Twice Told Tales

Released Oct 30, 1963

1h 59m

Horror

List

56%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Vincent Price stars in three horror stories. In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," Dr. Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot) reanimates his long-dead fiancée. In "Rappacini's Daughter," psychotically over-protective father Giacomo Rappacini (Price) injects his daughter, Beatrice (Joyce Taylor), full of poisons that kill anyone she comes into physical contact with. Finally, in "The House of the Seven Gables," Gerald Pyncheon (Price) moves into his cursed family mansion with his new wife.

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sean s

I am on the edge of remembering these kind of movies as a kid. You have to remember this is back in 1963 which is several lifetimes ago for many people. I remember those Nathanial Hawthorne stories in high school over 40 years ago. There wasn't a lot to pick from back then...Edgar Allen Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, Guy de Maupassant before Stephan King, Neil Gaiman, etc. came along. So, you have these Roger Corman-esque movies of the 60's...some have humor, some have great sets, but all give you into a window of the times before heavy duty gore and action took over...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

LOL, this movie is a ****ing drag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

Of the three stories featured in Twice-Told Tales, only one of them — "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" — is actually from the Nathaniel Hawthorne book. The other two — "Rappaccini's Daughter" and The House of the Seven Gables — come from another story and a book the author wrote. Much like Tales of Terror, all three of these stories feature Vincent Price as narrator and star. It was written and produced by Robert E. Kent, the man who brought Roy Orbison to the screen in The Fastest Guitar Alive. This was directed by Sidney Salkow, who also worked with Price on The Last Man Alive. In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot, The Time Machine) and Alex (Price) meet to celebrate Heidegger's 79th birthday. As they look back on their lives, they learn that Carl has never gotten over the death of his fiancee Sylvia. In a drunken depression, he wanders down to her grave, only to find her perfectly preserved. As he drinks the water that rains down on her coffin, the old man — and then his friend — become young again. Both of them decide to inject the dead woman with the water and she returns, only to inform Carl that Alex was her lover. The two men clash, only for Alex to die and Sylvia to wither to a skeleton. Alex wanders the crypt, unable to find any more of the water. While dramatic, this story doesn't match Hawthrone's, during which four older people use water that they've found from the legendary Fountain of Youth, near Lake Macaco in Florida. It doesn't end on such a down note either. "Rappaccini's Daughter" is the story of a man (Price) who has kept his daughter like a plant in a garden, treating her with the extract of an exotic plant that makes her very touch deadly. Yet what happens when she falls in love with a young man (Brett Halsey!)? This story inspired the DC Comics character Poison Ivy, while the story itself was based on Indian fairy tales of poisoned maidens. The pop culture life of this story also extends to the Fleetwood Mac song Running through the Garden." The last story is "House of the Seven Gables," which finds a cursed family, reincarnation, an inheritance and skeletal hands emerging to attack Price. The same story had been previously filmed in 1940 and also featured Price (he plays Gerald Pyncheon here; he played Clifford in the original). The Hawthorne novel was a major inspiration for H. P. Lovecraft, who claimed that it was "New England's greatest contribution to weird literature." You can detect the novel's shadow cast over his stories "The Picture in the House", "The Shunned House" and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. If you enjoy anthology horror and Vincent Price, this one's for you. If you don't, never speak to me again.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's that Vincent v/o… was it in his contract? Trilogy of Hawthorne based horror. Two old boys stumble on the elixir of youth, but take it too far. In the 2nd a daughter is trapped n a poison garden by her wicked father. The 3rd has some lovely touches still stolen today - bleeding walls and portraits. There's no doubting the intelligence - and the depth of colour is lovely - but it is a tad slow and heavy with Hawthorne morality.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

dave s

Twice Told Tales consists of three macabre love stories based on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first two were inspired by short stories (Dr Heidegger's Experiment, Rappaccini's Daughter) while the finale is based on Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables. All three stories start with some promise but are ultimately sabotaged in their climaxes by horrible and laughable special effects, typical of low budget films from that era. Each episode has the feel of an extended Twilight Zone episode, with the bonus of Technicolor. Vincent Price, who has lead roles in all three segments, is worth the price of admission. He hams it up as only Vincent Price can and seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself over the course of the film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

ashley h

Twice Told Tales is a disappointing film. It is about stories of murder, ghosts, romance and strange magical potions. Vincent Price and Sebastian Cabot give terrible performances. The screenplay is badly written. Sidney Salkow did a horrible job directing this movie. I was not impressed with this motion picture.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Sidney Salkow

Director

Vincent Price

Alex Medbourne

Sebastian Cabot

Dr. Carl Heidigger

Mari Blanchard

Sylvia Ward

Brett Halsey

Giovanni Guasconti

Richard Denning

Jonathan Maulle

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

It's too long, at 2 full hours, to be good "B" movie entertainment, it's not much of a horror movie, and the storytelling is too sloppy and haphazard to really stick.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 24, 2022

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Macabre tales, color-saturated sets, and prime Price performances.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 17, 2022

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Offers a few genuine thrills.

Rated: C+

Nov 15, 2008

Full Review

Steve Biodrowski

ESplatter

Twice Told Tales features beautiful Technicolor cinematography ... but it suffers from slow pacing and ... dull storytelling.

Jul 16, 2008

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

A ltima histria excessivamente longa e acaba prejudicando o filme com sua falta de ritmo, mas as duas primeiras oferecem momentos que compensam uma conferida.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 13, 2007

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Oct 6, 2005

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Synopsis

Vincent Price stars in three horror stories. In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," Dr. Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot) reanimates his long-dead fiancée. In "Rappacini's Daughter," psychotically over-protective father Giacomo Rappacini (Price) injects his daughter, Beatrice (Joyce Taylor), full of poisons that kill anyone she comes into physical contact with. Finally, in "The House of the Seven Gables," Gerald Pyncheon (Price) moves into his cursed family mansion with his new wife.

Director: Sidney Salkow
Screenwriter: Robert E. Kent
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Robert E. Kent Productions
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 30, 1963, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Runtime: 1h 59m

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