Twice-Told Tales
September. 01,1963 NR3 horror stories based on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the 1st story titled "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Heidegger attempts to restore the youth of three elderly friends. In "Rappaccini's Daughter", a demented father is innoculating his daughter with poison so she may never leave her garden of poisonous plants. In the final story "The House of the Seven Gables", The Pyncheon family suffers from a hundred year old curse and while in the midst of arguing over inheritance, a stranger arrives.
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Absolutely Brilliant!
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Three-part horror anthology: in the first story, Sebastian Cabot finds what appears to be the elixir of youth, and re-animates his long-dead wife-to-be to boot; some good (for the time) "morphing" effects, and the payoff is both amusing and grim. In the second story (my favorite), Brett Halsey, a university student, falls in love with neighbor beauty Joyce Taylor (who gives a strong, sympathetic performance), but if touches her, he will die! Her father, Vincent Price, has turned her into living poison so that she will never be tempted by "sin". This story is more of a romantic tragedy (ala "Romeo And Juliet") than horror. In the third tale, Vincent Price returns to his (cursed!) ancestral house, determined to find a hidden vault, while his young wife (Beverly Garland, with her exquisite cheekbones) gets weird premonitions, as if someone is trying to communicate with her - from beyond the grave! This story is a little too long and clichéd, but well-done and positively shocking in some spots. Price demonstrates his versatility (playing 3 quite different characters in the same film!), and also provides opening and closing narration for each story, in his inimitable voice. *** out of 4.
Three stories make up "Twice Told Tales", and only the first is worth mentioning. That's "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", and all three were written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Vincent Price is in all three, but none of these stories have any visible scare quotient. In fact, the stories aren't horror stories but melodramas put on screen by MGM. No atmosphere, no moody photography and no scary moments."Rappaccini's Daughter" is the second and is about a radioactive plant and a girl infected by it and is not that interesting. The third is a truncated version of "The House Of The Seven Gables", which does not stick to the original story and is the least scary - and the least interesting of the three. You can read other reviewers for a summary of the three but the entire product is not worth the trouble to record it, much less watch it.
This is a stately, intelligent, three part horror omnibus feature adapted from stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's good enough to compare favourably with the best films in the Price / Roger Corman / A.I.P. series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. The slow pacing and length of the film may not sit well for some people, but others will take delight in the atmosphere, the performances, the story telling, and all the trappings of the genre. This also benefits from some decent special effects and capable direction by Sidney Salkow (who also guided star Vincent Price in "The Last Man on Earth").In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Price stars with Sebastian Cabot as they play elderly friends Alex Medbourne and Dr. Carl Heidegger. One dark and stormy night, they enter the crypt of Carls' long dead wife Sylvia Ward (Mari Blanchard), who is restored to life and youth by some miraculous, strange liquid seeping into the crypt. It also restores youth to Alex and Carl when they sample the liquid, but there are consequences for their actions - as well as some secrets that will be exposed. The single most enjoyable aspect of this segment is Cabots' wonderful, heartfelt performance.Price plays Giacomo Rappaccini in "Rappaccini's Daughter". In addition to his lovely daughter Beatrice (Joyce Taylor), Giacomo has a rather lush garden - and Beatrice has something in common with the dangerous plants and flowers in this garden. Well intentioned young Giovanni Guasconti (Brett Halsey) yearns to be her suitor, but Giacomo seeks to interfere. This portion of the picture can boast a clever and interesting premise.Price is the villain, Gerald Pyncheon, in an abbreviated version of "The House of the Seven Gables". (23 years earlier, he'd played the hero in a feature length adaptation of this story.) Gerald and his younger wife Alice (Beverly Garland) arrive at the family home so he can search for the treasures hidden on the premises. Alice is witness to supernatural phenomena and learns of a feud between the Pyncheon and Maulle clans. Handsome Richard Denning co-stars as the heroic Jonathan Maulle. Garland is very appealing, and Price has fun just as he always did with his villainous roles.Fans of old school horror, anthologies, and the actors involved will likely have a good time with "Twice-Told Tales". While Salkow and company dare to take their time with the pacing, patient viewers will be pleased with the results.Eight out of 10.
Another triple play of Poe/Price, like Tales of Terror, but without Corman, and not quite as good. The stories are a bit too nice... a bit melodramatic and drawn out. The tales are Heidegger's Experiment, Rappaccini's Daughter and The House of Seven Gables, and the stories are really the stars. Heidegger's explores that nugget of eternal life, Rappaccini's is about the relationship of poison and purity and Seven Gables is a twisted ghost/blood feud with lots and lots of blood. All three are certainly unusual topics, but I'd say Heidegger's and Rappacini's were my favourite. Again, the sets and design were fantastic, if limited in scope and the actresses beautiful (especially Garland and Taylor). The attention to detail is remarkable. Still, it's something only a Price/Poe fan will love, which is fine by me.