Twice Told Tales

Twice Told Tales (1963)

This movie is actually three different Hawthorn stories wrapped into one movie, with all three segments starring the great Vincent Price. In the first, called Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, a couple of old friends stumble over the elixir of youth. After restoring themselves with it they use it to bring one of the men’s long dead wife back to life. Only coming with her are a couple of secrets that should have stayed with the dead. In the second story called Rappaccini’s Daughter we are treated to Price as the titular Rappaccini. When his wife betrays him with another man he swears to protect his daughter from all similar betrayals. But to reach that end he makes it so that her very touch will kill anyone or anything! When she meets a young man things become very complicated and eventually deadly. Finally the movie wraps up with a story called The House of the Seven Gables. In this tale Price portrays an arrogant man who returns to his ancestral home, flaunting the curse that has killed every male member of his family. Eventually, due to his own greed and arrogance, he too falls prey to the curse.

At best this is a mediocre movie. The stories are all melodramatic and suffer from some hammy overacting. The only exception to this is the first story with Sebastian Cabbot, who opposite of Price turns in a great performance. That is probably why this is also the only segment that I didn’t find boring. The rest of the performances are at best mediocre, which is what I would also say about the stories themselves. The Rappaccini story is just too silly, even for a horror film. Using a purple shrub to change the blood of people into poison that they are immune to is just dumb! The only highlight to this story is the performance by Vincent Price who rises above the mediocre material. The final story, The House of Seven Gables has some potential as a ghost story. The background plot and characters are interesting, but it too is shot down by some shoddy acting (including Price I’m afraid to say) as well as effects that are less than stellar.

Overall I just can’t recommend buying Twice Told Tales. Now the version that I watched was part of a double feature from MGM with Tales of Terror, which a far superior movie. If you can get the double feature then it is worth picking up for Tales of Terror, and you might as well watch Twice Told Tales. But do yourself a favor and watch this one first, because after watching Tales of Terror this one will disappoint you. Basically Twice Told Tales is a mediocre film that wastes the great Vincent Price.

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer