Customer Reviews

Edgar Allan Poe - 11 Poe Tales Hosted By Christopher Lee

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I love Edgar Allen Poe stories. As an English teacher, I often read one or two during the year with my classes. I bought this DVD set planning to show it to my classes after reading the stories "The Tell Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado." After viewing several of the story dramatizations, I was so disappointed. In "Cask" the story is changed and tries to explain the reason for Montressor's revenge. In my classes we discuss how Poe intentionally leaves out the reason for the revenge. To alter the story like that seems wrong. Plus the 22 minute dramatization is BORING - not worth watching. I would rather leave the details up to the students' imaginations. "Tell Tale Heart" was really horrible - the old man has a RIDICULOUSLY enormous eye. I laughed once and then turned it off. You could NEVER show this to a class of students. The silliness of it ruined the scary story. One piece of advice - DON'T BUY THIS DVD!

Imagine my surprise to find this compilation of Edgar Allan Poe short films all based on short works of the great author. As an English teacher, I also love to read Poe stories with my classes, and the thought of showing a visual with these stories was fantastic. I eagerly purchased this, thinking this might be a great resource and future use in teaching the works of Poe.

Imagine my disappointment to find out that the stories are altered, and not very interesting. I was sold on the idea that they would be interesting and detailed, and authentic, especially is Christopher Lee, one of the renown horror geniuses, was host. But, alas, no such luck. Extra details are added in, extra characters are added in to make the stories more "dramatic" and many of the short films are more apt depicting some cheesy soap opera than a Poe work. These short films, for the most part, are devoid of imagination or terror, and are too bland for Poe's style. For instance, "The Masque of the Red Death" was quite a disappointment, even though Lee actually stars in the film!

Like some have said, this is nothing a teacher would want to show in class, namely because they aren't interesting enough for the purchaser to watch. A major disappointment here. Maybe one of these days someone will be able to accurately and successfully depict a Poe story on film.

If you want to view a film BASED on Poe, but not true to the story, you are better off checking out the few Vincent Price films, such as The Pit and the Pendulum or The Masque of the Red Death. These, although somewhat inaccurate, are far superior.

Purchased them for research... these are so far deviated from the actual stories, it's pitiful. Many of them are poorly filmed and don't make much sense whatsoever. If you are looking for examples of WHAT NOT TO DO to classic texts, this collection is perfect. If you are looking for solidly researched and brilliantly executed versions of Edgar Allan Poe's work.... look elsewhere.

After watching Hugh Whysall's adaptation of "The Masque of the Red Death" I was literally livid with anger. I bought this product to use in my English class, but I think I might as well have acted out these scenes myself. Mr. Whysall took it upon himself to change every story. I've seen much better adaptations of "Red Death" and "Amantillado." I'm so frustrated that I bought this trash.

I bought this dvd-set for my boyfriend. He's obsessed with Hammer flicks, AIP's Poe's, anything to do with Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Roger Corman... Seeing that this combines both Christopher lee and Poe made this a perfect gift for the holidays. Now, I have to say that regardless of what I'll say next, this is something he would've wanted to have regardless, if only to make his collection complete. And have a good laugh. But in all honesty... Kids in their first week at filmschool can do better. The only actual actor who bears any weight is Lee himself, and I am a little surprised he said yes to such a lousy project. The acting, the sets, the actors, the special effects, are all so horrible, you can't help but laugh. And that's not quite what Poe intended with his grim stories of death, disease and 'unhealthy' loves. So any time we need a laugh, or just want to take a little break from it all, we watch an episode of this rediculous dvd. All in all it is an abomination, but if you are a completist, you can't really have this lacking from your collection. If you're not obsessed with Mr. Lee, don't bother, you won't find it worthy of your time.

I expected these short films (about half an hour each) to be cheesy productions, but I was really rather charmed. The Croation/South African production team did a pretty good job, with, I suspect, the filming being done in Croatia. The buildings are real, not film sets, and quite nice. Many of the costumes (which are not wonderful, but they are adequate) are for the post-Poe Victorian and Edwardian eras. Since Poe's original stories are grounded in the human soul, rather than any particular time or place, this works quite well. As the written stories are not particularly plot-oriented, or at least depend more on emotion than plot, a few plot "holes" have been filled in, to the overall benefit of the series. This is still, BTW, horror of atmosphere rather than blood and gore, which is fine with me.

It's always difficult to adapt Edgar.Allen.Poe for the cinema or
television,because every reader has an own idea how Poe mus be
filmed.
Although this series will certain not hit everyone's taste it is
definitely a worth seeing attempt to design Poe for television!
The episodes suffer admittedly under an obviously Low Budget but have
nervertheless their moribund charme.
The greatest point is of course the presence of Christopher Lee!!
He gives really a virtuoso performance as Prince Prospero and
gives,through his function as narrator the entire series a touch
of magic.
In any case this is a must for every fan of Egar.Allen.Poe-and
Christopher Lee!

Are the performance rights included in this DVD? All of these teachers were planning on showing this in their classroom. Our library bought this DVD and it is not that bad just different. It's not slick like so many of the productions now but it does have charm.