THE POE CINEMA: A Critical Filmography.

THE POE CINEMA: A Critical Filmography. Don G. Smith. McFarland; 1999. 

Author Smith looks at films that have been based on or influenced by the works of Edgar Allan Poe in this well-written, illustrated tome, beginning with the silent period. Sometimes the only connection to Poe is the title. Films covered include the Corman films such as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Premature Burial, the British Tell-Tale Heart with Laurence Payne, Italian films like Castle of Terror with Barbara Steele, German flicks such as The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism with Lex Barker, various versions of The Masque of the Red Death, and many, many others. Smith even includes such oddities as the 1989 slasher entitled Buried Alive starring Robert Vaughn. Each essay in The Poe Cinema has background notes and solid critical observations. Absorbing, informative, and highly interesting.  

Verdict: Possibly the last word on the Poe influence on movies. ***1/2. 

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

Mark Damon, Vincent Price, Myrna Fahey

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (aka House of Usher/1960). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Richard Matheson. 

"It's just that he's highly overwrought, sir." -- Bristol. 

Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon of Naked You Die) follows his fiancee, Madeline (Myrna Fahey), back to her ancestral home where she lives with her strange, affected brother, Roderick Usher (Vincent Price of Twice-Told Tales) in a crumbling estate on a moldering, foggy acreage. Roderick suffers from an abundance of sensitivities, such as to noise and light, while Madeline is becoming unhinged, convinced she is on the verge of death. There is a great fear she will be buried alive, while the house crackles and a fissure in the wall grows ever wider and manservant Bristol (Harry Ellerbe) rubs his hands and worries ... 

The eerie Usher estate

Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's study of a highly dysfunctional family, Roger Corman's Usher is attractively produced, well-acted, and entertaining, albeit imperfect. Although the picture has a creepy atmosphere, it never quite develops into anything that would give it truly classic status. Price is good, and plays it in the way you would expect, while Damon is even better as Philip, playing a difficult role in just the right note. Les Baxter has written some good theme music -- which plays for several minutes on a black background with no visuals before the credit sequence -- but the chorus is rather hokey. Neurotic Roderick's paintings are quite well-done. In Poe's story the protagonist is an old friend of Roderick's and is not engaged to his sister, whom he has never actually met. Richard Matheson's script is faithful to the spirit of Poe's story if not the letter.  

Verdict: Fun and absorbing, but just misses being a real classic. **3/4. 

THE TELL-TALE HEART (1960)

Laurence Payne

THE TELL-TALE HEART (1960).  Director: Ernest Morris. 

Edgar Marsh (Laurence Payne of The Trollenberg Terror) is a shy librarian who lives alone in his house and has a hirsute best friend named Carl (Dermot Walsh). One day a pretty young lady named Betty (Adrienne Corri) moves into an apartment across the street. Advised by Carl to make the acquaintance of the woman, Edgar summons up his nerve and before long they are dating -- although Edgar is smitten and Betty, new in town, just needs company. Betty, however, is galvanized when she meets Carl, and it is apparent that he feels the same about her. The trouble is, if something develops between the two, how will Edgar react?

Payne with Adrienne Corri

The Tell-Tale Heart, loosely based on the famous story by Edgar Allan Poe, is an intelligent and well-made expansion and revisioning of Poe's work, playing upon the theme of guilt and the resultant madness. Laurence Payne gives an outstanding performance as Edgar, and there is fine work from Walsh and Corri. Well-paced and suspenseful under Ernest Morris' direction, the film has atmosphere and is often surprisingly gruesome, including a grisly sword murder and an impalement, like something out of a Hammer film. (In fact the film opens with an announcement that the squeamish should immediately close their eyes when they hear the sound of a heartbeat!) This is a British film from Danziger productions. 

Verdict: Admirable horror film with an impressive Payne. ***.