Thursday 3 April 2008

The Haunted Palace

Now here's a funny thing. Roger Corman made a series of low-budget but nonetheless spiffing movies based on stories by Poe. Then he suggested doing a Lovecraft-based story, and the studio gave the go-ahead. So Corman filmed Charles Beaumont's treatment of 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward', and cracking stuff it is. Not only Vincent Price, but Lon Chaney and the lovely Debra Paget (as lusted after by Pete 'n' Dud, I recall). So why did the studio decide to basically lie to the public and claim it was a Poe story? Doesn't really matter, it's great fun. Catch it if you can - it's only available as a Region 1 DVD, but you could just 'hack' your existing Region 2 to make it a multi-region player. I did it, so it can't be too taxing.

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'Schalken the Painter' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

A reading by yours truly of one of the all-time classics. I hope you enjoy it!  I'm told my voice sends people to sleep so maybe try it ...