Customer Reviews

Vincent Price

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The multi-faceted pov of this book -- what with different critics reviewing the most important films of Price's oeuvre -- is both its greatest asset and biggest shortcoming. Some of the critics are wildly off the mark, some of them celebrating the mediocre and others unfairly damning minor genre gems. I caught a couple of factual errors, too, although by and large the book passed the scrutiny of a rather discriminating fan. The most enjoyable aspect of this book, for me, was the asides where almost all the guest critics confided a personal encounter with Vincent Price -- a fan letter answered, an autograph, an impromptu interview session. In fact, the mosaic of these individual encounters seemed to create a cohesive substance to the book that otherwise may have been lacking. The Lawrence French interviews were quite nice to include -- and it is worth noting that the editors did seem to go out of their way to include lesser known photographs as illustration. Also quite nice was the essay about Price's radio work -- surely one of the lesser known sides of his higly versatile career.

The best part about this book is the variety of Price-related topics, from a Tim Burton short to his television work. His most popular movies are covered, from either a critical stand-point to a historical one, and each and every chapter is flavored with a selection from a very large interview with Vincent Price himself, never-before published. Of all the horror stars to grace the radio waves, Price was the most versitile, as apparent in an excellent chapter about his radio performances. Not only did Vincent Price guest, star or host on a variety of American and British radio series, but comedies, movie adaptations and WWII radio relief programs are also covered. A job well done for Midnight Marquee!

Although I thought several chapters of this book covered ground that was too familiar,with several chapters being little more that plot summary, there are several chapters that are quite astute, as is the selection of stills, many never widely seen before. Undoubtedly the best feature is a long interview with Price, by Lawrence French, placed next to each film chapter under discussion. A Q & A interview segment with Price also opens and closes the book. Since each film covered is by a different author, the results, like Price's own films, vary greatly (from good to awful).

I've read this book with passion. The first chapters I turned to were, of course, the Vincent Price movies I loved the most. What makes this book so great is for the first time, Midnight Marquee actually featured a chapter on Vincent Price's radio work. That fascinated me more than anyone else and the author of that specific chapter, Martin Grams, Jr., needs to be commended. What Gregory Mank does for horror films in the realm of documentation, Martin Grams, Jr. does for radio. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Although LCW has the trophy on books about Vincent Price, this is a thoroughly interesting read. You'll agree wholeheartedly with some of the views of the various authors and shake your head sadly at some of the others, but it's always engaging. The usual MidMar high quality!

I purchased a copy of this book on Amazon.com and enjoyed each chapter. The fact that each dealt with a different movie, and different subject about Vincent Price's career was remarkable. The best chapter is the one written by Martin Grams, Jr., about Vincent Price's radio career. I was amazed to learn how much radio Price did, and his love for the medium. The editors did a wonderful job on this one.