Vincent Price's Final Major Movie Role Was In An Acclaimed Sci-Fi Fantasy Movie

Vincent Price was a staple of the horror and science fiction genres in the '50s and '60s, contributing to classics like "House of Wax," "House on Haunted Hill," and the original version of "The Fly" before David Cronenberg made the incredible sci-fi body horror movie of the '80s. Like Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee, Price's name became inextricably linked to horror and science fiction, making his final contribution to the genres especially poetic when he signed on to star in a film for up-and-coming director Tim Burton.

Following the booming success of films like "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Beetlejuice," and the comic-book blockbuster "Batman," Burton's next misunderstood hero was akin to Frankenstein's monster, only perhaps a little edgier. "Edward Scissorhands" starred Johnny Depp as a young man created by a wild inventor who died before he could finish him, leaving him with the tricky alteration of having scissors for hands. Price played the inventor in question, who makes a brief appearance in the film, and would be the first of many seasoned screen legends to appear in Burton's projects for years to come.

The aforementioned Christopher Lee would appear in five of the director's films, and even Charlton Heston would sign on for a cameo, albeit in one of Tim Burton's disastrous back-to-back blunders, "Planet of the Apes," and the star-studded alien invasion movie, "Mars Attacks!" Price feels more special than most, though, because for Burton, working with him was a dream come true, one that had already begun years earlier, when Hollywood barely knew who he was.

Three years before Burton burst onto the scene with "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," Tim Burton had made animated shorts; one of them was a love letter to Price and starred the man himself. 1982's "Vincent" was written, directed, and animated by Burton and followed a young boy named Vincent, who dreams about being Vincent Price. Taking things perhaps a little too literally, Vincent experiments on his family dog and becomes obsessed with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, which Price had brought to life through film over the years with adaptations of "House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum."

Even then, Burton's visual flair and storytelling bubbled throughout "Vincent," which gained extra star power because Price narrated the short. After its release, Price offered nothing but sincere admiration for the project and its director. In an interview with Animation World Magazine, Price deemed "Vincent" "the most gratifying thing that ever happened. It was immortality — better than a star on Hollywood Boulevard." He should know — he had two of them.

Unfortunately, "Vincent" is a little harder to come by nowadays, with the last place it made an appearance being in the special edition of Henry Selick's "A Nightmare Before Christmas," which Burton produced. Even so, it was an essential part of a partnership that would lead to a fanboy director and the star who blessed him with his final appearance.