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My boyfriend is new to the B-movie horror scene, and alas I am no expert, but not a novice either. We recently watched Tales of Terror through amazon prime and he liked it. He wants to see more Vincent Price. This weekend we're going to watch three movies starring the classic actor himself.  Which three would, and in what order do you think is good to break in a newbie?

My thoughts so far...

The House on Haunted Hill
House of Wax
House of Usher

Then maybe more like The Abomidable Dr Phibes and The Tingler

If anyone has better suggestion, i'm open.  thanks

Price has lots of great performances, it's almost hard to go wrong.

For an introductory trio I think I'd probably go with

ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES
THEATER OF BLOOD (a great hammy performance with Price playing a hammy actor)
WITCHFINDER GENERAL (his evilest role, based on a real-life witch hunter)

but HOUSE OF WAX is also a good choice. THE TINGLER is a good one if you want a "bad" movie in there, and I think Price is hilarious as an acerbic undertaker in THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (an underrated movie).

I've never seen Comedy of Terrors, but heard good things. Its available free on Amazon prime so will add that to the list. I really liked Peter Lorre and Vincent playing off each other in Tales of Terror, so it has to be good if not better in Comedy of Terrors.

Thanks for your advice.

Theatre of Blood
I Go Pogo
Dr. Goldfoot and The Girl Bombs

I'd go for Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine instead if for no other reason its opening song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpBeM9ujJY

Makes me smile.

That's why I recommended Dr. Goldfoot and The Girl Bombs instead of Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.  :smile: :teddyr: :smile: :teddyr:

BIKINI MACHINE fer sure. Can't believe Mario Bava directed the sequel...

THEATER OF BLOOD

THE RAVEN.
Always loved Vinnie's sense of humor.

I agree, he has some great lines. One of my favorites is from House of the Long Shadows in his role as Lionel Grisbane...

"Please don't interrupt me whilst I am soliloquizing"

Whatever Corman Poe films he was in would be great.

This would probably be better till later on but I love him in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, but that's because it's not a role you typically see him in.

I loved him in the Pit and the Pendulum. 

I'd also go with House on Haunted Hill and the Abominable Dr. Phibes. 



While it wouldn't be one of my choices, I also have to give a quick shout out to his cameo in Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. 

Theatre of Blood - this is the Vincent Price movie, as far as I'm concerned.  He gets to show off a greater range than usual, and the entire movie plays like a tribute to his long and successful career.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes - watch Price out-act everyone around him without so much as speaking or even changing his facial expression!  It's amazing to behold.

Witchfinder General - Price's finest villainous performance.

I cant agree more! Were eye to eye!

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL sure belongs in a Bad movies forum!   :smile:  Hey, with CAROL OHMART, it's hard not to love HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.   

For VINCENT PRICE I'd go for: 

1) BRIGHAM YOUNG (1940) despite PRICE's relatively small part (and DEAN JAGGER as the title character) it may be PRICE's best performance. 

2) DRAGONWYCK (1946 with GENE TIERNEY and despite her ethereal loveliness) it works remarkably well and in large part to VINCENT PRICE. 

3) THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) Another great performance. 

I love Vincent Price!  I can watch him in anything!  I think the 3 you chose are really good for an introduction.

I haven't seen all his movies, but right off the top of my head I would pick:
The Raven
Twice Told Tales
The Monster Club

I don't know if they're available on Amazon Prime though.  Have fun!

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/House_on_Haunted_Hill.jpg/377px-House_on_Haunted_Hill.jpg)

I agree with all the choices thus far but here's three others:

1. HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS
2. THE JACKALS (Vincent Price in a South African western?  :question:)
3. THE FLY

All good choices,Trev-I ll add -
.THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM-"No one shall ever enter this room again."My brother Mike-when I was a little kid in 1969 pushed me in the closet and locked it-and he screamed that line-I was terrified.
.The TINGLER-Vinnie freaks out on an acid trip.
.actually-Ive never seen a Vincent Price movie I didnt Like! ALL his movies-no matter how corny--were made good just by him being in them! he was an (as Jon Lovitt would say) an AC-TOR!!!!

EVERYTHING is better with Vincent Price!   :thumbup:

 :buggedout: :buggedout:

The only trouble that The Jackals ever caused me was when I was carrying its' 35mm reels around and I dropped two of them on my foot.  :buggedout: :teddyr:

The Haunted Palace has always been a favorite of mine.

For me, there three traits of Vincent that I dig.
The unique voice. Even Rick Little had a bear of a time mimicking him

The sense of fun he could bring to an outrageous role. Never took his business too seriously.

And the moustache. Not a lot of guys can pull that one off.

His voice is like none other and he can narrate the crap out of anything. One of my favs is his narration in the Burton short Vincent. Of course his one man show in an Evening With Edgar Alan Poe is great too.

Another trait I love, those eye brows! He could arch those babies for any emotion he wanted, even for a laugh.

All of these are great choices. To me Vincent Price was a cinematic treasure. And do try and find "A Comedy of Terrors"....his sense of humor is wicked! His cameo in "Edward Scissorhands" was small and quite sad.

This is a very good list to start with, actually.  It kind of depends on what your boyfriend likes.  The Tingler is a blast.  Some of my other favorites are Pit & the Pendulum, Last Man on Earth.

Another lesser seen but very entertaining one is The Mad Magician that features Price in a variety of disguises and impersonations.

Have fun!

Vincent Price makes better whatever he's in. Sure at times he can be quite hammy but usually in a good and fun way. Completely agree with akiratubo's picks Theater of Blood, Abominable Dr. Phibes and Witchfinder General as his best films. Also quite good are The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia and House of Wax. He's terrific fun in The Raven and House on Haunted Hill too. One I personally like that rarely seems to get mentioned featuring him is Diary of a Madman.

Laura; Shock; Dragonwyck

I let him pick out from your replies which we would watch first...

1. House of Wax
2. House on Haunted Hill
The third we wanted Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, but decided to go with the free movies on Amazon Prime or Netflix so it's between Witchfinder General, The Raven, or Theater of Blood

Thanks again for your help!

Why stop at 3? For those looking for something w/ Price in 'em, here are 11 more that have yet to be mentioned, I believe.

3 Best Performances
Champagne for Caesar
and the game show craze of the '50's.

ronald colman -- celeste holm -- art linkletter (in one of his few big screen appearances) -- and the voice of Mel Blanc.

His Kind of Woman
Price goes south to Mexico and finds trouble. W/

robert mitchum, as the hero -- jane russell, as the heroine -- raymond burr, as the villain -- and tim holt -- charles mcgraw -- jim backus -- anthony caruso -- robert cornthwaite -- mamie van doren -- and paul frees.

Whales of August
I was going to mention "Dragonwyck," but that has already been mentioned, so w/ , , ,

bette davis -- lillian gish -- ann sothern -- mary steenburgen -- and harry carey, jr.

3 most unusual films
House of the Seven Gables
He sings. He plays the piano. He doesn't dance, but for once, he plays the hero. W/

george sanders, as the villain -- margaret lindsay, as the heroine -- dick foran -- cecil kellaway -- and alan napier.

Baron of Arizona
Trevor mentioned "The Jackals," which was based on the American western "Yellow Sky," but Price made a surprising number of westers. This is probably his best and is  based on a true story. W/

ellen drew -- and beulah bondi.

The Big Circus
Think of it as the poor man's  version of "The Greatest Show on Earth." W/

price as the ringmaster and red herring -- peter lorre as a clown (There's a scary thought.) -- victor mature as the circus owner -- gilbert roland as the aerialist -- and red buttons -- rhonda fleming -- david nelson (Yes, that david nelson) -- and steve allen in a cameo.

3 best non-horror films
Are not the films in which he starred, but in which he co-starred with alot of other co-stars. Surprisingly, or maybe not, all are inspirational in nature. Not so surprisingly, he plays a somewhat villainous character in all 3.

The Keys of the Kingdom
gregory peck in his 1st big role -- thomas mitchell -- roddy mcdowell -- peggy ann garner -- edmund gwenn -- sir cedric hardwicke -- james gleason -- anne revere -- benson fong -- philip ahn -- richard loo -- arthur shields -- sara allgood -- and dennis hoey.



Song of Bernadette

jennifer jones -- charles bickford -- lee j. cobb -- gladys cooper -- ann revere -- sig ruman -- blanche yurka -- jerome cowan -- alan napier -- ian wolfe -- and linda darnell as the Virgin Mary.


The Ten Commandments (1956)

charlton heston -- yul brynner -- anne baxter -- edward g. robinson -- yvonne de carlo -- debra paget -- john derek -- sir cedric hardwicke -- nina foch -- martha scott -- dame judith andersen -- john carradine -- douglas dumbrille -- frank dekova -- henry wilcoxon -- h. b. warner -- Woody strode -- henry brandon -- mike (touch) connors -- clint walker -- and fraser clarke heston as the baby Moses.

And before they became famous . . .

herb alpert -- michael ansara -- richard farnsworth -- robert fuller -- jon peters -- and robert vaughan.

They knew how to cast a film in the days of old.

A final two fun films

Tower of London (1939)
Price got an early start in horror, and he got off to a good start. W/

basil rathbone as richard iii -- boris karloff as mord, the baldheadedand clubfooted executioner -- and mr. waverley himself leo g. carroll as lord hastings.

Casanova's Big Night
Price has little more than a cameo as the title main character, but . . . while not everyone plays a villain, this film probably has the greatest cast of villainous actors ever gathered for one film. W/

bob hope as the hero -- joan fontaine as the heroine -- and basil rathbone -- arnold moss -- john carradine -- john hoyt -- hope emerson -- raymond burr -- primo carnera -- frank puglia -- paul cavanagh -- henry brandon -- douglas fowley -- nestor pavia -- skelton knagg and lon chaney, jr. virtually unrecognizable behind the facial hair.

I'd also suggest trying to track down his guest apperance on the Muppet Show.  he was actually pretty cool there too.

I forgot about Diary of a Madman: creepy stuff with the unseen killer that calls Vincent Price's character "Magistrit"  :teddyr:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned his turn as the Invisable Man-reprisesing Claude Rains role in the 1933 classic-in the INVISABLE MAN RETURNS (1940) his first starring horror role!
Trivia time!-Vinnie also did the voice of the Invisable Man at the end of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)-his only screen (non)appearance with Bela Lugosi!

Hmmm.....

HOUSE OF WAX
THEATER OF BLOOD
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

Also, I have to give a shout-out to his "Thriller" guest appearance :twirl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA

Not his first association with music-check him out with Alice Cooper-the Black Widow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVHUyDxmi_Q

and F Troop

aye aye Captain Bligh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0pr15VLMK8

As a kid, I first saw him in Master of the World (1961).  It thrilled me no end, to the point where I was drawing contraptions like he used in the movie.  I barely remember it now, although as a seven or eight year old I thought it was fabulous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxO5Z4nNq0

Other than just saying 'hey why pick only three' I'll add another vote to the first Dr Phibes.  Any movie that has someone being killed by a unicorn statue is a-ok in my book.

You've pretty much covered the classics.

 I would add:

MADHOUSE

and

THE LAST MAN OF EARTH.

If "The Last Man on Earth" seems a lot like "Night of the Living Dead there is a good reason for that. They are both loosely based on the book "I am Legend," which spawned the Will Smith movie of the same name and the Charlton Heston classic "Omega Man." This movie was truly ahead of it's time by a few years.
"Madhouse" is the same kind of role Vincent Price has done many times before. But it is still one of his best performances.

Kudos to The Last Man On Earth!  Not sure it would be one of my faves in the top 3, but if I had to do a 3-movie set, it would be:

House On Haunted Hill
The Pit And The Pendulum
The Tingler

Not that I haven't seen his other movies, I just like the fun factor of HOHH and Tingler, and chose "Pit" for a serious one because he was truly wacked in that one. Kudos to a young and pretty cute Barbara Steele too!  :cheers: