Roderick Usher's wife Madeline is dying from an unknown illness, and begs his old friend Allan to visit him. The family doctor has been unable to diagnose what the problem is, but every time Roderick works on the portrait of his wife, it seems to come to life more and more, while she is drained of it.
Anyone familiar with Edgar Allan Poe's works can plainly see that this fascinating film (like many classics old and new) has taken many liberties and in particular is combining together elements of both "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" and "The Oval Portrait". Hence, why Madeline has become Roderick's wife rather than his sister. It's often fascinating to watch this kind of "adaptation", where taking 2 or more stories can both add and detract from the source material at the same time. But, as so many previous reviewers have noted, there's a LOT more going on here!
Stylistically, this is one of the most bizarre, MESMERIZING silent films I've ever seen! The design work, the camera angles, superimposed multiple images, the camera shaking, quit-cut edits-- a full gamut that is so all-encompasing it makes the 1922 NOSFERATU seem like amateur hour by comparison. And that's not all!
The music score, composited from existing pieces by various artists (shades of Stanley Kubrick) is as much OR MORE of a work to itself, and I haven't been able to find out if this was of recent vintage or not. And then there's the film having FRENCH titles-- but ENGLISH narration in a heavy French accent. WILD!! Seriously-- is what's on the 2001 All Day Entertainment DVD a true relic of the era when silents were evolving into sound-- or a more modern "tampering"? Either way, I could not take my eyes off this thing for its entire 66-minute length. It's like a surrealistic dream you can't wake up from-- but you're enjoying it so much, you don't want to.
Other details that caught my attention include the opening sequence, where Allan stops at a local inn, asking for a ride to the Usher castle, and gets one, but at some distance, is dropped off by a coachman who tells him, "Nothing on Earth could make me go any closer!" It seems clearly inspired by Stoker's "Dracula", but it also struck me that Roger Corman used this exact bit in the pre-credit sequence of his 2nd Poe film, PIT AND THE PENDULUM (which I love to refer to as "House Of Usher 2").
And then there's the plaque commemorating "Lady Ligeia", Roderick's 1st wife. That's another story wherein a man re-marrries after his first wife dies, only to see his 2nd wife also die... before his 1st wife comes back from the dead in the body of his 2nd!
And then there's the bizzare but very cool repeated close-up shots of the grandfather clock's pendulum swinging in such a way it evokes the giant knife-blade from "The Pit And The Pendulum".
To me, the strangest change in the story is having Madeline buried in the family crypt, which is across a lake and must be reached by rowboat. Must make it hard for Roderick to hear the sound of his still-alive sister fighting to get out of her nailed-closed coffin. The interior of the crypt, by the way, reminded me of the cave from the classic Arabian Nights story "Alladin"!
I was also struck by how midway into the film, Allan has to put out a fire that starts accidentally... and then, at the climax, the electrical storm causes the entire castle to catch fire. In the 1960s, Roger Corman had no less than 5 of his 8 Poe stories end with a fire-- despite NONE of the stories those films were based on involving a fire at all. I keep finding earlier sources of inspiration for his films in comic-books and movies, and I wonder if he might have seen this 1928 film before doing his 1960 film.
By my info, there are currently at least 17 film adaptations of "Usher" (with this being the earliest!) but also, 46 different comic-book adaptations. I currently have 17 of those up at my blog. It's fun to compare different artistic interpretations of classic stories like these.
Anyone familiar with Edgar Allan Poe's works can plainly see that this fascinating film (like many classics old and new) has taken many liberties and in particular is combining together elements of both "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" and "The Oval Portrait". Hence, why Madeline has become Roderick's wife rather than his sister. It's often fascinating to watch this kind of "adaptation", where taking 2 or more stories can both add and detract from the source material at the same time. But, as so many previous reviewers have noted, there's a LOT more going on here!
Stylistically, this is one of the most bizarre, MESMERIZING silent films I've ever seen! The design work, the camera angles, superimposed multiple images, the camera shaking, quit-cut edits-- a full gamut that is so all-encompasing it makes the 1922 NOSFERATU seem like amateur hour by comparison. And that's not all!
The music score, composited from existing pieces by various artists (shades of Stanley Kubrick) is as much OR MORE of a work to itself, and I haven't been able to find out if this was of recent vintage or not. And then there's the film having FRENCH titles-- but ENGLISH narration in a heavy French accent. WILD!! Seriously-- is what's on the 2001 All Day Entertainment DVD a true relic of the era when silents were evolving into sound-- or a more modern "tampering"? Either way, I could not take my eyes off this thing for its entire 66-minute length. It's like a surrealistic dream you can't wake up from-- but you're enjoying it so much, you don't want to.
Other details that caught my attention include the opening sequence, where Allan stops at a local inn, asking for a ride to the Usher castle, and gets one, but at some distance, is dropped off by a coachman who tells him, "Nothing on Earth could make me go any closer!" It seems clearly inspired by Stoker's "Dracula", but it also struck me that Roger Corman used this exact bit in the pre-credit sequence of his 2nd Poe film, PIT AND THE PENDULUM (which I love to refer to as "House Of Usher 2").
And then there's the plaque commemorating "Lady Ligeia", Roderick's 1st wife. That's another story wherein a man re-marrries after his first wife dies, only to see his 2nd wife also die... before his 1st wife comes back from the dead in the body of his 2nd!
And then there's the bizzare but very cool repeated close-up shots of the grandfather clock's pendulum swinging in such a way it evokes the giant knife-blade from "The Pit And The Pendulum".
To me, the strangest change in the story is having Madeline buried in the family crypt, which is across a lake and must be reached by rowboat. Must make it hard for Roderick to hear the sound of his still-alive sister fighting to get out of her nailed-closed coffin. The interior of the crypt, by the way, reminded me of the cave from the classic Arabian Nights story "Alladin"!
I was also struck by how midway into the film, Allan has to put out a fire that starts accidentally... and then, at the climax, the electrical storm causes the entire castle to catch fire. In the 1960s, Roger Corman had no less than 5 of his 8 Poe stories end with a fire-- despite NONE of the stories those films were based on involving a fire at all. I keep finding earlier sources of inspiration for his films in comic-books and movies, and I wonder if he might have seen this 1928 film before doing his 1960 film.
By my info, there are currently at least 17 film adaptations of "Usher" (with this being the earliest!) but also, 46 different comic-book adaptations. I currently have 17 of those up at my blog. It's fun to compare different artistic interpretations of classic stories like these.