Film 6/52: The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)


While originally released as House of Usher, the title on the print we viewed was The Fall of the House of Usher, hence its presence at this point in the alphabetical lineup of our 52 Pick-Up series. The first of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, The Fall of the House of Usher is a film that I have owned for years, and across many formats. Strangely enough, I have no recollection of ever having seen it, even going back to the days of Creature Features and Chiller Diller. I only have distinct memories of watching one of the Corman Poe's, and that's The Raven. As a result, I've long wanted to schedule a Corman Poe-a-thon in the Slaughtered Lamb, either as our regular Wednesday night feature over a few months, or as an all-day marathon for one of our monthly movie events. Since we hadn't gotten around to either of those, the 52 Pick-Up series seemed like an ideal time to finally check this one out! 

House of Usher was adapted to the screen by Richard Matheson; he scripted half of the eight Corman/Poe films. Vincent Price leads a cast of (basically) four, and does a fantastic job as Roderick Usher, who is misguided in his attempts to protect his sister (Myrna Fahey), and dissuade her paramour (Mark Damon) from trying to be with her. The film benefits from the widescreen cinematography that takes in the nicely-designed sets (not to mention several wonderful matte paintings of the Usher home, believed to be the work of the late, great Albert Whitlock). The terror in this one ratchets up as the film goes on, and from the point of a wild, colorful dream-sequence through the finale, it's quite a fun ride. I'm glad to have finally experienced it in all its glory on the SLC screen. 

I told Vonna that I intend to run another series in parallel with our weekly 52 Pick-up, and work our way through the remaining seven films in the Corman/Poe-cycle. And since I want to experience them chronologically, don't be surprised that you won't see any more of these pop-up within this particular series.

For those interested, and not already aware, here are the eight Corman/Poe titles:
  • House of Usher (1960)
  • The Pit and The Pendulum (1961)
  • Tales of Terror (1962)
  • Premature Burial (1962)
  • The Raven (1963)
  • The Haunted Palace (1963)
  • The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
  • Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

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