The Fall of the House of Usher Blu-ray Review & Comments

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'The house, itself, is evil now'

One of the most celebrated, visually sensual and alluringly doom-laden series of horror films came courtesy of Roger Corman's outstanding love affair with the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. A fan of these dark tales of dementia, jealousy and death since a child, he longed to be able to bring them to the screen and to project their dark magic upon audiences who had become saturated with atomic-mutated insects and brain-sucking saucer-men. After a slew of low-budget quickies that appealed to the Drive-in teen market he appealed to AIP that if he was awarded double the funds, he could create one sumptuous gothic horror film in colour and in widescreen and provide audiences with the sort of the jolt that had very recently been proved valid, potent and, most importantly, profitable for Hammer Films, who had single handedly brought such lavish and literary adaptations to gaudy, gory acclaim on both sides of...

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Great review Cas even if I think 8/10 for the film is a little bit high. I still cant quite understand why they decided to do this particular Vincent Price 60s film first as theres quite a few alternatives which are better. I might pick up this one when it goes cheap though. If it was any of Pit & The Pendulum, Masque of the Red Death, either Dr Phibes, Theatre of Blood, The Raven that would be a different story altogether and an instant day 1 buy.
 
Great review Cas even if I think 8/10 for the film is a little bit high. I still cant quite understand why they decided to do this particular Vincent Price 60s film first as theres quite a few alternatives which are better. I might pick up this one when it goes cheap though. If it was any of Pit & The Pendulum, Masque of the Red Death, either Dr Phibes, Theatre of Blood, The Raven that would be a different story altogether and an instant day 1 buy.

It was first of the Roger Corman Poe films starring Price and is considered a classic of its kind, so I don't see why they wouldn't release this one first. It's also among the most visually sumptuous of the Poe films.

Not sure they can be expected to cater to you personal tastes. ;)
 
Great review Cas even if I think 8/10 for the film is a little bit high. I still cant quite understand why they decided to do this particular Vincent Price 60s film first as theres quite a few alternatives which are better. I might pick up this one when it goes cheap though. If it was any of Pit & The Pendulum, Masque of the Red Death, either Dr Phibes, Theatre of Blood, The Raven that would be a different story altogether and an instant day 1 buy.

It's Chris, actually, Jim. I'm the one who does the gothic horrors, remember. Lol.

Cheers anyway and here's to a helluva lot more vintage and classic horror on Blu!

Chris McEneany
 
Have had this on pre-order since Amazon first put it up. This review really sharpens my appetite for it! Thanks.
 
It was first of the Roger Corman Poe films starring Price and is considered a classic of its kind, so I don't see why they wouldn't release this one first. It's also among the most visually sumptuous of the Poe films.

Not sure they can be expected to cater to you personal tastes. ;)

Be honest though, its not nearly the best of those films! I saw it not long ago which confirmed that for me. Do you actually think its better than the ones I mentioned above?
 
It's Chris, actually, Jim. I'm the one who does the gothic horrors, remember. Lol.

Cheers anyway and here's to a helluva lot more vintage and classic horror on Blu!

Chris McEneany

Sorry Chris! Good to hear theyve done a good job on this one...hope the rest are on the way soon.
 
Has anyone managed to read the story ? Even though it is very brief I find Edgar Allen Poe's style stifling. Great first sentence, you might say in D Minor:

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

I've only managed to read it through once.
 
Has anyone managed to read the story ? Even though it is very brief I find Edgar Allen Poe's style stifling. Great first sentence, you might say in D Minor:

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

I've only managed to read it through once.

I used to love Poe when I was in my teens. Not sure I could get though it now and yes, 'stifling' is pretty accurate. Unlike many of the other of the Corman Poe films, House of Usher is very faithful to its source and visually it matches the florid style of the prose and the claustrophobic quality of the story pretty well.
 
Superb review Chris as always.

Usher has been one of my all time favourites since it scared the willies out of me as a child; the insanity and crypt did it for me and still does!

Will pick this up without hesitation, do you have any word on a decent release of The Masque of the Red Death?

KH
 
Superb review Chris as always.

Usher has been one of my all time favourites since it scared the willies out of me as a child; the insanity and crypt did it for me and still does!

Will pick this up without hesitation, do you have any word on a decent release of The Masque of the Red Death?

KH

Hey Keith, thanks for the comments! Great to hear from you. I hope you are well. :)

Well, Scream Factory are releasing Masque of the Red Death in their Vincent Price collection in October, along with their version of The Fall of House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Haunted Palace, Witchfinder General and The Abominable Dr. Phibes.

You can bet that I will be taking an in-depth look at these gothic beauties just as soon as.

It is certainly a great time for all these vintage horrors making their way to Blu.

Arrow's Bava's have been great too. We have The Haunting and Night of the Demon to look forward to. But we need a whole load more Universal titles.

And what about THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD whilst we're at it????

Cheers mate

Chris McEneany :devil:
 
When's Night of the Demon out?

Somebody could well correct me on this, but there is no actual date given other than the title (with both cuts of the film - the US and the longer, better British cut) is listed as coming out this year from Columbia.

So, keep your fingers crossed. And that parchment safe! ;)

Cheers

Chris McEneany :devil:

PS. Brides of Dracula next week!!!!!! Oh ... and Evil of Frankenstein too.
I'm still waiting on my review copy of Hands of the Ripper from Synapse. Most Hammer-fans I know have already got theirs!!!!
 
I note the HMV Blu-Ray (in my locality) is priced at £9.99, cheaper than you can get it from amazon and without waiting for it to posted etc. Haven't checked the PQ but by accounts it's pretty good.
 

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