One of the first adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, the 1960 movie House of Usher follows Price’s Roderick Usher and his family’s struggles as he believes they’re cursed.
It’s a story of family drama evoking the dark nature of Gothic Literature. director Roger Corman emphasized the haunting, decrepit atmosphere of the Usher family.
Price is noted for his ability to convey a sense of impending doom and mental illness, while remaining a creditable character.
Theater of Blood
Unlike most of Vincent Price’s best movies, 1973’s Theater of Blood isn’t based on work by Poe. It’s based on Shakespearean works, following Price’s Edward Lionheart, whose career crumbles due to critics.
After faking his death, he targets his critics, killing them in various ways like in Shakespeare’s plays, with Price blending murderous vengeance with dark comedy.
Despite references to Shakespeare, the movie is a rather camp cult favorite.
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death is another Edgar Allan Poe adaptation that Vincent Price stars in.
Roger Corman also directs The Masque of the Red Death. The story takes place in medieval Europe in the middle of a deadly outbreak of a disease called the Red Death. Vincent Price stars as Prince Prospero, who shows off his sadistic privilege by partying while his people die. But, the amusement ends when a stranger crashes a party dressed in red, symbolizing the Red Death itself.
The Masque of the Red Death is one of several Corman-led Poe adaptations, and they all have a visually stunning atmosphere with Gothic themes and extravagant settings. The ability of Price to portray the most wicked characters while showing a level of class is precisely why he’s considered America’s Master of Horror.
The Comedy of Terrors
The Comedy of Terrors is a horror-comedy, noted for its blend of comedy and the macabre. That’s Vincent Price’s specialty, but he’s not the only notable star in the show, as horror icons like Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff appear alongside Price.
The movie follows a group of undertakers led by Price’s Waldo Trumbull, a greedy guy who turns to murder to increase business at his funeral home. Lorre plays Felix, Trumbull’s assistant, and Karloff plays a gravedigger. The Comedy of Terrors is basically a pure comedy with satire and absurd jokes. With that said, though, the subject is extremely dark, as the entire story surrounds death. It was one of the first horror comedy movies, and, unsurprisingly, it’s also a Vincent Price cult classic.
House of Wax
House of Wax is one of Vincent Price’s best-known roles, and it’s also one of the best horror movies of the 1950s. Some may not know that the 1950s had a technology boom with the 3D technology that’s widespread these days.
House of Wax was one of the first horror movies to use 3D.
House of Wax centers around a wax museum where the figures are genuine dead bodies. Price is in the starring role as the museum’s wax sculptor. The concept first appeared in the 1933 movie Mystery of the Wax Museum. It’s since had a loose remake, also called House of Wax, released in 2005 and surrounding a character named Vincent.
