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A Masterpiece!

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 easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Bound together in one package, three stories from writer Nathaniel Hawthorne are presented in one collection.The Good Stor(ies): Dr. Heidegger's Experiment-Dining together, two friends start in on his long-deceased wife and his desire to see her again. As he continues on into the night, they notice her crypt disturbed during a thunderstorm and investigate, venturing into her tomb. Finding a water-vein that drips onto it, they find that it preserves eternal youth, only for there to be grave consequences. This is a frustratingly uneven segment. There's a lot to love with it's Gothic atmosphere on display, from the raging thunderstorm that opens it that sets the mood for this almost perfectly to the way the tomb looks and its overall layout all provide general Gothic ambiance and feeling. Perhaps the best is the standout shock scene that occurs when the discovery of its effects wear off, and one turns around to see a bride standing as a skeleton wearing the dress, where just a moment before was seen to be fully viewed as a human, before crumbling to dust. The segment hits a low-point, though, when it concerns the endless prattling on over the love and marriage. It just goes on and becomes somewhat irritating, especially the amount of time that's devoted to that issue. The positives, though, outweigh the negatives.The House of the 7 Gables-Returning to his home, a man immediately causes a stir between the women in his life over the supposed family curse. Laughing it off as mere superstition, he goes about in search of a long-lost treasure that will help him with his gambling debts to her utter contempt. As events occur within the house that lead them to believe something is wrong, he goes about trying to do whatever is possible to rid the curse upon the family and find the treasure before it affects him as well. This is another mixed segment which had some good points and bad ones, but it's a much stronger segment and is it's best one overall. One of the best aspects is the fact that this one feels like it's an actual segment, as there's a much more thought-out and complete aspect to this one missing from the others. The story is really strong and actually has some strength to it, managing to break free of its clichéd trappings and deliver some nice thrills, including some really nifty floating action early on and throughout the middle segment as well. The house has an appropriately creepy feel, inspired by the Gothic classics and working just as well as any other entry here with some rather impressive and spectacular showings from the finale. As the house begins to crumble, as per usual, a fantastic shock scene erupts from the painting that is simply incredibly delivered, and there's the rush as the search-and-rescue carries on while the house still crumbles, and upon exiting, the house is singularly destroyed once and for all in a classic shot that is far better than anything else attempted with that style. The story here and the attempts of the film to play off them are where it scores best, and almost all those scenes score nicely. It's just simply hurt by a clichéd and completely un-surprising romance angle that develops, which can't be too hard to guess, is set-up to come out exactly like it anyways and just drags the segment, and the film as a whole, out much longer than needed. Otherwise, there's enough positives here to lift the segment up anyways.The Bad Stor(ies): Rappacini's Daughter-Moving into a new house, a man finds that his neighbor lives alone with her father and tries to be friends. When she constantly backs away from his advances, he tries to understand why they are so fearful of others, only to be stone-walled at every turn. When he finally discovers the true reason for their condition, he races to stop them before it becomes too late. This is an extremely disappointing segment that really should've been much better than it actually is. One of the main flaws is that there's very little action to it. There's a pattern of a meeting she blows off cryptically, his investigation into the family followed by another meeting, starting off the same cycle and it gets rather boring. There's also a quite questions that go unanswered in it. There's little that's said about how the surgery worked that gave her the condition in the first place, or even how the poison managed not to kill her to begin with. It does a rather poor job explaining these, along with a couple others in here as well. Despite this, there's some good to be had. The effectiveness of the poison is well-done, conveyed through several nice scenes where the power is demonstrated to great effect, and there's some real suspense to be had when we know but he doesn't, and the potential is there as the premise to this is nice, but it's shot down due to the focus on the lame love story, and overall becomes a huge missed opportunity.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence.

Sidney Salkow directed these three adaptations of Nathanial Hawthorne stories starring Vincent Price & Sebastian Cabot: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" - A rejuvenation formula has unforeseen consequences in this nicely produced but routine story, with Price & Cabot in good form at least."Rappaccini's Daughter" - A man with an elaborate garden poisons his daughter so that she will never leave it, though it doesn't go according to plan... Ineffectual and forgettable."The House Of The Seven Gables" - A cursed family home brings about its inhabitants destruction in this ho-hum version; not bad, but not particularly memorable either.

So what was my main attraction to Twice-Told Tales? Vincent Price, one of my favourite actors and one who brings 100% no matter what the movie is like. Nathaniel Hawthorne is another good reason also. I actually enjoyed Twice-Told Tales. It does have some sparse production values, has moments where it is very stagy and talky and has ponderous pacing. It is in the third segment The House of the Seven Gables where these problems are especially prominent. The photography, some good effects and the acting, especially from Price, make the segment worth the watch at least, but it felt dull to me and tries to cram far too much in, which undermined the story-telling severely. Thankfully the other two segments really made up for it. On the whole the photography is lush, the dialogue provoking more thought and the stories much more interesting. Sidney Salkow's directing does show signs of efficiency, particularly in Rappacinni's Daughter. I wholly concur with the general consensus that the second segment Rappacinni's Daughter is the best one of the three, it is creepy and atmospheric, the most lush in look, is the most emotionally complex and has a really well-told story(it is also the most faithful to Hawthorne's writing). The first segment Dr. Heidegger's Experiment also has an effectively macabre feel, and I liked its more hopeful ending. The cast are very good in what are essentially examples of ensemble acting. Beverly Garland doesn't have a lot to do but makes the most of it. Richard Denning plays it straight and he is also not so bad. Sebastian Cabot brings to the table a very sympathetic performance, even if he has been better before, his rapport with Price is beautifully and subtly done. Jacqueline De Wit is a joy here, and the best of the support cast for me. Vincent Price is the film's best asset, he commands the screen effortlessly and all three of his roles play to his strengths. Overall, has a weak final third but two thirds of it, especially the second segment, are excellent. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Twice-Told Tales is a trio of horror stories based on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each story stars horror maestro Vincent Price, and this allows the man to show his range in a series of different roles throughout the film. All of Price's roles allow him to show his dark side, but it's the way that he is allowed to show this that makes each one stand out. Vincent Price is my favourite horror actor, and he's arguably the best ever. The fact that he stars in each segment of this film is reason enough alone to see it. The fact that every tale is good is another one. In true omnibus style, the first story is the least memorable; but it's still well worth seeing. We follow two friends who discover a virgin spring in the crypt of one of their loves. This story is good because it follows the ever-present dream of ever-lasting life. The way that the plot builds is somewhat predictable, but still good as we get to see the great horror master turn his performance around from do-gooder to something more sinister. Not the best opener to an omnibus film; but a long way from the worst.The second story is by far the best and, in a way, it's a shame that this story was a part of the omnibus. The second tale is a fairytale horror story of love, protection and madness and follows the tale of an overbearing father that takes steps to ensure that his daughter doesn't sin like her mother did. This story is a variation on the classic 'Romero and Julliet' story, and takes in all the tragedy of that tale by its conclusion. Tale number two is highly original and would make this film worth viewing even if the other two tales were absolute rubbish (which, of course, they're not). The third and final segment is the weakest of the trio, but still manages an excellent Gothic style and a solid story. The reason it's the weakest is mainly because it's really slow; but once it gets started, this tale of greed, witchcraft and murder provides a satisfying end to this trio of stories. With a running time of two hours, Twice-Told Tales is a very long omnibus; and it could have done with being a bit shorter. However, this doesn't harm it too much, and if you're a fan of sixties horror, and/or Vincent Price, this will be a must see.