The wronged artist is the theme of so many revenge horror movies. Going back to "The Phantom of the Opera," the unjustly maimed or wronged bring vengeance to their adversaries. No one could look more pained when victimized than Vincent Price. He is the master of the hang dog expression. In this one, he is a magician and master of high tech disguises (for the time) who has sold his talents to another man, seemingly for the rest of his life. When he decides to freelance and do his own magic show, his contract is waved in his face. Not only that, but the man who owns him also stole his wife years before. So there is even more bitterness brewing. The plan becomes to get rid of all the people who wronged him, then, through the use of clever masks, keep the people alive by impersonating them. He even "becomes" one of the great magicians of the world, showing his incredible talent. This is a silly, unbelievable movie. But who cares. I don't think I'll get it mixed up with Schindler's List. The hardest thing to swallow was why these two successful men had anything to do with Eva Gabor and why the Vincent Price character could have cared less when she ran off. She has no redeeming qualities in the movie other than her beauty, and that is so flamboyant and self centered, who cares. Every time Vincent Price was in disguise, it was easy to see who it was. Nevertheless, I've always loved Vincent's mugging from his Roger Corman films to "The Last Man on Earth." I liked the way he said "Crematorium." Why, exactly, does it have an automatic pilot that sends the body into the flames if it is not activated within a certain period of time? There is also a subplot with a mystery writer and her husband who bumble their ways into the plot. If you like the campy world of Price, watch it on the late show.
Review of The Mad Magician
