I don't even know where to begin with Vincent Price. I guess for me, the first two roles I knew him from were Michael Jackson's Thriller (that voice!) and as Egghead from the 60's Batman series. Later he voiced the character of Vincent Van Ghoul in one of the Scooby Doo series from the 80's.
Then of course there was his appearance in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands, which is when I got interested in finding out who this guy really was. I started with the Roger Corman adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's work; Masque of The Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Raven (he did more, but I didn't see them until later), because I'd been reading Poe since elementary school. I'm a child of the 80's and grew up on the slasher films of the day, but I always had a soft spot for the classic horror of Universal and RKO and I was constantly looking out for anything by Hammer Films. The Corman/Poe films were right up my alley. Masque...may be the best, here's the trailer;
My favorite of Price's films though would have to be The Fly, which I've covered in an earlier post (go here for MyHeroes Have Always Been Monsters Part 2) and also The Bat (covered here in Part 6). These two films are extra significant for me since they were the first two horror films I ever shared with my son. He's become a huge fan of Mr. Price.
One of Price's other great roles was the first adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend called the Last Man On Earth, which was an influence for Night Of The Living Dead.
Price appeared in 105 films, hosted PBS's Mystery, appeared on the Muppets and several other tv shows. A true icon who's films may not have always been great, but he was always great in them. I'll leave you with something I personally love...
Keep watching the sky, nerds!
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