The Haunted Palace

A man and his wife arrive in a small New England village to take possession of the mansion belonging to his ancestor, a wealthy landowner burned as a warlock in 1765 after the locals accused him of human sacrifice. The villagers make clear the newcomers are not welcome, and the heir finds himself drawn into the dead man's legacy. He discovers that the surrounding community is populated by strange, mutated people, while something of his ancestor's vengeful spirit lingers in the house. The film's plot draws on H. P. Lovecraft's story The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Roger Corman directed, working from a screenplay by Charles Beaumont and Francis Ford Coppola, and produced for American International Pictures and Alta Vista Productions. It was released in September 1963 and runs 87 minutes. It is the thirteenth of the nineteen films Corman directed in chronological order, coming after The Raven and before The Secret Invasion. Vincent Price plays the dual role of Charles Dexter Ward and Joseph Curwen, with Debra Paget as Ann Ward, Lon Chaney Jr. as Simon Orne, Frank Maxwell as Dr. Marinus Willet, Leo Gordon as Edgar Weeden and Elisha Cook Jr. as Gideon Smith, among twenty credited cast members.

The film took about 3 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from roughly 9,700 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 6.7 from about 200 votes, indicating a modest but durable following. A critics' rating of 7.1 from eight reviews places it slightly above those audience scores.