1969 novel Devilday by Angus Hall. Several delightfully camp British horror comedies would follow – 1973’s Shakespearean Theatre of Blood, 1981’s anthology horror The Monster Club, 1983’s House of the Long Shadows (notable for starring the iconic Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine), and 1984’s horror spoof Bloodbath at the House of Death – but it was Michael Jackson’s Thriller that caught the attention of the MTV generation. Vincent Price has reached immortality through his prolific filmography. To quote John Waters:
“One raise of his eyebrow and you knew you were about to be thrilled by a debonair, evil, yet sympathetic villain…”
“The foulest stench is in the air / The funk of forty thousand years / And grisly ghouls from every tomb / Are closing in to seal your doom / And though you fight to stay alive / Your body starts to shiver / For no mere mortal can resist / The evil of the THRILLER!”
