Shawn Watson Always a penny-pinch, Roger Corman made a modest budget of around $300,000 go far with this Poe adaptation. Instead of two low-rent black and white trash movies he convinced the money men to let him do a single, prestige picture in color and Cinemascope. They agreed, but there is really not a feature-length story here, and it limps across the 79-minute mark gasping and wheezing.Well-to-do Philip Winthrop arrives at the gloomy House of Usher to whisk his fiancée away to a new life in Boston. Her brother Roderick (a blonde Vincent Price) objects to it, claiming that the Usher bloodline is doomed to misery and that the dark, old house won't let her leave. Er...so how did they meet in the first place? Philip imposes himself on the household and discovers that they are all indeed quite mad. Had he been a little older and wiser he would have realized that no woman is worth that trouble and rode right on out of there. But then we wouldn't have a movie, or what has been stretched out into a movie.The pacing, sets, and morbid atmosphere all feel very similar to Pit and the Pendulum, which Corman and Price did a year later. Had I not been recently familiar with that movie then perhaps Fall of the House of Usher might have had a better effect on me, but they are both so alike that I felt like I was watching the same movie twice. It looks pretty and the aching, wobbling house is a wonderful location with a brooding, foreboding gloom surrounding it, but there simply isn't enough for this quartet of characters to do.

Leofwine_draca If you've seen any of the other Corman/Poe films, then you'll know exactly what to expect from this one. It's a straightforward adaptation of the Poe tale , with some very nice photography and camera-work - all achieved on a low budget, as par the course for Corman. The sets are beautiful and authentic-looking, there's plenty of dry ice floating about all over the place, and the costumes are pretty. Like the other films in this series, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER works best in creeping up on you unawares, assailing you the viewer with some of Poe's worst fears - in this case, namely being buried alive.A blond (!) Vincent Price haunts the picture, once again giving an excellent performance which helps to lift the whole film. It's safe to say that Price is so good that in any scene without him, you find yourself looking forward to his return. In this film, he's mad (what's new), and puts in a frightening portrayal of total insanity. He believes he's pure and surrounded by evil, when in fact the opposite is true. Price also has some really bizarre mannerisms, he can't bear to be touched and he hates loud noise (later, in THE TOMB OF LIGEIA, he couldn't bear bright light either). Fahey makes a believable transition from damsel in distress to insane killer, and while Damon is occasionally wooden, he acquits himself in the hero role well.Richard Matheson is the scriptwriter in this case, adding to Poe's original story of madness in the family strain. I'm sure that Matheson is the one responsible for some of the choice dialogue here, which was definitely missing in later Poe films. Apart from an out of place dream sequence, which threatens to go all psychedelic on us, everything slots in nicely. The spookiest bit comes when Damon follows a trail of his fiancée's blood through the secret passageways of the house. There are also lots of cobwebby skeletons sitting around and adding to the atmosphere. Just wait for the predictably fiery and nihilistic climax when the house burns apart and collapses. Sombre, slow, creepy, haunting, subtle and atmospheric are all adjectives that can be applied to THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, and it turns out to be one of Corman's best films (that's saying something when all of the Poe films he made were above average). For those who like Gothic spookers, this could be the one for you.

Paul Magne Haakonsen Hmmm, odd that I have never seen this movie before now in 2013, especially since I enjoy horror movies as much as I do. And I do realize that having missed out on watching this movie, I have indeed missed out on a classic. I think initially my reason for not having seen it prior to now has been because it is so old. But again, I was dead wrong, because this movie is ageless it seems - even in 2013 it is very enjoyable and entertaining.Right, well I am not going to go into the layout of the storyline, as this is a classic and most people should be up to speed with it by now - unless they, like me, shrugged it off given its age.The movie was really directed quite nicely by Roger Corman, and he has indeed managed to put together nothing short of a classic masterpiece.And the movie is really well acted, by the four people that were in it. I was a bit surprised that there were only four people to the cast list, so they had a lot riding on their shoulders. But they all delivered really well; good performances, believable performances and the characters were nicely detailed and fleshed out. There is sort of a thespian-feel to the acting-style in the movie, sort of something that transcends ordinary movie acting.There was a really nice Gothic feel to the entire movie, and the details of the house, the decor and decorating was just mind-numbingly beautiful. There were so many details that I believe the movie deserves a second watching, just to take in all of these.The story in "The Fall of the House of Usher" is timeless and it have enough weight and contents to support more than a single viewing.If you, like me, have been putting off watching this movie, then I strongly suggest you wait no longer. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a classic and a masterpiece that belongs on the DVD collection of any movie fanatic and fan of the horror genre.

ironhorse_iv Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest writers of all time, and House of Usher (1960) the film version of his short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" is interesting look at modern psychological science. It covers the form of sensory overload known as hyperesthesia (hypersensitivity to light, sounds, smells, and tastes), hypochondria (an excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness), and acute anxiety. The film was directed by Roger Corman known for his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. The film was the first of eight Corman/Poe feature films. The film starts with Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) travels to the House of Usher, , to meet his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey). Madeline's brother Roderick (Vincent Price) doesn't want the marriage to happen, telling Phillip that the Usher family is afflicted by a cursed bloodline which has driven all their ancestors to madness and doesn't want that to continue. Victor Price is great in the role, and truly can seem like a hypochondriac madman. Philip becomes increasingly desperate to take Madeline away; but Madeline suddenly dies and laid to rest in the family crypt beneath the house. As Philip is preparing to leave, the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe), lets slip that Madeline is alive. Philip rips open Madeline's coffin and finds it empty. He desperately searches for her in the winding passages of the crypt but she eludes him and confronts her brother. Now completely insane, Madeline avenges herself upon the brother who knowingly buried her alive. The film does a good job in my opinion of presenting a faithful adaption of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale of the macabre. Others say it ignore the author's style. I do say I'm glad the film doesn't do a whole reading of Mad Tryst, a novel in Poe's novel "House of Usher'. It wasn't needed in the film. The use of color is wondering. I love the opening shot of Victor Price in the bright red suit. Chilling—yet there were a bit of over cheese scenes, such as that of the green fog and dead people that makes me laugh. That scene was probably a serious scene in 1960's, but now it does looks awful. The movie help define the Gothic genre. It shows Poe's ability to create an emotional tone in his work, specifically feelings of fear, doom, and guilt. The explicit psychological dimension of this tale has prompted many critics to analyze it as a description of the human psyche, comparing, for instance, the House to the unconscious, and its central crack to the personality split which is called dissociative identity disorder. Mental disorder is also evoked through the themes of melancholy, and possible incest. An incestuous relationship between Roderick and Madeline is never explicitly stated, but seems implied by the strange attachment between the two. The film can be interpreted as "a detailed account of the derangement and dissipation of an individual's personality." The house itself becomes the "symbolic embodiment of this individual." With the house falling apart, the characters are falling as well. Check it out if you want. There are two versions, the original and the retouch version, as on 2010, BRIC Arts presented the film with a new score and psychedelic overlays and flash forwards by Marco Benevento in celebration of the film's 50th anniversary. I would choose the newer version as it's more interesting in sound and taste. A great horror movie, so watch it. Talked about a really good haunted house movie.