The Haunted Palace

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roger Corman directs. Floyd Crosby behind the camera. Ronald Stein scores. Ronald Sinclair cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 263 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Roger Corman, shot by Floyd Crosby. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Ronald Stein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Ronald Sinclair shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Vincent Price and Debra Paget and Lon Chaney Jr. carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "A warlock's home is his castle...forever!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0057128 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 20 themes, including "monster", "secret passage", "descendant", "possession".

The technical file

Cinematography

Floyd Crosby

Original score

Ronald Stein

Editing

Ronald Sinclair

Makeup / hair

Lorraine Roberson

Runtime

87 min · 1h 27m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$2,616,000

Original language

EN

IMDB

The Haunted Palace (1963) ↗

Also by

Roger Corman

• 
  The Intruder

  1962 · ★ 7.2
• 
  The Pit and the Pendulum

  1961 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Tales of Terror

  1962 · ★ 6.7
• 
  House of Usher

  1960 · ★ 6.7
• 
  The Masque of the Red Death

  1964 · ★ 6.7
• 
  A Bucket of Blood

  1959 · ★ 6.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Theatrical Trailer - The Haunted Palace (Vincent Price)

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Joe Dante on THE HAUNTED PALACE

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2022-03-29
  ★ 7/10

  Lovecraft-ian tale of a dark castle with Vincent Price and Debra Paget During the Victorian era, a man and his wife (Price & Paget) inherit an ominous chateau on the coast of New England, but its sorcerous history seems to cast a spell on him and this provokes the leery populace to hostile action (Leo Gordon, Elisha Cook Jr., etc.). Lon Chaney Jr. and Frank Maxwell are also on hand. "The Haunted Palace" (1963) takes its title from Poe’s poem, and quotes it, but the story hails from HP Lovecraft’s yarn "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." AIP insisted on the Poe-connection to capitalize on the recent success of Roger Corman’s Poe movies. Eight of these Poe-inspired flicks were were done by Corman, but others were filmed by different directors, like “The Conqueror Worm” (1968), aka “Witchfinder General,” and “The Oblong Box” (1969). Others were Poe-ish in ambiance, yet had nothing to do with the works of Poe, like Corman & Coppola’s “The Terror” (1963). Most of these flicks didn’t follow Poe’s stories/poems very closely despite his name being attached to them, as is the case with this one, although a few did. The spooky Gothic horror sets are to die for. You have spider webs, foggy graveyards, forbidden castles, dark sorceries, hostile mobs with torches, burnings at the stake, curses, rats, caged monstrosities, hauntings, possession, demons in pits and beautiful Victorian lasses. Being a Lovecraft yarn, you naturally get gobbledygook about Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, etc. While not as good as “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961) and “The Conqueror Worm” (1968), this one’s on the same level as “The Terror,” “The Masque of the Red Death” (1964), “The Raven” (1963) and “Tomb of Ligeia” (1964). AIP was basically the American version of Hammer in England, so devotees of Hammer horror should appreciate it. This was the last theatrical appearance of the stunning Debra Paget, who was 29 during shooting. She married a Chinese oil mogul, which would last 18 years and produce one son. She became a Christian and eventually came out of retirement to appear seven times on TBN’s Praise show (1988-2013). Also featured on the feminine front is the equally gorgeous Cathie Merchant, as well as Darlene Lucht in a brief role. The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Producers Studios in Hollywood. Virginia is also listed, which relates to establishing shots. GRADE: B-/B (6.7/10)

  Read full review ↓
• Sierbahnn2026-05-05
  ★ 7/10

  Of course it takes places in the village of Arkham. Of course there is a Tillinghast. Of course Mr Ward is Charles Dexter. The story isn't a Lovecraft-story, but it is a bit like "The Thing on the Doorstep" I suppose. Vincent gets to do his thing and the movie is all the better the more room he has. Some of the rest of the supporting cast is weaker, but then again, everyone looks thin and bland compared to Vincent when sharing the screen. Some of the story could have used a bit more polish, but it is a highly enjoyable Lovecraft-moment of a movie.

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• CinemaSerf2026-07-20
  ★ 7/10

  Now we already know something of the provenance of his inheritance so might be shouting at the screen telling "Ward" (Vincent Price) to take his new wife "Ann" (Debra Paget) and avoid visiting the ancient family home that has just come his way. Indeed, even the villagers from whom they ask directions suggest exactly that - but he reckons it's all just superstitious nonsense and off they go to this grand looking hilltop edifice. Barely through the door he espies a curiously familiar looking portrait on the wall followed by an introduction to the rather eccentric retainer "Simon" (Lon Chaney Jnr.) and the scene is set for a mystery steeped in revenge that harks back through the generations and that will stop at nothing until it is satiated. Visually, this is not the most impressive, especially on the make-up front, and to be honest it hasn't aged terribly well - but it's still Price and Roger Corman at their creepily Gothic best and the steadily accruing sense of menace works well as the tension mounts and the maniacal megalomania takes hold. Paget hasn't so very much to do, but that was usually the way with Hammer films whether it was her or Yvonne Furneaux, and so long as she played the loving damsel in distress well enough then little more is asked of her as she allies herself with the sceptical "Dr. Willet" (Frank Maxwell) and hopes that she can retrieve her beloved from his ancestral possession. The ending is a bit on the rushed side, and I felt that just a little disappointing but this is still an enjoyably presented showcase for a man who made this genre his own throughout the 1960s.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• AL

  Alta Vista Productions

• 

  American International Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Additional DialogueFrancis Ford Coppola
• Executive ProducerSamuel Z. Arkoff
• Executive ProducerJames H. Nicholson
• HairdresserLorraine Roberson
• Assistant DirectorPaul Rapp
• SoundJohn L. Bury
• Sound EditorGene Corso
• Short StoryEdgar Allan Poe
• Short StoryH.P. Lovecraft
• ProducerRoger Corman
• Associate ProducerRonald Sinclair
• EditorRonald Sinclair
• Art DirectionDaniel Haller
• Set DecorationHarry Reif
• Makeup ArtistTed Coodley
• Production ManagerJack Bohrer

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• monster
• secret passage
• descendant
• possession
• revenge
• burned alive
• murder
• fireplace
• curse
• mansion
• gothic horror
• attempted rape
• gothic
• dungeon
• based on song, poem or rhyme
• grave robber
• new england
• occult
• necronomicon
• mutations

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1963-08-28· Cincinnati, Ohio
• Theatrical (limited)1963-09-11· Kansas City, MO
• Theatrical (limited)1963-09-18· Detroit, MI
• Theatrical (limited)1964-01-29· New York City, New York

Also known as

International titles

• O Castelo AssombradoBR
• Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted PalaceUS
• The Case of Charles Dexter WardUS
• De Vrouw in de FolterkelderNL
• הארמון הרדוףIL
• הטירה המסתוריתIL
• Edgar Allen Poe's The Haunted PalaceUS