Vincent Price was synonymous with horror. His indelible voice and a piercing stare could topple the characters around him when he played campy and aristocratic villains who, many times, we didn’t want to see get defeated.
Price’s first collaboration with producer and director Roger Corman in adapting the literature of Edgar Allan Poe was House of Usher (1960), but was that his best role in their partnership? I think that honor should go to another Poe adaptation.
This is my ranking of the five best roles of Vincent Price.
5. Witchfinder General (1968)
‘Witchfinder General’Credit: Tigon Pictures
Set during the English Civil War of the mid-1600s, men and women are accused of witchcraft by the self-appointed “Witchfinder General,” Matthew Hopkins (Price), who uses religious fanaticism to fuel his reign of terror.
Directed by Michael Reeves, Witchfinder General is loosely based on the real-life Matthew Hopkins, and in the role, Price never brings out the flamboyant wickedness that he could do so well. His depiction of Hopkins is unsettling as we watch a man order the torture and execution of innocent people with cruel indifference.
It’s one of the actor’s best roles, but this bleak movie just isn’t as fun to rewatch as his others.
4. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
‘The Great Mouse Detective’Credit: Buena Vista Distribution
Price gets to be a Disney villain in this rodent-themed take on Sherlock Holmes, The Great Mouse Detective, adapting the children’s book series, Basil of Baker Street.
As humans go about their day in Victorian London, they are unaware of the animal society that lives by their feet, where a mouse detective goes looking for a toymaker who has been kidnapped by the criminal mastermind Professor Ratigan (Price).
The actor’s iconic voice is a hallmark of his live-action roles, so it’s no shock that it is a perfect fit for animation. He goes big, which is exactly what the arrogant and evil Ratigan needs as he towers over the mice characters, while singing a villain song and plotting to overthrow the Mouse Queen.
3. Dragonwyck (1946)
‘Dragonwyck’Credit: 20th Century-Fox
Farm girl Miranda (Gene Tierney) accepts the invitation from her distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryn (Price) to come to his estate, Dragonwyck, along the Hudson River. Soon, Miranda realizes the life of luxury demands a deadly cost.
In the directorial debut of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this Gothic drama was an early villainous turn by Price for a subdued performance compared to his later bad men. The charisma of Nicholas is seductive. In one scene, a visiting doctor admits to being nervous around Nicolas: “He watches me all the time too with those icy eyes of his. Sometimes, I think he’s mesmerizing.” The doc could be talking about our reaction to Price.
There is something wrong with Nicolas, but Price bottles the malice until it slips when his authority is challenged, and then completely spills out during the last twenty minutes.
2. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
‘The Masque of the Red Death’Credit: American International Pictures
After a plague infects a village, Prince Prospero (Price) confines himself to his castle, inviting his wealthy friends to seek shelter as well. Debauchery and hedonism ensue, but the castle may not be the stronghold the prince believes it to be.
The Masque of the Red Death has a deliciously corrupt performance by Price in one of the final Corman-Price collaborations that adapted Poe. Everything is extravagant on-screen, from the lavish, colorful sets to the darkness of the Devil-worshipping Prospero.
But Price’s best role brings what he did throughout his career into one homicidal, over-the-top character.
1. Theater of Blood (1973)
‘Theater of Blood’Credit: United Artists
After faking his death, stage actor Edward Lionheart (Price) plans to have the final word on the critics who wrote negative reviews of him in a series of murders inspired by the plays of Shakespeare.
Price mastered how to play camp villainy, and what he does as the vengeful thespian in Theatre of Blood might just be the showcase of his career. He delivers famous soliloquies on a dilapidated stage in one scene; he orchestrates stylized, ghastly kills in the next.
It’s a horror-comedy where Price is having the time of his life as he turns Lionheart into a tragic monster who is consumed by his rancor.
What do you think is Vincent Price’s best role?
