The Fall of the House of Usher

Not a movie it's possible to criticize. We're all dying, but that's life: diseased, mad, servile and heading straight for the coffin and the crypt. Vincent was a filmic presence beyond price. That voice, that face, that manner: he wasn't acting, he just was. Poe was a true original, and one is left wondering what hell he dredged these visions up from. Corman knew what he was about, even if he didn't follow the story. Suspend everything when watching this. Don't be impatient. Read the other reviews if you need help. Now I know where Francis Bacon got his hideous picture painting portrait style from: Vincent Priceless!

The atmosphere in this film is fantastic. The acting grand. While not scary by any means, its got a creepy vibe that grabs hold and brings you along for the ride. Vincent price shows you just why he is one of the elite horror icons. On another note the music is wonderful almost a character on its own.

I simply thought that "The Fall of the House of Usher" was rather boring and I found myself dozing off. I thought that "The Pit and the Pendulum" was a much better flick and a much more interesting adaptation. In fact, I was quite disappointed with this adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's brilliant short story "Fall of the House of Usher". While the movie provides a grim atmosphere in accordance with the Poe's story, the movie drags and never really picks up enough steam to keep one's interest...however, I found the actual story written by Poe to be quite interesting and very entertaining...perhaps that is my problem with the movie as it is not nearly as good as the story itself. This movie "The Fall of the House of Usher" could have been much better. Notwithstanding the poor adaptation of Poe's classic story of despair, Vincent Price, as always, was terrific in his role...still, this is not enough to make this a good adaptation. I recommend watching the clearly superior "The Pit and the Pendulum" instead of this flick.

Roderick Usher (Vincent Price) has a serious medical condition. He is stricken with a severe heightening of the senses which turns the slightest touch, sound, sight, taste, or smell into sheer agony. Roderick also believes that both he and his sister Madeline (Myrna Fahey) are doomed to impending insanity and death (it's a family curse). So, the Usher house is not a happy place! Enter Mark Damon as Madeline's fiance, bent on getting her out of this dreary atmosphere and you've got big trouble. Roderick insists on her staying put, to the point of burying her alive! Can her betrothed save her from this hideous fate? Well, not if old Rod can help it! Meanwhile, the very house itself is crumbling around them. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER is a solid Roger Corman / Poe movie with lots of ghastly charm. One of Vincent's best performances...

After all the years that have passed since the Corman/Price "Poe" series first ran, it is hard to explain just how breathtaking these films were, especially in the heartland. When they were new, those of us in the large patch in the middle of America, and were raised on drive-in movies, saturday kiddie shows, and afternoon TV "matinees" were frankly surprised by how good these films really were. The Corman/Price movies provided a welcome switch from summer films with plots built around sex-crazed cheerleaders, pulchritudinous stewardesses, over-heated summer school teachers, and hormonally-crazed student nurses. This is an interesting observation in the face of the reality that Corman was also notorious for making movies about those self-same nymphomaniacal cheerleaders, stewardesses, summer school teachers, etc, etc, etc,

The Poe series was smart, well costumed, often humorous, occasionally freaky, and generally unique in its day. These films were often so far ahead of their time that they probably went unnoticed by most of the Hollywood establishment (the best films still do). When they weren't uniquely fabulous, they were at least far enough over the top (as in "The Raven" where we have Vincent Price, Perer Lorre, Boris Karloff, and a very young Jack Nicholson loudly chewing the scenery) that we didn't care.

Of course, no one would have been more surprised by the plot twists that these films took than E. A. Poe himself. We frequently wondered if Corman had read the same stories we had, but in the end, it didn't really matter. Corman is a grand storyteller whose artistic vision remains true even in the face of what appears to be deep cynicism about the quality of his product and the intelligence (certainly the sophistication) of his viewing audience. Price was, of course, a magnificent and sophisticated actor who brought elegance and sympathy to every role he ever played. This first movie in the Corman/Poe series is the strongest and most faithful to the original source material. You will not find the best review for these movies here, though I wholeheartedly endorse them, the best praise these films will receive is from yourself when you find that they make for excellent repeated viewing.