By Lee Pfeiffer
The Price of Fear by Joel Eisner (Black Bed
Sheet/Diverse Media, $20), 244 pages, illustrated (B&W), softcover, ISBN # 0988659026
There have been many fine books written about the
legendary Vincent Price but author Eisner brings a new twist in his tribute to
the iconic actor. Eisner had actually started to collaborate with Price on a
new biography and in-depth look at his films. Price’s death in 1993 derailed
the project but now Eisner has culled highlights from the interviews he
conducted with Price to explore how he felt about his own movies. The book is
less a biography than an examination of individual movies, which is a good
thing, as the basics of Price’s personal life have been covered countless times
before. It’s interesting to read how he felt about some of his best loved films,
as well as those he freely admits fell far short of artistic expectations.
Price was truly a man for all seasons: a fine actor, raconteur, lover of fine
art and master chef. There was so much more to his talents than simply being a
horror movie icon, and Eisner does a fine job in illustrating this. Speaking of
illustrating, however, the publisher owes the author something far better than
the poor photographic reproductions in this otherwise fine volume. An upgrade
in production values is merited for a book with so many attributes. The book
contains a heartfelt introduction by another legend, Peter Cushing, written
when Price was still alive.
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