Customer Reviews

Edgar Allan Poe's: House of Usher

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

 

 

Of the three DeCoteau Poe films released on DVD, this one is by far the most faithful to the origninal story. The script by Simon Savory is quite ingenious in its updating of Poe. The three central characters Roderick (Frank Mentier), Madeline (Jaimyse Haft) and Victor (Michael Cardelle) retain the same charcteristics they had in the origninal story. Victor goes to visit his chum (former lover in this version) Roderick at the family estate and finds that the Usher parents have died leaving the house to Roderick and his sister Madeline. The siblings have become quite unhinged with Roderick suffering from an overly acute perception and Madeline enduring fits of catalepsy. Roderick is in a state of depression and never ventures from the family mansion and is unable to go out into the light of day because of his sensitivity to light. Roderick has also taken up photography as a hobby and is fond of photographing painters, plumbers and gardners. Then things get weird . . .

David DeCoteau once again gives us a film of stunning beauty. It is photographed by frequent DeCoteau cinematographer Howard Wexler and Danny Draven is back as the editor for this one. Every shot is a stunner. There are many candle lit scenes that contribute to the gothic atmosphere. Every window is penetrated by deep blue light, exactly replicating the look of the bedroom sequences in Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT. The film also benefits from a fine score by legendary Harry Manfredini. The cast is attractive and they deliver their lines as if in a trance state and this fits the curious dialogue they are given. The film is a peculiar blend of modern and gothic elements and it all works beautifully. I don't know if I prefer this one over THE PIT AND THE PENDULEM, a film which reached new heights of erotic frenzy. This film is more subdued in tone and a bit more intellectual than Dave's versions of PIT and RAVEN. David DeCoteau is still at the top of his game and doing great work and this film gives ample evidence of his tremendous talent as a film maker. I loved every minute of it!

This movie is a letdown in many ways, but some may find it amusing. The story updates Poe's classic short story, which is fine enough to do, but the result is flat. The dialog is leaden, the acting wooden. Overall the emoting is high school thespian club caliber. The lead actor, Michael Cardelle, is certainly a beauty but he seems more suited to be starring in an underwear catalog. Others have commented on how the house and the Usher siblings look like they are deteriorating, but you may disagree. Roderick Usher (Frank Mentier) looks rather healthy and only talks of his sensitivity to light (hence the fashionable dark glasses). His interest in photographing the hired help shirtless and then they seem to become ghosts is an odd twist, especially since the ghosts in various shades of tight boxer briefs don't seem to be able to touch the living, but merely do some sort of hand and mouth hovering, inches away from Victor's luscious torso. Friend/lover Victor calls Usher, "Ush" but considering the absolutely awesome bulge in Roderick's tight black briefs, "Rod" may have been a better nickname. The actress playing Madeline (Jaimyse Haft), looks unhinged, mentally over the top, but not physically ill--unless you don't like Shelly Duvall types. She seems to be wearing the gooiest, stickiest lip-gloss, but the kissing scenes are mainly between the two male leads anyway. As for the house, no attempt is made to make it look like a face, as in Poe's story. It looks like a very nice mansion. The only sign of "deterioration" is that at one point two planks of wood and a piece of plaster suddenly fall onto the floor (evidently from above, but we are not shown even where). The rest of the place is bright, spanking new. Even the outdoor sculptures look pristine, not weather beaten at all. The movie is shot on HD video, so there is only sharp focus, none of the lovely depth of field inherent in actual film and the so-called fall of the house is done with cheap CGI. There is, however, a surprise ending that is actually rather cool.

A bit disturbing...not the story...the directing and most acting. I thought the cast was very easy on the eyes (hence the two stars and not just one) but the story was distracting and was written like a 70's porno (all you need is a theme and a title) but without the sex. I would recommend you pass on this one.

Oh boy. How can I politely state my disappointment with this film without being banned from this site for using unlikable terms. Blah-zette' sort of sums it up and that is keeping it light. What a horrible rendition of this Edgar Allan Poe Haunt. I honestly couldn't wait to shut if off. In fact, my boyfriend left the room during a third of its playback and I stopped the bloody film half way through. After that, I tried to finish it on three different occasions without being successful. On the forth attempt, I finally made it through, hoping it would get better, and it nearly put me to rest. Good thing I was baking sugar cookies at the time to keep my interest peeked, otherwise my evening would have been a total bust. It was excruciating to watch because the original story was butchered and the acting was shattered, right down to the disturbing chanting the ghostly boys in their underwear tried to pull off as a haunting moment. Ugh! This was bad.
My one star I gave this review goes to the lead character because he was cute to look at and turned out to be the best actor out of all of them. It's a good thing he visited the Usher house or this movie would have truly been dumpster material. The girl, Aiye, eiye, eiye, she was just tragic. It was hard enough watching the guys flop at their acting, so when she appeared, it was like a bare naked woman just showed up at an all gay male hot tub party. She was frightening and turned the water cold.
I can't even call this a B movie because it was that bad. It belongs at the end of the alphabet more than the beginning. My suggestion is to pass this Z movie by unless you are a glutton for punishment. Put the dirty dime back in the pocket and move along. This movie should be eliminated from the choices of decent gay films and production should end today. Really.... End this at once I say.

Attractive actors seemed to be the highlight of the show. The ACTING was a bit uncomfortable, almost high school play-style or home-movie acting. Rated-R for same-sex make-out sessions, rubbing up and down bare chests, and a few bare-butt shots. Nothing frontal and nothing simulated as in other "here! network" productions.

This movie was ok. It was too conflicted on what it wanted to be and where it was going. The guys where hott but not in it enough to push it beyond, so so.

The movie was exciting because the charactor's where strange, but yet appealing to me. The ending was very surprising. I would recomend it for anyone who is not sure weather they would like a haunting movie or not. Also,I liked the eye candy.

I've seen other Here! films and wasn't too impressed, but the trailer for this one had me hopeful. I've not seen any of this director's other movies, so this is my impression based on just this movie by itself.

First, the bad points. The acting was a little stiff, but excusable. It wasn't horrible, but yeah, I've come to expect better.

The 'sexy scenes' between the main character, Usher, and his houseguest, Victor, felt kinda forced and unnaturally long, only to end abruptly. Left me feeling kind of, "Okay, the point of that was?" (Also, the director has this thing about having the actors pull each others' briefs down over their butt and just... leaving them on, with the butt hanging out. Eh??)

The camera angles with plain and boring. Most scenes only had one shot and the point of view did not change at all. Very uninteresting. Imagine a whole seven minute conversation from the same camera angle. Yawn.

Lastly, and most horrifyingly, was the cheap-sounding loud-stab-high-strings horror soundtrack. Dear God, how am I supposed to enjoy a movie when it's always going NAH NAH NAH NAH and the music for erotic scenes sounds like cheesy porno? The music just felt overly intense at the wrong moments, other times just plain inappropriate.

As for the good things, I felt that the character development of the sister was actually rather good. Between her monologue of 'life is merely the space between birth and death / I fear the unborn more than the dead' and her sweet, scary talk of loving the life in her garden, she was pretty interesting. Not the best acted, but surely fascinating.

The twists at the end, although not completely unforeseeable, were very fitting. The last three minutes or so is what made this movie more than a 1-star. It least me going, "Oh, that....makes sense." If you start this movie at all, please finish it to the end. Or skip to the last scene, it's nearly perfect. Minus the so-so acting.

All in all, I really like the idea the plot was trying to go for: a modern, homosexual twist on a classic horror tale by the king of horror himself. This movie left me disappointed, because it just seemed to have so much potential, with the fascinating plot premise. I think with stronger directing this could really have shone bright, but it falls just a but short.

I don't think this is the kind of bad that can be considered "cult bad." This is the kind of bad that makes you slightly ill. The film reminds me of a good recipe made with really cheap ingredients. You might as well not bother.

Have just finished watching House of Usher... I hope not all of Decoteau's movies are as bad, boring and ridiculous like this one, some scenes of which could be used as advertising male underwear in the worst case! Why such an old-fashioned script with badly imitated déja-vu's? He should learn more from Brian De Palma (whom he even tries to copy from time to time, but without success) - it's all so painful and hilarious. Even pseudo-soft gay TV serials like Dante's Cove or The Lair have more substance and tension and surely more professional scripts than this poor and cheap attempt to homage E.A.Poe! That the USA and Canada consider Decoteau's films as "cult", I cannot believe, it makes shake my head; this considering all real gay cult movies which have been done in the past!
The ineffective love scenes of House of Usher are always the same pattern: caressing hands avoid touching the groin in a way everybody must laugh because you feel it in advance, kisses are always shown from the same angles; a bit more naked skin while pulling down a few centimetres of underwear behind is the climax; soon afterwards near the navel the kisser's mouth retrocedes, as if it would be horrified and wanders upwards again nearer the skin. And this is always the same pattern... Decoteau's submissive attitude towards censorship becomes like a warning finger in his own personal style as if he would continuously tell us: you see what is prohibited! But there too, with a bit more fantasy and artistry he could avoid such inhibited erotic clichés!