My Review of Twice-Told Tales (1963)

Written by Robert E. Kent 

Directed by Sidney Salkow

Beatrice: "Your daughter is a fine specimen, too, isn't she father? A specimen of the most deadly thing that was ever given life."

My need to watch Vincent Price horror films this month has extended beyond Poe adaptations. I caught up with this gem last night,which saw him tackling three different roles.

The movie might called Twice -Told Tales but there's actually three of them, based on some rather infamous stories. In each of them, Price had something of an antagonistic role to play.

The first one was Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, in which Price was Alex Medborne. Both him and his friend, Dr. Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot). They're celebrating the latter's 79th birthday and were playing around with water that had preservation properties. It was enough to make both men young.

It was also enough to resurrect Heidegger's fiancée, Sylvia (Mari Blanchard), who's been dead for 38 years. Throw in a very toxic love triangle between the three and this segment saw no one getting out alive as the water only temporarily restored people.

The second one was the best. A take on Rappaccini's Daughter, this one had Price as Giancomo, who kept his daughter, Beatrice (Joyce Taylor) prisoner in a poisonous garden. Beatrice herself too was poisonous but also in love with university student, Giovanni (Brett Halsey).

Giacomo was desperate to keep both Beatrice and Giovanni away from one another but then infected Giovanni in order for his daughter to have her lover. Again, none of the characters from this one made it out alive.

The last story, The House of the Seven Gables was the weakest of the bunch but still pretty decent. Price took on the role of Gerald Pyncheon. Both Gerald and his wife Alice (Beverly Garland) return to the former's family home and it's a home with it's own secrets and lies.

There's also a family curse, which involved Jonathan Maulle (Richard Denning), who was a descendant of the original curse maker. Throw in a rivalry between Gerald and his sister, Hannah (Jacqueline deWit), attempted murder and the collapse of a family home and it's a suitable ending for this anthology.

- There's a comic book version of this movie that you can enjoy.

- Vincent Price previously played Clifford Pyncheon in the 1940 version of The House Of The Seven Gables.

- I liked the skeleton hand used to turn the page on each story.

- Chronology: 1859 for the first story, Padua for the second story and the 19th century for the final story.

Twice-Told Tales told three different stories, all of which Vincent Price at the helm. They're good stories with the middle one being the best of the bunch.

Rating: 7 out of 10