The first of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, Fall of the House of Usher was originally released as simply House of Usher. Vincent Price stars as the foredoomed Roderick Usher. Living in his decaying family mansion with his young sister Madeline (Myrna Fahey), Roderick does his best to shoo away Madeline's fiance Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon). He tells the young swain that Madeline suffers from the family curse of encroaching madness, and thus cannot be permitted to bear children. After a
series of suspicious, near-fatal accidents, Phillip insists that Madeline be allowed to leave with him at once. But Roderick sadly announces that this is impossible: Madeline has died, and is slated to be entombed. Informed by the family butler that Madeline has previously been prone to near-catatonic spells, Phillip angrily insists that the girl may very well have been buried alive. The climactic conflagration would be recycled as stock footage in future Corman/Poe efforts, as would the set representing the Usher home. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Under the low-budget circumstances, Vincent Price and Myrna Fahey should not be blamed for portraying the decadent Ushers with arch affectation, nor Mark Damon held to account.
Weird and a touch silly, but despite being a B-picture made by a B-studio, neither Roger Corman nor Richard Matheson treat the film as a disposable drive-in time-waster.
When Corman pitched the project to his superiors at American International Pictures, they asked, 'where's the monster?' Corman quickly replied, 'the house is the monster.'
Certainly some elements are dated now, and Price's fellow actors can't hold a candle to him, but Usher still holds up as an example of stately suspense that doesn't resort to gore, monsters, or overuse of shock effects.
The real star of MGM's new DVD edition of The Fall of the House of Usher is Roger Corman, whose engaging commentary track is an 80-minute crash course on getting things right the first time.
The sickly decadence and claustrophobia of the Usher household is admirably evoked by Floyd Crosby's 'Scope photography and Daniel Haller's art direction.
A primeira das oito parcerias entre Corman e Price funciona maravilhosamente bem até os quinze minutos finais, quando passa a depender de Fahey para assustar.
Roger Corman comes up with a rather respectable film. Sure, he has some great material to work from, but between his Little Shop of Horror and Sharktopus, this certainly sticks out. He's lucky enough to get Vincent Price involved. A man that was born for horror, though he isn't confined by it. There is genuine
chemistry between him and his sister, which makes the ending, not only shocking, but tragic too. As the house crumbles away the tension mounts. Is the house alive? Or is the psychological pressure all a bit much. The art direction is also well constructed. The gothic wood scenes are creepy and the house itself does seem to be a living organism.
I love how Corman was able to make Poe's stories into films so brilliantly, and all of them starring Price too! I didn't particularly like how Price had blond hair in this movie, he looks better with dark hair, but his performance is still great, and the other actors are good. I love the tale of madness, and I highly
recommend Corman's Poe series.
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