Customer Reviews

Tomb of Ligeia [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA is the definitive of Roger Corman's eight Edgar Allan Poe film adaptations. This is the best. The first thing that impresses the viewer is the innovative cinematography by Arthur Grant. It is stark yet hauntingly beautiful. The opening scene at Ligeia's burial is an impressive piece of filmmaking. It immediately draws the viewer into this tale of obsession where images are presented in such a way leaving one uncertain as to what was actually observed. Roger Corman directs these scenes with an emotional fervor entirely different from his other Poe tales juxtaposing quick editing, insightfully ambiguous dialog and penetrating camera movements creating a truly unique experience. There is something very erotic in a more mature sense about this whole film. There is no notion of carnal lust present in any of the images yet the viewer can feel a sense of stirring of the passionate emotions between the two principal characters, Verden Fell and Lady Rowena Trevanion. Vincent Price is truly brilliant as Verden Fell, husband of the late Lady Ligeia Fell. He plays this elusive and enigmatic character with complete conviction and confidence. Elizabeth Shepherd is equally brilliant as the curious and interested Lady Rowena as she exudes an aura of repressed burning sexuality. This is all conveyed by a mere hand gesture, a look or the ever-slightest touch or just the utterance of some seemingly unimportant words. Price tends to be oblivious to these very subtle advances in an almost asexual trance of consciousness yet he still conveys a sense of yearning for a passion perhaps lost or just lying dormant. Corman's directorial abilities are so acute in this film that the viewer really has no direct insight to where he is going with this intriguing and engaging story, yet when the tale concludes it all becomes apparent and quite logical. Equally important is Roger Corman, the producer. Robert Towne's screenplay is filled with incredibly intelligent, witty, amusing and crisp dialogue. Vincent Price and Elizabeth Shepherd did wonders with Towne's use of language making the characters' eccentricities and frailties startlingly real. Editor Alfred Cox made use of well timed and trimmed cuts to heighten and enhance certain plot elements putting the viewer off balance yet increasing the viewer's awareness of the narrative. Cinematographer Arthur Grant and art designer Colin Southcott combined to make indelible images that are so simple and economic in design yet convey a strange and beautifully haunting setting that entices the viewers' intellectual curiosity in an emotional response. Even composer Ken Jones' score is economical in its construction yet it is very effective. It just seems to flow with the images waiting for the viewer to make an intellectual connection that again elicits an emotional response. This is a very impressive and important film and it is rather curious that it remains somewhat unknown to the general public.

I have studied Archaelogy and am particularly interested in Egytology. I also love Edgar Alan Poe's writings and have been a fan of the late night TV for years. Not to mention, Vincent Price is my favorite Actors of all time. So, I must say this is not an impartial evaluation, but I hope I pass on my love for this particular genre of film. If you were one of those teens who stayed up late to watch all the hokey scifi, horror, etc. films(only shown after 12 midnight)you will love this one. It is a classic! Even if you feel the acting and effects are poor, it should at least bring back fond memories of a day gone by when those hokey horror films actually instilled a bit of fear. Who knows, if you let yourself go,... perhaps...you may experience the fear once more.

Verden Fell (Vincent Price) loses his wife Ligeia but then he meets another women they fall in love and get married. The problem is the spirt of his dead wife comes back in the form of a cat to kill them. Every night he goes to Ligera's grave when his wife falls asleep, until he bring Ligera's body into the house. Then more problems begin. Roger Corman's last film with Vincent Price. An OK film. Based on an Edgar Allen Poe Poem. ....

The Tomb Of Ligeia-Barely watchable snoozefest, A bore of a movie despite Having Vincent Price in it the movie is too slow and "Theater-ish".Maybe others can appreciate it more.

Roger Corman delivers a masterpiece of filmmaking from Robert Towne's script based on the story "Ligeia" by Edgar Allan Poe. It seems like Corman saved his best Poe for last. Vincent Price gives a brilliant and genuinely cryptic performance in this movie (I love those crazy eyeglasses he wears). I think this is Vincent Price's best screen performance. It was almost like he wasn't acting at all. This is a lush and very attractive movie but beware what lies beneath it all. It has been very underrated by far. Did you see her move?

The Tomb of Ligeia (Roger Corman, 1964)

Roger Corman, according to IMDB's trivia section, considered this the most exciting of his series of Poe adaptations. I'd have to disagree, as I let this one sit for a couple of months before getting round to reviewing it, and I found that I'd forgotten it almost entirely, and had to go back and watch it again. It;s not bad, but it doesn't sick in the mind the way some of the other Poe adaptations from this series do.

Plot: Verden Fell (Vincent Price) was once married to a lovely woman named Ligeia (Damien: Omen II' Elizabeth Shepherd). Ligeia died, however, and after an appropriate time, Fell gets engaged to Lady Rowena Trevanion, the daughter of a local landowner. There's one minor problem: Fell is still obsessed with Ligeia, and Rowena just happens to be her spitting image. He comes to believe that the spirit of Ligeia may be possessing his new bride. Or is her spirit actually in that cat who's been hanging around?

Corman's potboiler style of direction combined with the acting talents of both Price and Shepherd make this interesting and watchable; it's not something you should avoid. But it's empty calories, and you'll be hungry again in an hour. ** ½