Quantity vs. Quality
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now in print and soon in e-book)
Towards the end of the 1960s, actor Vincent Price had become a horror movie icon, thanks in part to a successful series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations for producer Roger Corman. In 1968, Price journeyed to England to make a low-budget horror film called Witchfinder General. For this film, the veteran actor was to be directed by a newcomer then in his mid-twenties, Michael Reeves. According to a film historian, pride perhaps became a factor in the relationship between actor and director. Reeves was noted for his wry sombre pessimism whilst Price was noted for his campy, “ham” acting mannerisms, which had undoubtedly served the actor well. For his film though, Reeves was insistent that the hammy Price modify and restrain his style. Allegedly, Price once wondered what right this upstart director had to tell him how to perform, wondering what Reeves had done in comparison to Price’s admission of having been in over 80 horror films. Coolly, Reeves responded that “I’ve made one good one.” Price’s subsequent performance was amongst his least theatrical and is now commonly considered one of his most chilling.