The Fall of the House of Usher

Starring:Jean Debucourt, Marguerite Gance, Charles Lamy, Fournez-Goffard, Luc Dartagnan, Pierre Hot, Halma
Director: Jean Epstein
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Description

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER: Audio Commentary by Director Roger Corman Original Theatrical Trailer THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM: Rare Prologue

Customer Reviews:

Side B.......2007-05-14

I love the Pit and the Pendulum, and the set is a good bargain as well as a good match. I can never get my 10 year old son to watch older movies with me. I had also tried to engage him in Poe stories in book form. But when his teacher read them in class, he finally became interested enough to see these, and he really likes Poe now.
On the DVD they place one movie on one side of the disc, and the the second movie "the Pit and the Pendulum" on the reverse side, side B. I have other movies like this and it seems to work OK. Make sure you at least "test" the DVD when it arrives, I failed to do so until too late, only to learn that the side B of my copy did not work. It was a good enough story for me to bite the bullet and buy another copy.

Great Corman double bill.......2007-02-17

The first two American International-Roger Corman Poe features on one dvd -- great idea, and fine execution. Corman's commentary is very nice to have as well. Pit and Pendulum I first saw at a drive in when I was quite young, and the movie scared the hell out of me. These films have high, for AIP, production values, and look great here. My only question is the odd "theatrical prologue" for Pit and Pendulum, which is not really explained. I do not recall seeing it on the film's first release. Still, this is a dvd I would highly recommend for Corman and AIP and gothic horror fans.

Good Spook For the Buck.......2007-02-12

The master of terror does not fail us in these tales that warp your perception of reality. The plots and twists are a good tribute to Poe who would have loved to work with Price. I highly recomend this.

2 stories, Vincent Price and Edgar Allan Poe for under $10.00.......2007-01-19

If you like old horror films these are great. The price makes them a bargain. Renting these seperately would cost about as much as buying them. I like old horror films but I can't quite give these more than 3 stars. They are good movies but just not quite 4 stars. Of course, the price easily makes up for that. I especially like Edgar Allan Poe stories. If you like to read, Amazon has the Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe in one book.

Vincent Price fan.......2007-01-11

Vincent Price did a good job with the movie, but the script needed more
details into the character's past.

Average customer rating:

The Fall of the House of Usher
Fall of the House of Usher a great film ruined
The avant-garde masterpiece
Film-buff beware!
Best Classic Poe Tale Ever!!!!!!!!!!

The Fall of the House of Usher
Starring: Jean Debucourt , Marguerite Gance , Charles Lamy , Fournez-Goffard , and Luc Dartagnan
Director: Jean Epstein
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
Les Vampires
Vampyr
Un Chien Andalou
Pandora's Box - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B00005ABVH
Release Date: 2001-05-15

Description

As his beautiful young wife Madeleine dies slowly of some dread ailment, fevered artist Roderick Usher asks his old friend Allan to keep him company in these morbid times. Shortly after Allan arrives, Madeleine dies--or does she? As Roderick himself succumbs to the melancholy, noises from Madeleine's tomb cry out--Death is not the end! Working from several of Edgar Allen Poe's stories, French avant-garde visionary Jean Epstein crafted one of the most highly acclaimed and internationally renowned film adaptations of Poe. Co-directed with surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel and starring Abel Gance's wife as the undead Madeleine, this 1928 classic is a true feast for the eyes and proof positive that the German Expressionists did not have a corner on the Gothic horror market. Newly mastered from a 35mm preservation positive, with a soundtrack by acclaimed music historian Rolande de Cande adapted from medieval music.

Customer Reviews:

The Fall of the House of Usher.......2007-06-20

Epstein's sterling adaptation of the well-known Poe story today remains one of the most haunting and visually adventurous horror movies of the silent era. Certainly, the film's expressionistic use of slow-motion techniques and eerie settings owes a lot to the presence of surrealist Luis Buñuel, who served as assistant director. Gance (wife of French director Abel) is radiant, too, even as a shrouded specter. With its lurid, foggy air of mystery and demented otherworldliness, "Usher" is a triumph of the gothic sensibility.

Fall of the House of Usher a great film ruined.......2007-03-23

I looked forward to receiving this film from the moment I ordered it, having a great interest in early European Cinema, particularly French and German Cinema, this was going to be a treat to behold.
I had no worries about the lack of extras, or a glossy booklet, the original French titles were enough, then I heard the voice! All of the titles and inter-titles are spoken in English, aaaahhhhhrrrrggghh! Imperialistic, cultural vandalism. This is a French film, and a silent french film at that. To watch it is like having an idiot sat behind you who talks all the way through the film, I was waiting for him to tell me the ending just before it happened. I cannot imagine the thought process that came up with this.

In summary, a great film, a visual treat, but totally ruined.

The avant-garde masterpiece.......2006-08-05

This is an amazing visual treat and an excellent adaptation of Poe's classic, at once haunting and captivating although some liberty has been taken with the story replacing the Usher sister with a wife. Special mention should be made of the haunting music score that accompanies the movie.

Film-buff beware!.......2005-07-27

I can't believe I'm writing a negative review of a French classic I should revere! But here are the facts. Since my childhood, I have been impressed by a still in Henri Agel's "Histoire populaire du cinéma" depicting Madeline's funeral from this film. It shows black-clad gentlemen in stove-pipe hats photographed from a distance carrying a coffin, surrounded by cathedral-like trees with the superimposed image of lighted candles adding to the solemnity. I was impressed by both the technical achievement and the atmospheric result. Unfortunately, if ever there was a film whose stills are superior to its viewing, this is it! Watching this pristine print for the first time, I was disappointed by many elements: the tampering with Poe's story (where his themes boil down to Roderick's poor choice of real estate), the imitation of Murnau's "Nosferatu" (arrival at the inn, reluctance of peasants to drive the newcomer to the estate); the expressionistic acting (it's really very, very bad); the gratuitous quirkiness (books cascading off their bookshelves, windows that stay open at all times even during a full storm, a revived woman we are expected to believe has walked a great distance and even swam a lake after waking up in a family tomb miles away from her castle, a doctor whose character or purpose is never explained, copulating frogs, an owl that may or may not be stuffed); the overwhelming feeling of boredom; the shoddy artistic direction, especially in the use of miniatures to suggest the castle and its demise, the night sky, the bogs, the fog, the storm, etc., all bad. Worst of all, perhaps, is the music on this DVD by Roland de Candé (not "Rolande de Cande" as written up everywhere) which is an unoriginal hodge-podge of borrowings from undistinguished recordings of John Fahey-like mediaeval music and electronic-sounding "madhouse" noises (probably pinched piano wires) that sound atrocious and misguided and rob the film of any gothicness, dignity or solemnity it might have preserved otherwise. "Pelléas et Mélisande", this ain't! The only way it could have been made worse, I suppose, would have been commissioning Philip Glass to write a little something (brrrr!). The film is interesting because of its historical value, its photography, editing and superimpositions, which may or may not have been daring for the time - but in 1928, I seriously doubt it. That does not make it a masterpiece and not even a film I'd like to own or watch twice.

Best Classic Poe Tale Ever!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-02-16

This one is really cool I mean I read alot of Stories by Edgar Allan Poe Because I am a big fan of Poe and even though I would say that The Fall of the House of Usher was one of my Favorite Stories of all time and I really like this movie. And it really has beautiful Music to this and This one is very silent but you may have heard that this is what Movies where like back in the 1920's!

Average customer rating:

A rather boring movie/adaptation despite Vincent Price's brilliance.
Home Improvement...
Corman, Poe, Price and the American Drive In
"I heard her first feeble movements in the coffin..."
classic VINCENT PRICE at its best

The Fall of the House of Usher
Starring: Vincent Price , Mark Damon , Myrna Fahey , Harry Ellerbe , and Eleanor LeFaber
Director: Roger Corman
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Cult Movies | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Pit and the Pendulum
The Masque of the Red Death / The Premature Burial
The Tomb of Ligeia / An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe
The Raven
The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London

ASIN: B00005AUK0
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Amazon.com

Vincent Price brings a theatrical flourish to the role of Roderick Usher, a brooding nobleman haunted by the dry rot of madness in his family tree. This being Poe, there's a history of family madness and melancholia, a premature burial, and a sense of doom hanging over this gloomy, crumbling mansion. Roger Corman sold stingy AIP pictures on the concept by claiming "The house is the monster," or so goes the oft-told story. True or not, Corman (with the help of his brilliant art director Daniel Haller and legendary cinematographer Floyd Crosby) creates an exaggerated sense of isolation and claustrophobia with the sunless forest and funereal fog that holds the house and its inhabitants prisoner in a land of the dead. It doesn't quite look real (some of the effects are downright phony, notably the apocalyptic climax), and none of the costars can hold a candle to Price's elegant, haunted performance (often speaking in no more than a stage whisper), but it's a triumph of expressionism on a budget. Shot in rich, vivid color and CinemaScope, from a literate script by genre master Richard Matheson, this is stylish gothic horror in a melancholy key. It was such a success that Corman reunited his core group of collaborators for the follow-up The Pit and the Pendulum the very next year. Corman's "Poe Cycle" was born. MGM's widescreen disc also features commentary by director-producer Corman, his first-ever such contribution. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

A rather boring movie/adaptation despite Vincent Price's brilliance........2005-05-14

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.

Home Improvement..........2005-02-23

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...

Corman, Poe, Price and the American Drive In.......2005-02-17

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.

"I heard her first feeble movements in the coffin...".......2004-04-26

Director Roger Corman and AIP had great success relating the tales of Edgar Allan Poe to the screen, and it all started here with The Fall of the House of Usher (1960). While not always exactly faithful to the source material (how many are?), the films sure are fun to watch. House of Usher stars Vincent Price as Roderick Usher, Myrna Fahey (who once dated Joe DiMaggio and received a death threat because a deranged fan couldn't stand to see DiMaggio with anyone other than Marilyn Monroe) as his sister Madeline Usher, Mark Damon as her fiancé Philip Winthrop, and Harry Ellerbe as Bristol, the butler. Scripted by famed horror/fantasy/sci-fi writer Richard Matheson, who also worked on the later Corman/Poe/AIP films like Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), and The Raven (1963), The Fall of the House of Usher marked new ground for AIP and Corman. Previously, the studio was content in putting out two black and white films at the same time for minimal cost, Corman convinced the studio heads to take the money to make two of those films and let him use it to make one film in color, and the result, this film, turned out to be a huge box office draw in 1960.

Anyway, the film starts off with Philip riding up to a massive, dark, and as we find out later, crumbly house of Usher. The grounds around the house show no signs of life, but only death and decay. The house actually looks a lot like the creepy house you always see that the beginning of those old Scooby Doo cartoons. Seems he's come to see about his fiancée Madeline, as they had met in Boston where they both lived, and she has since returned home. This is when we meet Roderick Usher, a handsome, yet odd sort of fellow, who we learn has a painfully acute sensitivity of all the senses, preferring the dimmest of light, the blandest of food, the softest of clothing, the mildest of odor, and the quietest of sounds. We also learn, from Roderick, that Madeline is sick, and no one is allowed to see her. Philip, not understanding what's going on, refuses to leave until he can see Madeline, and Roderick finally acquiesces. She seems all right, but later we learn what the sickness is...one, not so much of body, but of a madness supposedly passed down through the Usher lineage. You see, the house and the grounds were once fertile, and full of life, but evil overtook the Usher line, displayed in the many crimes perpetrated by the various ancestors, poisoning the family and the estate, or so says Roderick. The presence of malignance is so oppressive, it's causing the centuries old house to crumble under its' own weight. I personally think it's due to lack of upkeep, but what do I know? Anyway, Philip pushes to take Madeline away from the house, but Roderick is intent on keeping her there until such time as she and he pass, effectively ending the Usher family line. His fear is that she should leave and procreate, extending the evil that has survived so long. The question of evil and its' ability to be passed down is brought up, along with the idea of evil being not so much limited to an abstract idea but a real, almost tangible quality that infects and destroys people and objects. Where does evil live? In the mind? The soul? Can it be transferred? Can a place, with a history of evil acts performed within, actually become so seeped in evil that it becomes evil itself? Well, soon Madeline suffers a heart attack and passes, due to all the excitement that Philip has brought, so says Roderick. Madeline is put into the family crypt in the basement (that's convenient), but is she really dead? Maybe not...seems there's a history of narcolepsy, a disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable, though often brief, attacks of deep sleep, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations and would sometimes make the sufferer to appear dead, in the Usher family. Did Madeline suffer from such a malady? If so, then I'd hate to be her when she wakes....

The film moves along nicely, except for maybe the dream sequence. Corman always seemed to like throwing in crazy dream sequences in his Poe productions, and sometimes they helped add to the film, sometimes they sort of ground the proceedings to a halt, in my opinion. Never being really a big fan of the cinematic dream sequence anyway, this one, at least, was short. Price and his costars all do a wonderful job, and I especially liked Fahey near the end. Price seems to envelope the role of Roderick Usher, fitting into character perfectly. If I ever read the actual Poe story, I know I'll always have a picture in my mind of Price as Roderick. What an interesting visage she provides...very scary, even for the hardened horror fan. The music, by the accomplished composer Les Baxter, really complements the visuals in creepy fashion, filling out the overall effect provided by really excellent sets.

The wide screen print here looks really good, but there are occasions where speckling and print damage were noticeable. It's very slight, and did little to lessen my enjoyment of the film. Special features include a theatrical trailer for the film, and a separate commentary track by Corman himself. I have to say, I think this is not only one of the best Corman/Poe films of the eight that were made, but one of Corman's best films period.

Cookieman108

classic VINCENT PRICE at its best.......2004-04-13

Vincent price is the "Lord of Horror" according to me. The Fall of the House of Usher is a classic horror movie that is very enjoyable. A great story, just great.

The story is based on an Edgar Alan Poe story. Roger Corman, the director, was the first to bring Poe poem to the silver screen; and here it is!

The story pulls you into it and you get a real feeling for the characters. The acting is what it is for that time period; enough said. This is a classic horror film! GET IT AND LOVE IT

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Six Feet Under - The Complete Series (Seasons 1-5)

Postcards From The Edge

Jesse James at Bay (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Crazy Streets

To Live For