(1982)
Dir - Tim Burton
Overall: GOOD
The third short film from Tim Burton and first to be produced by Disney while Burton was working there as a conceptual artist, Vincent ended up being a landmark work for the filmmaker. Clocking in at under six minutes, nearly all his hallmarks are here; weird creature and set designs, German Expressionist cinematography, an outcast protagonist, dark humor, and an unspecified, suburban era setting. These would all be expanded upon in later, now very famous feature length works, (most obviously with the stop-motion The Nightmare Before Christmas with which it bares the closest resemblance), and such frequently visited themes find a wonderful, whimsical home here. Of course, it is a very deliberate homage to Vincent Price who Burton not only got to narrate, but he also went on to have a close friendship with the iconic actor until his death eleven years later. Price is right at home with the material, reciting Burton's poem to him with the kind of gleefully macabre delivery that he was a longtime veteran at by this point. Both Price and Burton considered Vincent to be a crowning achievement in each of their careers and it is rather easy to see why.
(1983)
Dir - Ray Cameron
Overall: MEH
This infamously stupid spoof from Ray Cameron and British comedian/DJ Kenny Everett, (who is about as funny as a buss full of children crashing into another buss full of children), would go down as one that Vincent Price was not all together that proud of. Not only does most of the comedy fall flat and come off terribly forced if not just altogether terrible, but the barrage of juvenile jokes and overall bad taste sticks out even more awkwardly being in such a poor, incomprehensible script. As well as being edited to the point where it legitimately seems like someone mixed up the reels, Bloodbath at the House of Death is so asinine and intentionally moronic that there is bound to be a few legitimately humorous bits. Most of these come from Price prattling off some of the most ridiculous and low-brow dialog he would ever utter, (including but not limited to him using profanity and making a joke about burning "faggots" that is so classless that it is actually kind of great). It is still rather a failure in trying to send up the handful of horror cliches at its disposal since the set pieces are so nonsensical and random while the jokes are so routinely amateurish. It is no surprise really that both Cameron and Everett would never, (be allowed to), make another film again, but for the diligent Vincent Price completest, this is fairly one of the farthest down the list to get to.
(1988)
Dir - Mike Goldblatt
Overall: MEH
Implausible and well, rather stupid in more ways than one, Dead Heat was the directorial debut from editor Mike Goldblatt and it is a movie that is probably too dumb to fully enjoy though it does have some redeemable qualities all the same. It was one of the last non-voice over screen appearances from Vincent Price who though reduced to practically a mere cameo, is still lovably campy in a respectable way that only he could be. It is also a joy to see Darren McGavin having so much fun as a goofy villain, though his role is also regrettably too small. As a parody of violent, 80s buddy cop movies where bullets fly as casually as adverbs, there is not a single frame that is possible to take seriously. Now and again, the moronic dialog and plot twists are worth a chuckle or two, but more often than not, Dead Heat is just as braindead as its zombie henchmen are. Joe Piscopo and Treat Williams are mostly obnoxious as two smirking, endlessly quipping loose cannon cops whose answer to everything is to recklessly shoot at it. Meanwhile the story bulldozes through several details and comes out a bit sloppy in the end to say the least. It could certainly afford some tweaking in the script department and perhaps a director who could keep the buffoonery of the two leads more in check, but it is an OK example of how ridiculous these kinds of movies could get.
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