ironhorse_iv Review of House of Usher

House of Usher (1960)

A story of two people from a truly broken home

[7/10 · 26 November 2012]

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.