User Reviews

Vincent Price stars in three effectively eerie and engrossing tales of terror based on the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. First and most touching vignette, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" - Price and Sebastian Cabot are superb as a couple of elderly old friend physicians who discover the secret of immortality in this thoughtful and moving meditation on death, aging and mortality. The gorgeous Mari Blanchard is radiant and ravishing as Cabot's deceased wife who's resurrected from the grave. Second and most original segment, "Rappaccini's Daughter" - The strikingly comely Joyce Taylor is enchanting as Beatrice, a lovely young lass with a lethal poisonous touch. Brett Halsey is likewise charming as the nice young man who falls in love with Beatrice while Price delivers a marvelously hateful turn as Beatrice's domineering and overprotective father. Third and most horrific episode, "The House of the Seven Gables" - Price hams it up nicely as a wicked wealthy swine who returns to a creepy crumbling family mansion that has a 150 year old curse on it to find a buried hidden fortune. Beverly Garland as Price's fetching wife, Richard Denning as a dashing, handsome rival and especially Jacqueline de Wit as Price's greedy sister lend sturdy support in this shockingly violent and gruesome yarn. Capably directed by Sydney Salkow (who reteamed with Price for the excellent "The Last Man on Earth"), with an intelligent and elegant script by Robert E. Kent, a spare, shivery score by Richard LaSalle, vibrant, richly saturated bright color cinematography by Ellis W. Carter, plenty of brooding, eerie, melancholy atmosphere (the second story is particularly sad and haunting), a slow, stately pace and uniformly fine acting from a tip-top cast, this fright feature overall rates as a solid and satisfying omnibus outing.

The title seems a little distracting, I imagine it refers to Nathaniel Hawthorne's original works and this Vincent Price adaptation. Hawthorne's writing style was more darkly romantic than overtly macabre, but the transition seems to work well enough. The picture follows an earlier Price trilogy in the prior year's "Tales of Terror". Fans of the actor will probably want to catch both.

Of the three entries, I liked 'Dr. Heidegger's Experiment' the best. Price and Sebastian Cabot portray long time friends who eventually find themselves at odds over Heidegger's fiancé (Mari Blanchard), who died thirty eight years earlier. She's revived by a mysterious mineral water that also acts as a fountain of youth for Heidegger and Alex Medbourne (Price). 'Tales From the Crypt' fans will probably see the ending coming, not very surprising but satisfying enough to conclude this chapter.

"Rappaccini's Daughter" has some creative and novel elements at work, but strains one's credibility to learn that Beatrice (Joyce Taylor) has never ventured outside the garden gate that surrounds her home. The toxic plant business is a bit of a stretch too, making Dr. Rappaccini (Price) it's final victim in this story of unrequited love and it's tragic aftermath.

The third part of the trilogy is a much condensed version of Hawthorne's 'House of the Seven Gables', and mysterious enough to recommend that I get the source material to check it out in novel form. Once Alice Pyncheon's (Beverly Garland) role in the story is established, it takes a fair amount of concentration to follow the family's sordid history. It comes to a rather rushed conclusion, evidenced by some glaring continuity errors. For example, after Gerald Pyncheon (Price once more) discovers the cellar vault, he has the lid to the vault almost back in position, and after a quick cutaway, he's shown with the lid standing up once again about to place it. Then, as the Pyncheon mansion is beginning to implode, Jonathan Maulle (Richard Denning) attempts to remove the same slab, but it's thicker than the one Price's character dealt with. I don't think the ghosts at work in the house would have bothered.

But all in all, not an altogether bad bit of fun for Vincent Price fans. You have to give any actor credit for allowing himself to be killed off so many times for the sake of his craft.

A trio of tales, all starring Vincent Price, has a virgin spring that returns youth, a scientific experiment which causes an acidic touch, and a hidden vault long sought after somewhere in an old manor deemed cursed. The first tale has Vincent Price as Alex Medbourne, sharing a whiskey with long time friend, Dr. Carl Heidigger (Sebastian Cabot), as the two talk about old times while a thunderstorm stirs outside. Carl has long mourned the loss of his fiancée, Sylvia (Mari Blanchard), not knowing she was having an affair with Alex. Noticing the crypt's door open, Alex and Carl enter to see what's up, where they discover Sylvia's body as if it hadn't aged a day since her death 38 years ago—the reason is a spring that drips from a crack above her casket. Carl and Alex drink from this water and become young again, soon awakening Sylvia from her slumber. As passions reawaken, Carl will discover the betrayal and seek to get even for their sins. The second tale has Vincent Price as an embittered father, Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini, whose wife left him for another man, inflicting his daughter, Beatrice (Joyce Taylor) with an affliction where her touch is acidic, killing anyone or thing instantly. Student Giovanni Guasconti (Brett Halsey) takes a shine to Beatrice and the feelings are mutual but her affliction puts a damper on any idea of romance. Giacomo, who caused Beatrice's affliction as a means to "protect her", will try to appease her after she attempts suicide with tragic consequences. The third tale has Price portraying a scoundrel, Gerald Pyncheon, who has gambled away all his inheritance, returning to his ancestral manor, considered cursed as the past men on his family line have died in a blood-stained chair sitting near a fireplace with a portrait that bleeds from the lips. Alice Pyncheon (Beverly Garland, simply stunning) is Gerald's unhappy wife who seems to be possessed by a ghost who knows things she shouldn't. Jonathan Maulle (Richard Denning), whose family are enemies with the Pyncheons for the thievery of the ancestral home (with Maulle's ancestor said to be buried somewhere in the home), might just know where the vault resides. Alice and Jonathan seem to "connect" as if they know each other with Gerald hoping the two of them will lead him to the vault. Meanwhile Gerald's sister, Hannah (Jacqueline deWit), isn't about to let her brother get the hidden loot all for himself, constantly reminding him of her right to some of the money. In the third tale, Price is at his ghoulish best, quite a vindictive bastard concerned only with securing the missing money, willing to kill anyone who stands in his way. In the first tale, Price is simply a backstabber who seemed to be Carl's friend, for over 40 years, only to hide the fact that he was the one Sylvia truly loved. The second tale provides Price with a bitter character who causes emotional crisis to the daughter he thought he was keeping safe from sin and eventually afflicting the man she loves, resulting in tragedy. While perhaps not better or worse than Corman's Poe movies, the Hammer horrors, or the Amicus anthology movies, "Twice-Told Tales" has plenty of Price, with each tale featuring him in a role that causes turmoil and pain to those around him, particularly to the people he is supposed to care for. The third tale is the most similar to a Corman Price film as the manor collapses into ruin as the villain meets a fate most unkind (involving a severed skeletal arm!).

Three-part horror anthology: in the first story, Sebastian Cabot finds what appears to be the elixir of youth, and re-animates his long-dead wife-to-be to boot; some good (for the time) "morphing" effects, and the payoff is both amusing and grim. In the second story (my favorite), Brett Halsey, a university student, falls in love with neighbor beauty Joyce Taylor (who gives a strong, sympathetic performance), but if touches her, he will die! Her father, Vincent Price, has turned her into living poison so that she will never be tempted by "sin". This story is more of a romantic tragedy (ala "Romeo And Juliet") than horror. In the third tale, Vincent Price returns to his (cursed!) ancestral house, determined to find a hidden vault, while his young wife (Beverly Garland, with her exquisite cheekbones) gets weird premonitions, as if someone is trying to communicate with her - from beyond the grave! This story is a little too long and clichéd, but well-done and positively shocking in some spots. Price demonstrates his versatility (playing 3 quite different characters in the same film!), and also provides opening and closing narration for each story, in his inimitable voice. *** out of 4.

A classic gruesome threesome that focuses on three short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, all starring the fabulous Vincent Price. He plays an aging friend of a grieving man whose fiancée died on their wedding eve, the ailing and reclusive father of a young girl he keeps hostage and alive through a mysterious power that has the capability to kill. In the third segment, he returns to familiar territory: the saga of the Pynchon family, a cursed clan consumed with dark secrets of the past, culminating in a time of great social uproar in 17th Century New England.

Sebastian Cabot and Mari Blanchard co- star in the first tale, focusing on the mysterious crypt water which seemingly brings the dead back to life and possible eternal youth. It is eerie, poignant and ultimately haunting. The second segment has a beautifully colorful set but a strange and convoluted tale of a young man (Brett Halsey) obsessed with the creepy beauty (Joyce Taylor) next door. Jaqueline de Witt is Price's sinister and Beverly Garland his innocent bride in one of several short stories that Hawthorne wrote about the doomed Pynchon family.

Hoimh back to the early days cinema and feature length films, there's been a slew of multi story structures especially in the horror or mystery genre. I can think of a handful that featured Vincent Price, and indeed, he is the king of the macabre. This one is enjoyable overall, but the second segment takes some patience. It's ironic to see Price have a second involvement in a tale loosely based on "The House of the Seven Gables", this one quite distinctive with a totally different story than the 1940 Universal classic. It's a treat to add to any horror collection, but in my case, it is filed with the rest my Vincent Price treasures.

"Twice-Told Tales" is a wondrously fascinating horror omnibus and probably one of the most underrated genre efforts of the entire sixties. I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't really familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne's writings before (apart from multiple adaptations of "the Scarlet Letter") but, even though he's not as prominent as Edgar Allen Poe or H.P Lovecraft, his stories are pure Gothic goodness and morbidly poetic horror material. Each of the three tales told here are magnificent, albeit slightly suffering from their shortage and I'll definitely continue to look for the long-feature film version of "The House of Seven Gables", as I know it's available somewhere. The first tale; Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, is an atmospheric appetizer handling about an ancient horror topic, namely the search for eternal youth. Life-long friends Alex and Carl fortuitously discover that the water dripping on the coffin of Carl's dead bride contains the power to restore their own youth and even to resurrect the unfortunate Julie. But the revival of old friendships sadly also emerges hidden secrets and forbidden passions from the past. There are some excellent set pieces used in this first episode and the brief use of special effects is well-staged and definitely ahead of its time. Vincent Price shines as the initially reluctant guinea pig and his sudden transformation into deceptive Adonis is believable. Sebastian Cabot and Mary Blanchard are very adequate in their supportive roles. The second story is arguably the best and unquestionably the most ingenious one of the three. "Rappacchini's Daughter" also is one of the few horror tellings that ever managed to frighten me with its content. Price this time stars as the tormented scientist Rappaccini, who pumped his poor daughter Beatrice so full of poison that she absorbs the color and life out of everything she touches. Supposedly to protect her from all the evil in this world, but now the young beauty can't return the honest love of new student in town Giovanni. This particular tale is haunting, saddening and petrifying all at once! No matter how selfish and monstrous the crimes of Price's character are, he's a hurt soul and you're more likely to pity him rather than to loath him. The flower garden, where most of the story is filmed, is truly enchanting and Joyce Taylor is simply mesmerizing as the poor Beatrice. The tragic climax to this tale could have come straight from Shakespeare's repertoire. The third and final tale in this marvelous horror anthology is called "The House of Seven Gables" and revolves on a feud between two families that still lives on after several generations. Gerald Pyncheon and his sister Hannah desperately seek a hidden vault in their family mansion and the only person who knows where it might be located is Jonathan Maule, descendant of the architect who originally designed the house. But Jonathan won't help, because his ancestor was cowardly killed by the Pyncheons for falling in love with the wrong girl. Gerald's attractive wife Alice turns out to be a spiritual link between the two families and able to clear up several ancient mysteries. As mentioned above, this tale suffers the most from being part of an omnibus. The screenplay was adapted from an entire novel and thus a lot of Hawthorne's thoughtful sub plots and character drawings were lost in the 45 minutes tale. Still, it's a very decent 'haunted house' premise with nice scenery and a handful of genuinely suspenseful moments. Vincent Price is at his most fiendish here and there's quite a lot of bloodshed. Perhaps I'm over-rating this film slightly, but it deserves a bit of extra attention! It's a wonderful film, rich on symbolism and Gothic charm and it would be a damn shame if true horror fans let it pass by them.

Hawthorne bored me in high school. I thought Vincent Price et al would be more interesting, but nope. How can a writer be interesting when he peoples his stories with characters named Hannah and Abigail and Hepzibah? But I've gathered over the years that Hawthorne was obsessed with the past, particularly the witch hunts of 1690s, and that what he was doing was basically what the great Southern writers of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were doing with regard to race relations, namely work out an understanding of their Big Sin, slavery or religious intolerance, to their own satisfaction, while at the same time trying to explain to the rest of us what it looked like from the inside. The anthropologist John M. Roberts called this "the conflict-enculturation hypothesis." You work out your guilty obsessions in model form. That's why Italian-American directors make so many Mafia movies.

Well, I couldn't get through Hawthorne's novel, and this movie is of no help. It's ordinary in every respect. Hawthorne's Calvinist themes -- materialism combined with a phantasmic past sin -- seem to be there, but they're transposed into stories about poisonous plants and elixers and whatnot that Roger Corman might have found appealing.

The movie is cheaply made. The colors are gaudy, the acting routine for a B movie, the plots simplified (I'm virtually certain) to comic-book level. The art direction is okay in the interiors. The exteriors are obviously staged, with multiple-source lighting, plastic greens, no wind, and a generally airless stuffy atmosphere. My attention drifted while I watched this, as it used to drift when I was a sophomore. Everything seemed gloomy and unpleasant. It might have helped if they'd had Bill Murray prance naked through one of the scenes.

Price was evidently an interesting guy, an aesthete from Saint Louis. In one of his movies, I can't recall the title, he's called upon to throw grenades or something at his pursuers and he throws them the way the rest of us would throw darts, not the way we would throw a baseball. A highly publicized art collector, author of several cookbooks (one has a misprint; use only one cup of breadcrumbs in the eggplant parmesan, not two cups), kind of a purchasing agent for Sears' art department, keen sense of humor. I enjoy some of his performances. See "Theater of Blood," if you can, and "Champagne for Caesar." But not this. Spare yourself, the way Hawthorne never could.