10 Iconic Vincent Price Horror Film Performances That Prove He Was the GOAT

Publish date: 2024-08-17

In his decades as an actor, Vincent Price starred in more than 100 films, which is pretty impressive even before you realize that he was also all over radio, TV, audiobooks, and theatrical productions, to boot. Ah, yes, and let's not forget writing his own cookbook, Cooking Price-Wise with Vincent Price.

Let's face it, this was a busy man, and he never stopped working, making film and TV appearances even in the early 1990s. Work ethic alone dictates that we revere Mr. Price as a GOAT, but it was when he found the horror genre that he truly became great. Having worked on many productions in his early days with roles in films like Elizabeth and Essex, Laura, and While the City Sleeps, his work in the horror canon is what he's best remembered for today.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Sci-fi horror legend Richard Matheson wrote his seminal I Am Legend in 1954, and there have been myriad adaptations since. This was the first, and features a distraught, hopelessly lonely Price as he mourns the deaths of the world around him while racing the clock to find a cure for the affliction that has left much of humanity vampires.

Matheson was dismayed by renditions of vampires that portrayed them as romantic figures, which is why his take on them has a lot more in common with Dawn of the Dead than Dracula. Though followed up by The Omega Man (1971) and I Am Legend (2007), this take is perhaps the most horror inclined. Price thrives showing off his theatrical nature in a movie where he is quite literally the last man on earth.

The Fly (1958)

This is one of the classic cases of a scientist choosing to experiment on himself only to see it go horribly awry. The scientist Andre has spent his life attempting to create a matter transporter that would allow people to teleport, but when a random fly gets into the device, he ends up merged with the creature. Price plays Andre's brother Francois, who helps his wife Helene after things get well out of hand with Andre.

The Fly can read as a bit campy for modern audiences, but there's no denying its legacy. Influencing filmmaker David Cronenberg to later take the concept and revise it into a body horror masterpiece in the mid-'80s, this is an essential jumping off point for what came later. Yet, there is more to the original film than just its use for future filmmakers, and Price's surprisingly steady presence is a major part of what makes it great.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Doctor Phibes was a happily married and world-famous concert pianist who is believed to be deceased after a car crash that occurred after he received news that his wife had perished. Yet, we quickly discover that is very much not the case as the man has made it his mission to take vengeance on the doctors who he believes caused his wife's death.

If this all sounds a little wacky, the fact is that it's just a much a comedy as it is horror, with a lean into gallows humor and a truly over-the-top protagonist in Dr. Phibes. Yet, that isn't to say that there's nothing scary to be found. Much like Price's other appearances in comedy horror classics, he plays the role seriously when he needs to, which is a big part of why his appearances are so often unforgettable.

House of Wax (1953)

When a wax figure sculptor stands in the way of a buy out, henchmen arrive at his museum to light the place aflame. Unwilling to allow his life's work to go up without a fight, he apparently dies in the blaze. We learn that he has miraculously survived the attack, but now his enemies are dying off one by one in elaborate murders.

House of Wax isn't just a fun old horror film, it also has quite a bit of cultural significance as the first-ever color 3-D film as well as the first 3-D film with stereophonic sound to be presented in a public theater. Like so many of these films, it was remade decades later, though in this case the premise and the performances of the original remain superior.

House On Haunted Hill (1959)

Director William Castle's influence over the horror genre is often connected to his willingness to try creative marketing and bring real-world scares like buzzers in theater seats and actors hired as on-site nurses in case an audience member "died of fright." Bringing in many of the same props one might find in a standard fairground haunted house of the time, the carnival aesthetic is a part of the unfolding plot as millionaire Frederick Loren holds a party in a spooky house.

Though Price played his share of heroic figures in his day, there is nothing quite like seeing him embrace the petty, spiteful, and downright evil parts of the human spirit. Forcing people to stay overnight in a creepy place is just one element of his maliciousness, and his sense of casual cruelty is unmatched.

The Tingler (1959)

Another appearance from director William Castle, The Tingler is about a doctor who discovers a fear-based parasite that lives in the human spine which can be relieved only by screaming. Naturally, that is all the urging our guy Vincent Price needed to spend much of the film terrified and hollering.

Generally considered a camp classic today, there is no question that this film's interactive premise inspired a great deal of future marketing gimmicks. With an intro from Castle explaining that the audience will likely become terrified during the film and Price breaking the fourth-wall to urge the audience to let out a scream, this remains an excellent film to watch in a theater.

House of Usher (1960)

Based on the classic Edgar Allan Poe story, Price plays the morbid and doomed Roderick, who repeatedly tries to explain to his sister's suitor that she cannot leave the grounds of their estate to marry him. Naturally, the young man thinks that Roderick only wants to keep his sister close to him in their isolated estate, but he is proven very much wrong as the story unfolds.

Price's roles in seven of the eight films in Roger Corman's Poe Cycle are among his most memorable, and this is the first among them. This is the only one on this list, but they are all very much worth watching for different reasons. Usher is perhaps the one in which Price plays things the most straightforward and seriously, making it one of his finest performances in a long and storied career.

Theater of Blood (1973)

Theater of Blood is a horror comedy that shows an artist interacting with criticism in the most toxic way possible when a humiliation leads to an attempted suicide. Shamed by reviews, the hilariously named actor Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart makes it his mission to hunt down the critics that hurt his feelings, methodically reading their reviews back to them before their deaths.

If this all sounds a bit over the top, that's because it very much is, but again, that's what's so great about Vincent Price. He had the ability to fully meet the subject exactly where it was at and leaned all the way into every role regardless of how ridiculous or elevated it might be. Besides, critics and artists overreacting to one another continues to be a plot often used in horror.

Witchfinder General (1968)

During the English Civil War, a man declares himself to have been appointed the Witchfinder General, and travels a countryside in turmoil torturing and killing people only to seize their money. Using genuine human fears of death and poverty to spread superstition, he continues a reign of terror that no one seems to have the power to stop.

Price's roles as villains are truly unmatched, and his admittedly factually loose historical take on Matthew Hopkins is among his most chilling. Watching him cruelly throw entire lives into the fire again and again while viciously lashing out at anyone that dares criticize him makes for a disturbing watch, and it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

Twice-Told Tales (1963)

Vincent Price was no stranger to the horror anthology, having appeared in a few throughout his career, but this is one of the best. Based on the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Price stars in all three adaptations, including Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, Rappaccini's Daughter, and The House of the Seven Gables.

The first short tells the story of a man who brings his wife back from the dead only to discover things he wish he'd never known, while the second leans into an almost Poison Ivy style origin story. The third is a classic take on a doomed manor. These different roles allow Price to stretch as an actor and they each remain a delight all these years later.

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