In 1765, the citizens of Arkham, Massachusetts, are suspicious of the Grand Palace that looks over the town because of rumors that the owner, Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) is a warlock. A young girl wanders up to the palace gates in a trance and is led by Curwen and his mistress Hester Tillinghast (Cathie Merchant) down into the dungeons. An unseen creature rises from a pit. When the townspeople see the girl wandering off, they believe she has been bewitched and they confront the owner. They drag Curlew out to a tree and intend to burn him. The mob leader, Ezra Weeden (Leo Gordon), insists that they must not harm Hester. Before being burned alive, Curwen puts a curse on Arkham and all who live there. He promises to rise from the grave for his revenge.
In 1875, 110 years later, Curwen’s great-great-grandson, Charles Dexter Ward (also Vincent Price) arrives with his wife Anne (Debra Paget), having inherited the palace. They find the townspeople hostile and are disturbed to see the horrific deformities of many. Charles is surprised to discover that the palace seems familiar and is intrigued by his own similarity to a portrait of Curwen. They meet Simon Orne (Lon Chaney Jr.), the caretaker, who dismisses the townspeople’s hostility. Gradually, Charles becomes obsessed with Curwen’s portrait, and his personality begins to change.
Charles and Anne befriend the local doctor, Marinus Willet (Frank Maxwell), who explains about Curwen’s death and his curse, which the townspeople believe is responsible for their deformities. There is a story about Curwen possessing a book of black magic called the Necronomicon, which has the power to summon the Elder Gods Cthulu and Yog-Sothoth. Curwen wanted to mate human women with the gods to create a race of super-humans, and this has caused the deformities. The townspeople believe that Curwen has returned for his revenge. The Doctor suggests that Charles and Anne leave town.
Charles insists on staying put, as he is falling under some kind of spell. He is possessed by the spirit of Curwen and reunites with two other warlocks—caretaker Simon Orne and Jabez Hutchison (Milton Parsons), who are themselves possessed by their ancestors. They expect to resurrect Hester. Curwen tells them that Charles is fighting him, but he begins his revenge. He kills Ezra Weeden’s descendant Edgar (Leo Gordon again) by releasing Weeden’s monstrously deformed son from the room he is locked in, and attacks Micah Smith’s descendant Peter (Elijah Cook) with fire. He takes control of Charles and tries to rape Anne. She asks Doctor Willet for help, but Curwen tries to convince the Doctor that she is insane. Hester is resurrected.
The townspeople find Peter Smith’s corpse and storm the palace. Doctor Willet and Anne try to rescue Charles and find a secret entrance to the dungeons, where they are ambushed by Curwen and his associates. Anne is offered as a mate to the creature in the pit. The townspeople break in and begin to destroy the palace. They destroy Curwen’s portrait and Curwen loses control over Charles. He releases Anne and Willet helps her escape. He returns to rescue Charles. The Doctor and Charles manage to escape the flames. Charles and Anne thank Willet, but Curwen is clearly still in control of Charles.
The film was directed by Roger Corwin. It was advertised as being from the pen of Edgar Allan Poe, but it was actually based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft. Corwin had purposely made a switch from Poe, but AIP changed the title and threw in a few lines from an 1839 poem by Poe, against Corwin’s wishes. It was Debra Paget’s last film. Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man) appeared only this once in a Corwin film. He had appeared in Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein with Vincent Price, but only the latter’s voice was in that film. Francis Ford Coppola wrote some of the dialogue. Some of the shots of the castle came from The Raven. Of course, it ends with the house burning down in stock footage from House of Usher.
It was the first appearance of a Lovecraft story on film, which had first been published in serial form in Volume 35 of Weird Tales Magazine and was later published by Arkham House in 1943. The town of Arkham, Massachusetts was wholly created by Lovecraft. The resurrection of Hester is an echo of Princess Ankh-esen-amun in The Mummy (1932). Curwen mentions that his palace was once owned by Tomas de Torquemada (1420-1498), Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. This is certainly one of the best Vincent Price/Roger Corwin films. Price is in top form and the rest of the actors are quite good. The atmosphere is top-notch creepy, perhaps because they finally stopped lighting up the sets for color film and let them remain dark and gloomy. As I was watching this film on my computer, listening to the storm and thunder, a spider walked across my desk.