Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Twice Told Tales was released in 1963 during an era in which the Anthology was quite popular and would remain that way until about the early 70s when they were being produced few and far between. Twice Told Tales stars horror legend Vincent Price and all 3 stories are written by Robert E. Kent based off the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and all 3 segments are directed by Sidney Salkow who also worked with Price on The Last Man on Earth.

The biggest complaint when it comes to Anthology's is a lot of the times people feel the stories needed to be longer, but in the case of Twice Told Tales I felt the opposite, with 3 stories in 120-minutes they seemed to drag on a bit longer than they needed to be. Despite my rating I did enjoy Twice Told Tales, but I do feel as if the running time on each story could have been cut down a bit and while it wouldn't make this a classic of the genre it would make it more enjoyable.

The first story was Heidegger's Experiment and in my opinion was the best of the three. This story is about a potion that can restore youth and not only preserve a body in perfect condition, but can also bring them back to life. This one is mostly filled with talk, but it's quite interesting and the potion leads to secrets, betrayal and murder. I quite enjoyed this story a lot, but in all honestly it could have been cut down by a few minutes to help the pacing. But when all is said and done this was highly enjoyable.

The 2nd story was Rappaccini's Daughter; Price plays Rappaccini and he infects his daughter with a poison, so she can never leave the garden and anything she touches dies. A young Brett Halsey also stars. Like the first story, this one tends to drag in some areas and while editing would have helped the pacing unlike the first story it wouldn't help that much. Rappaccini's Daughter is a good story, but also kind of boring at times. This one has Romeo and Juliet type ending and again is good, but slightly boring and a little on the slow side at times.

The last story is The House of Seven Gables and was probably the most interesting of the three, but doesn't quite work; it's slightly slow paced and at times just not that interesting where as other times it is very interesting. This one though is growing on me after another viewing or so, I would possibly rate this higher.

Overall Twice Told Tales is a fun Anthology, but has some pacing problems I would recommend this to those who like Anthology's and or Vincent Price. It's a decent watch, but doesn't hold up as well on repeated viewings in my opinion. The biggest problem really is the pacing. Like I said most complaints with Anthology's is the stories need more time where as in this one, they might have been better off with a lesser running time; Still worth checking out at least once.

Though the three stories contained in this collection are by no means good adaptations of the original sources,they are still worth viewing if only to watch the incomparable Vincent Price. The stories here are very loosely adapted from the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The first story "Dr Heidegger's Experiment" is perhaps the best of the three - it centers around two old friends who suddenly find the source of life and youth dripping from the ceiling of a crypt. Before long, the two friends restore their youth and also bring a long-dead corpse back to life but discover that some things are best left as is. "Rappacini's Daughter" is the weakest of the three - Vincent Price stars as Dr Rappacini, whose possessiveness of his daughter goes to literally toxic lengths with predictably tragic consequences. The plot here was rather plodding and lacked credibility as the story felt rushed through.

Finally,in "The House of the Seven Gables", Gerald Pycheon returns to his cursed ancestral home much to the chagrin of his estranged sister and the horror of his wife, who senses a strange affinity to the place. This story would have played out a lot better if it were not confined to the ridiculous length of abt 35 minutes [imagine an entire novel being shortened into a short story] and everything plays out so quickly and abruptly that the story ends up being more of a farce than true horror.

All in all, I'd recommend this to fans of Vincent Price and those who get a kick out of the classic horror movies of yesteryear.