Customer Reviews

Fall of the House of Usher [VHS]

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This hard to find VHS was released in 1989, and not to my knowledge or I would've rushed to my local Suncoast to buy it! The plot is only loosely based on Poe's original with some key variations some appealing to the "hack'n slash' movies of the late 70's/early 80's. That being said, I think it can be done well if you have good storytelling in addition, a unique blend of the two here found rarely. Martin Landau does an excellent job as Rodrick Usher, as good as Pryce IMO, and in some cases more intense. Landau is good in all he is in, including Space 1999 however, his intensity here contrasts Vincent Pryce's more downplayed appathetic Usher also done quite well. Madaline (Dimitra Arlis) is not the leading lady as Myrna Fahey's version was to "The narrator" Arlis plays Madaline closer to the author's intent. Though she was written here as a "hack'n slash' element to appeal to the growing (teenage) audience of that genre I suppose to get people in the late 70's who had little appriciaton of classics to watch. I still enjoyed it as an add-on to a great story. Though niether Rodrick nor Madaline are a bad sort(in the Poe's telling) here Madaline is simply there to take a swing at everything even before her "burial" Very single dimensinal hack'n slash "badguy" rather than a true character, too bad. That was not Poe's orignal intent. The variations in plot is well done, with the tavern. Robert Haze plays the Narrator's own backstory(with an actual name, Johnathan Cresswell, in some irony) as an engineer/arcitect, the plot, to look for a way to fix Usher's mansion. Ingenious of the writer, Stephen Lord, I think despite IMDB's horrendous insult to him and the director, James L. Conway I'll form my own opinion, thanks! Charlene Tilton playing Johnathan's wife, Jennifer Cresswell, as he also has a life beyond just the one dealing with Usher as Poe originally intended. Ray Watson acts as, I suppose, both the "Valet(Poe's exact word for "butler") and the "Family Phisician" and does it as Ray Watson always does, with the underplay of the bazaar in contrast to Landau's intensity. (Un-correalted to my coment on Vincent Pryce's style of acting.) The additons(not subtractons) are interesting to say the least, and welcome, it wasn't just a "quote" of the book as the 1960's version and others. This version is more belevable and has a similar atmospher to Roger Coreman's classic with excellent sets, and lighting as well as a good soundtrack(most of the time). Madaline, as a "mace wielding she-bitch" was not poe's orignal intent, but it was quite frightening to watch as a child when this first broadcast(1979, not 89, the vhs release) Leaving one's newly wed wife in a secton of the house with Madaline is asking for it though very scared for her and of Madaline as a 8-9 year old boy in 1979! I always watch what I review as a reveiw it to get more a feel. why the VHS release went out of market is beyond me, why is it not released on DVD. if I owned rites as a distributer to this wonderful film, you can bet yer eyeballs I'd have it released on DVD or Blueray. So far,Ive watched this a dozen times in the last three days, this is odviously a good and entertaining movie for some of us, one I only hope doesn't wear out from viewing, I bought it used and am having thoughts on transfering it to DVD.(since it is "abandoned media" for distribution, why in hell not?)