- Director: Roger Corman
- Writers: Charles Beaumont
- Stars: Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Lon Chaney Jr.
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
- Link: https://amzn.to/3xLC34z
Synopsis
It was a dark and stormy night. The men in the tavern spot a mysterious woman in a cloak walking outside. A couple of them follow her to the cemetery. They follow her until she knocks on the door of a castle. “That’s the home of Satan himself,” says one of the men.
Inside, the woman removes her cloak and stands before Joseph Curwen and Hester, who leads them into the dungeon. They chain the young woman up to a device and Joseph begins the ritual.
Meanwhile, the villagers are lighting torches and gathering their pitchforks. As the villagers arrive at the castle gates, they grab Joseph and tie him to a tree. He curses the villagers, and they burn him at the stake as a warlock.
One hundred and ten years later, in the town of Arkham, two travelers arrive. “Well, it looks cursed; I’ll give it that,” the man jokes. They go into the tavern, and everyone just stares at them. He’s Charles Dexter Ward, and she’s Ann Ward. We see that he looks just like old Joseph who was burned at the stake many years ago; that was his great-great grandfather.
Edgar Weeden warns them that the place is dangerous and cursed. Dr. Willet tells them how to get to the “palace,” and they are on their way. Edgar thinks Charles is Joseph, who has come back to Arkham. They pass a little girl with no eyes.
They arrive at the huge house, which has a giant deadbolt on the outside of the door. They go inside the dust-covered palace. They find a picture on the wall that looks exactly like Charles.
Inside, they find Simon, the caretaker. He creeps them out at first, but he’s the only friendly face they’ve seen, so they agree to spend the night. Charles stares at the painting on the wall, and the painting stares back, giving him a headache.
Edgar Weeden has a monster in the closet at home, and he feeds it raw meat. It’s especially rowdy tonight. “It knows who’s come back to Arkham,” he explains to his wife.
The next morning, Charles says they are going to stay there. Ann is creeped out, but she doesn’t want to stay. Later, they go to town and see more people in town who are missing eyes or otherwise deformed.
The doctor later explains that they are mutants, and Weedon gathered them to scare away the Wards. The doctor explains what happened to Curwen and about the curse. Curwen was said to have owned the Necronomicon, the book of the dead. Curwen and other warlocks were trying to open the gates and allow The Old Gods through.
That night, Charles goes downstairs and walks right outside to the tree where Curwen was burned. He hears voices calling to him. Simon pops up and scares the crap out of Charles. Simon welcomes Joseph back, and Charles/Joseph asks, “How long?” Another man, Jabez comes in. These are the three warlocks the doctor spoke of. Joseph explains that he can’t control Charles for long right now, but his influence will grow.
Later, the three warlocks go out to the cemetery and dig up Hester’s grave. Ann and Charles are not getting along, as he keeps snipping at her. He insists that she leave tomorrow. Charles and Joseph argue with himself.
Later, Ann finds the door to the men’s workroom. She gets scared, but then she runs into Simon. She passes out and Simon takes her back to room— and locks her in. Meanwhile, Hester rises from the grave as a rotten zombie, but she doesn’t last long.
The next morning, Charles packs up and gets ready to leave, but once again, the painting takes him. Dr. Willet arrives at the house and explains about the grave robbery; the townspeople think Charles did it, which he did. Charles comes out and says he plans to stay now. Ann tells Willits everything. He advises her to leave him, but realizes that she can’t do that.
Joseph unlocks the door to Weeden’s monster closet and opens the door for it. Weeden returns home, and the thing pulls him into the fireplace, burning them both to death. Joseph crosses a name from his list. Peter Smith is walking home the next night, and Joseph pours kerosene all over him and then lights it.
Simon asks Joseph if he’s had enough revenge. Joseph says this town is going to be a graveyard before he’s finished. The doctor returns, and Joseph explains that Ann has changed, and he’d like the doctor to recommend she go elsewhere.
Ann and the doctor go back to town and find that Mr. Gideon has been burned to death. They turn back to the palace to get Charles before the villagers do, but meanwhile, Joseph tries to raise Hester from the dead again— this time, he is successful!
Ann and Willits find the secret door and descend to Joseph’s dungeon. They find Hester’s empty coffin and the Necronomicon. They look in the grate beneath their feet and see a green, monstrous thing.
Joseph and the others arrive, and he says they are going to complete the ritual they began so long ago. They don’t understand it themselves, but “We obey,” he explains. They strap Ann into the torture device and Joseph starts to chant. They open the grate in the floor, and the green monster beneath starts to rise.
The men outside break in and storm the castle. They immediately set the place on fire. When they burn the painting, Charles takes over his body for a moment, and he rushes to save Ann. Willets and Ann run away, but Simon and Jabez grab Charles. Willits goes back in and grabs Charles and helps him out.
We see that Charles is still very green-tinted as he smiles evilly.
Commentary
Simon and Jabez are green. I assume it’s because they’re undead, or a zombie, or something like that, but it’s never really explained. Joseph/Charles looks more and more greenish as the film progresses.
I don’t think I had seen this one before, and it’s actually quite good. We never see what becomes of Joseph’s three accomplices, and other than feeding the monster in the dungeon, we aren’t sure what the larger plan was for brining back the Old Gods.
It’s a good one.