Written by Richard Matheson
Directed by Roger Corman
Narration: "And the deep and dark tarn closed silently over the fragments of the House of Usher - Poe."
I did say that I wasn't going to review these Vincent Price/Roger Corman adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories in order, so I went back a few movies to review this one.
A couple of years, I really enjoyed the Netflix adaptation of this particular story and this version also turned out to be very enjoyable too. As usual, Vincent Price would turn in a fantastic performance.
In this adaptation, he's Roderick Usher and he comes from a cursed family bloodline. As a consequence of that, he's incredibly overprotective of his sister, Madeline (Myrna Fahey). This was something that didn't go down well with her betrothed, Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon).
In fact despite Roderick and even the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe) trying to warn Philip about the cursed bloodline and the madness, Philip wouldn't take any warning to mind. He was determined to bring Madeline back to America with him. Of course, fate had other ideas for her.
She suffered from catalepsy and was buried alive. She got out of her coffin and went absolutely mad and ended her own bloodline along with Bristol. It's a very brutal but suitable ending for this incredibly dysfunctional family.
Of course, it's more devastating for Philip. All he wanted was to be with Madeline and didn't get to have that. It's a very bittersweet ending but fitting in consideration to the source material.
- This was the first of these eight movies. I've got four more of these to go.
- The opening and ending credits had a nice smoky colour effect.
- The film also went by the title of The Fall Of The House Of Usher.
- Chronology: The Usher manor was in the worst place near a murky swamp.
House Of Usher is a glorious adaptation of the source material. Note perfect performances from the three leads, superb direction and cinematography.
Rating: 8 out of 10

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