The Halloween season is the perfect time to talk about classic horror icon Vincent Price, who ranks among the all-time greats alongside Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Christopher Lee. In order to learn more about the star of classic thrillers like
House of Wax (1953),
The Fly (1958), and
House on Haunted Hill (1959), I turned to horror movie scholar and lifelong fan Jonathan M. Lampley, a professor in the Humanities Department at Dalton State College and the author of the 2010 McFarland book,
Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price. He's also the co-author of
The Amazing, Colossal Book of Horror Trivia (Cumberland House, 1999). Here's what Jonathan has to say about one of everyone's favorite classic horror stars.
VV: When did you first become a Vincent Price fan? What are some of your earliest memories of seeing him and his films?
You know, I can't remember a time when I was NOT a Price fan! Usually I can remember when and where I was when I got into something; for example, I trace my interest in horror films to 1975, when I was about 8 years old and my parents bought me a copy of Thomas G. Aylesworth's kiddie book,
Movie Monsters. Aylesworth went into the literary and historical origins of the various monster myths, so it was from him that I learned
Dracula and
Frankenstein were novels before they were movies. Aylesworth also discussed the great horror stars, so he introduced me to Karloff, Lugosi, Cushing, Lee, etc. Even after the passage of almost 40 years, I still recall knowing the name "Vincent Price" even if I did not know the other names in the book.
I have often wondered why I knew Price's name by the time I was 8, but I have no recollection of seeing any of his movies at that time. Perhaps my older brother had something to do with it, as I remember him playing Alice Cooper's album
Welcome to My Nightmare, which of course features Price's monologue on "The Black Widow," which also came out in '75. It is also possible that I knew Price almost by osmosis, as he was on so many TV shows in the early 70s, and I have vague recollections of his appearance on
The Brady Bunch around that time. I know in the late 70s I saw him on TV in
The Abominable Dr. Phibes,
Theater of Blood,
Tomb of Ligeia,
Masque of the Red Death, and many others. Certainly I was a hardcore fan by 1979, when I saw Price live on stage in
Diversions and Delights, which he did in Nashville at Vanderbilt University. In fact, many years later I learned that Price came out and did a Q and A with the audience after the performance--but my mother and I didn't know he was going to do it, so we left at the end of the show. I missed my chance to meet Price! Again, though, I always knew who he was and always was interested in the actor.
VV: What made you particularly interested in looking at the women in Price’s horror movies?
Well, the book is an expansion of my doctoral dissertation, which
looked at the women in Price's Poe adaptations. I wanted to do
something with classic horror for my dissertation, and even before I
began writing it, I knew I wanted to publish it eventually. I started out thinking about
doing something with Hammer Horror movies, and when I was considering
possible approaches, I thought of focusing on the role of women in
Hammer films. I don't remember exactly why I switched to the Price/Poe
films, but it probably had something to do with the fact that there were
already books about the women of Hammer, but nothing had been done
about women in the Poe films. The more I watched and thought about the
Price/Poe films and the ways women are portrayed in those pictures, the
more I realized this was a topic that needed to be explored in depth.
As I point out in the book, women are portrayed as victims, vixens, and
objects of veneration, often at the same time, in the Poe adaptations.
When I approached McFarland about publishing the dissertation, I was
told it was a little too short and needed to be expanded. That's when I
decided to look at women in all of Price's horror films, not just the
Poe pictures.
VV: If you could recommend just one Vincent Price movie to readers, which one would it be? What makes that one an essential example?
That's a tough question! It's so hard to pick just one, but if I
had to, I would pick
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). It's my favorite
of his horror films - in fact, after
Horror of Dracula, it is my
favorite horror movie, period! I love the blend of horror and humor,
and it is one of the relatively few scary movies set during the
1920s - even after 40 years, the costumes and sets are really cool. I
have always been fascinated with the film's portrayal of the
relationship between Dr. Phibes and his late wife, Victoria. In fact,
my chapter on the Phibes films is my favorite in the book, but it was
the hardest to write because I had so much to say about that
relationship, and also Phibes' relationship with his lovely but mute
female assistant, Vulnavia. There really do seem to be some interesting
things going on in the subtext of those relationships!
Having chosen
Phibes, though, I must admit that to really appreciate the film, you
have to be familiar with Price's previous film work - and his public
persona in general. The movie clearly borrows some of its ideas from
previous Price movies, especially the Poe films. The idea of the Price
character mourning his dead wife, still being fascinated with her - that
had already been established as a trope in Price's career. The fact
that Dr. Phibes is out for revenge is almost a homage to the revenge
themes in
House of Wax (1953) and many others. And of course there are nods in
the film to Price's reputation as an art critic and a gourmet chef. I
know
Phibes was one of the first Price movies I ever saw, and it has
always been one of my favorites, but I think I only fully appreciated it
after I had studied his life and works.
A part of me wants to pick
another "desert island" Price movie, just as something to introduce
future fans to his work, but something always makes me reject those
other suggestions.
Theater of Blood, for example, is a very, very close
second favorite of mine - but its mixture of horror and humor is derived
from
Phibes, so at the end of the day I must choose
Phibes first. The
Poe films are obviously way up on my list, but which one is the
quintessential Price movie? My favorite of those would be
The Conqueror Worm, but that wasn't even made as a Poe adaptation, really, and the
others are just so evenly matched in terms of their strong and weak
points that no clear winner emerges.
House of Wax and
The Fly are
probably the most familiar VP movies - they certainly made the most money
and were the ones most often cited in his obituaries - but as much as I
like them, they just don't resonate in the same way
Phibes does.
VV: Vincent Price has become such an icon of classic horror.
Why do you think people react to Price so strongly, especially in
horror roles?
I think Price became such a favorite because his horror star
status came along at just the right time. His status had been slowly
developing; remember that his earliest film roles included parts in such
early shockers as
Tower of London and
The Invisible Man Returns.
House of Wax was certainly a major turning point in his career in 1953, but
an examination of his filmography reveals few other "scary movies" until
1958, when he did both
The Fly and
House on Haunted Hill. By the time
Price did
House of Usher in 1960, he was firmly associated with the
horror genre - a genre in which he found himself, incidentally, with few
peers. Lugosi was dead by 1960, and Karloff hadn't made a major horror
film in years. Karloff enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in the 60s, but I
think interest in him was rekindled largely because of interest in
Price. As much as I love Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and as
influential as their films were in the late 50s and early 60s, their
impact was always greater in Britain than in America.
Vincent Price was
a "name brand" in this country, somebody my parents knew, even though
they never watched horror movies. Price was such a fixture on TV and
radio, and to a certain extent in print, that he really was a media
superstar even without his horror films. He had a certain degree of
fame among older fans because of his pre-horror career, and the 60s
horror movies and TV roles introduced him to younger fans, so it was
just a case of being in the right place at the right time and finding a
way to exploit the opportunities that came his way.
Some critics have
claimed that Price represents a sort of rebel figure that 60s-era young
people related to; even though he was well into his middle years, there
was something about Price that symbolized the youth movement of the
time. Frankly, I think the Price characters more often than not
represent the older generation; many of his performances are as
characters who represent an obsolete way of life, such as the
aristocratic types trying to hold onto their non-democratic way of life
in 19th century America in
House of Usher and especially
Dragonwyck. I
think young viewers in the 60s may have related more to the young
protagonists in Price's Poe films. But at the end of the day, the #1
factor in Price's rise to fame seems to be his charisma and sense of
humor, which shines through in so many otherwise serious performances.
I don't agree with many critics who claim the actor didn't take his
roles seriously; his best roles, even when there are comic overtones,
demonstrate his sense of timing (comic and otherwise) and make wonderful
use of his voice. Still, there is a twinkle in his eye in pretty much
everything he did, and I think people of all ages were attracted to
it - and some of us still are!
VV: Tell us about some of your other favorite classic horror movies and stars.
I must confess that Vincent Price is not my favorite horror
star - he's #2 on my list, following very closely on the heels of Peter
Cushing. My affection for Peter Cushing is largely a matter of timing;
he was in
Star Wars, which I saw on its original release, and that film
really cemented my love not just for fantasy, sci fi, and horror, but
for film in general.
Star Wars changed my life, and I think the fact
that Cushing was in it made me such a hardcore fan. Of course, it also
is true that I became a rabid Hammer Horror fan in the middle and late
70s, and Cushing is such an icon of those pictures. Of all the horror
movie stars, I think Cushing is the one who most often gave 100% - no
matter how crappy the movie might be or how small the role. Cushing's
face, particularly his eyes, were so good at conveying evil and
villainy, but they were also perfect for conveying goodness and heroism. I am always impressed when my film students react to him - these young
folks, some of whom were born after Cushing's death, somehow seem to
relate to him more than the other Horror Heroes, at least based on the
few films I have time to show during a semester. And as I mentioned
before,
Horror of Dracula has been my favorite horror film - my favorite
film, period, quite honestly - for decades.
Obviously, this means I love
Christopher Lee as well! I am so glad he's still around, still making
movies in his 90s! I am also glad that directors like Peter Jackson and
Tim Burton are using Lee and introducing him to a new generation of
fans. Lee is also getting the honors for his career that the other
Horror Heroes never dreamed of - his knighthood, for instance, represents
to me a sort of indirect acknowledgement of the contributions to the
entertainment industry made by Cushing, Karloff, Rathbone, and many
other fine British performers. The same goes for his Lifetime
Achievement Award from the British Film Institute. I just hope the
Academy Award will honor his work before it's too late! I met Lee
briefly back in 1999, so that's a highlight of my film fan career!
I
also love the work of Bela Lugosi, whom I think is a seriously
underrated actor. I definitely prefer him to Karloff, even though
Karloff's movies tend to be better. Frankly, as much as I love Karloff,
he phoned in a lot more performances than Lugosi. I am quite proud of
my familiarity with old horror movies, and even I can't tell Karloff's
"mad doctor" films from the 30s and 40s apart! Of course, when Karloff
was on his game, as in the
Frankenstein films or
The Mummy or
Targets,
he's nothing short of amazing.
I am less familiar with the Chaneys,
especially Lon Sr., many of whose films are now lost, but I like them as
well. I suppose I should list some other favorite classic horror films
to your readers, so here goes:
The Flesh and the Fiends (Cushing and
Donald Pleasance),
The Wicker Man (the original with Lee),
Island of Terror (Cushing),
The Human Monster (Lugosi),
Son of Frankenstein
(Karloff, Lugosi, Rathbone, and Lionel Atwill),
Tower of London
(Karloff, Rathbone, Price),
Tomb of Ligeia and
The Masque of the Red Death (both with Price),
The Haunted Palace (Price and Chaney Jr), and
one of my very favorites, the criminally underrated cult film
Scream and Scream Again (with Price, Lee, and Cushing).
VV: What other books about classic horror movies can you recommend to readers?
The trivia book I
wrote with Ken Beck and Jim Clark is the closest thing to those big old
picture books of my childhood, as it contains a lot more information
than just trivia, but it has been out for a few years. I strongly
recommend David J. Skal's books, especially
Hollywood Gothic and
The Monster Show, as Skal is sort of the dean of classic horror movie
experts these days, and a mighty fine writer as well. There are a few
other books about Vincent Price; the ones I recommend most highly are
the biography his daughter Victoria wrote and Dennis Meikle's excellent
study from 2003. My single favorite horror movie book of all time is
David Pirie's
A Heritage of Horror, which came out in 1973 and was
really the first serious study of British horror movies. A great book
and highly influential, even though Pirie for some reason called
Phibes
the worst British horror film made since 1945! Pirie revised and
expanded the book in 2008, and I noticed he took the anti-
Phibes comment
out of the new edition! Jonathan Rigby has two great books,
English Gothic and
American Gothic, that I highly recommend. I also suggest
scouring used bookstores and eBay for copies of those great old picture
books from the 70s: anything by Dennis Gifford, Alan Frank, Everson,
and Clarens is worth reading. And if you have younger fans in the
house, consider finding copies of Tom Aylesworth's books. Look what
they've done for me!
VV: How does an expert on classic horror movies celebrate Halloween? Any special plans this year?
Actually, I will be doing a book signing at Dalton State College,
where I teach English and film, and I will also be running a
horror/Halloween trivia game. It should be lots of fun!
Jonathan's books are available at online at booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com, and you can also get
Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price on Kindle. Both books make great Halloween treats (or Christmas gifts) for serious horror fans!
