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Tales of Terror

Tales of Terror

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Five Stars...
Review: Being a fan of Vincent Price and Peter Lorre for that matter, this was just priceless (no pun intended). Aside from Peter Lorre not aging well at all, this just makes his "tale" all the more realistic.
The first tale is called Morella where Vincent Price blames his visiting daughter for the death of his wife. Yet there is a twist to the story regarding the daughter. Really well done.

The second tale is The Black Cat with Peter Lorre as the main character here in one of the best parts I've seen him play.
He puts pathetic, mean and humorous into one role and is hysterical doing the classic wine testing scene with Vincent Price. I was truly laughing out loud. The facial expressions that Price has in this one when acting with Lorre are worth this DVD alone.

The third and last tale is the scariest in my view. It is called the Case of M. Valdemar where Basil Rathbone plays a man who tries to gain control over a dying Vincent Price. This is a pretty scary one, and Rathbone completes his role nicely.

The ladies in these tales (Maggie Pierce, Joyce Jameson and Debra Paget) are all absolutely stunning. You just can't compare the beauty of that day with today.

Get this DVD, especially if you like Price and Lorre....not to mention Poe. I promise you it is something you will watch over and over again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Five Stars...
Review: Being a fan of Vincent Price and Peter Lorre for that matter, this was just priceless (no pun intended). Aside from Peter Lorre not aging well at all, this just makes his "tale" all the more realistic.
The first tale is called Morella where Vincent Price blames his visiting daughter for the death of his wife. Yet there is a twist to the story regarding the daughter. Really well done.

The second tale is The Black Cat with Peter Lorre as the main character here in one of the best parts I've seen him play.
He puts pathetic, mean and humorous into one role and is hysterical doing the classic wine testing scene with Vincent Price. I was truly laughing out loud. The facial expressions that Price has in this one when acting with Lorre are worth this DVD alone.

The third and last tale is the scariest in my view. It is called the Case of M. Valdemar where Basil Rathbone plays a man who tries to gain control over a dying Vincent Price. This is a pretty scary one, and Rathbone completes his role nicely.

The ladies in these tales (Maggie Pierce, Joyce Jameson and Debra Paget) are all absolutely stunning. You just can't compare the beauty of that day with today.

Get this DVD, especially if you like Price and Lorre....not to mention Poe. I promise you it is something you will watch over and over again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the Creepy Corman Classics
Review: Directed by the venerable king of quality low-budget filmmaking, Roger Corman, and scripted by the prolific and popular SF and horror writer Richard Matheson, TALES OF TERROR is comprised of three vignettes based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. The incomparable Vincent Price stars in all three, with Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone each co-starring (separately, alas) in one of the others. Any knowledgeable horror fans should be nearly euphoric after reading the credentials behind this flick--and they won't be disappointed!

The first story is based on Poe's "Morella," but Corman and Matheson take great liberties to make the tale darker and scarier than the original. Unfortunately, the altered plot and its resolution (?) are a bit hard to follow, and it is therefore the weaker of the three plays.

The second--and best!--vignette, "The Black Cat" is actually a composite of Poe's story of the same name and his "The Cask of Amontillado." Peter Lorre hilariously hams it up as the cuckolded Montresor Herringbone, and Vincent Price is also a riot as Herringbone's nemesis, Fortunato. In spite of the humor, however, there are still plenty of chills when Lorre builds a wall around his "problems."

The final vignette, based on Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," features the wonderful Basil Rathbone as the hypnotist who uses his powers to put the titular character, Valdemar (portrayed by Price), in a sort of limbo between life and death. Again, Corman and Matheson have taken liberties with the original story (e.g., making the hypnotist malevolent and self-serving), but this time it's to great effect, as Rathbone makes a delightfully devilish villain. The make-up job on Price in the final scene is pretty creepy, too, in spite of the film's low-budget effects. Good old-fashioned frights in this one.

The DVD edition of TALES OF TERROR is short on extras (trailer only)--it would've been great to have a Corman commentary on this one, which many of the other MGM releases of Corman's films DO have--but seeing this film in widescreen makes it well worth the reasonable cost. A worthy addition to any fan of classic horror.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Vincent Price Film Feast
Review: Do you like stories of the macabre? Enjoy reading Edgar Allen Poe while a storm vents its fury outside your window? Like watching Vincent Price do what he does best?

If you answered yes to any of these, you'll want to own this trio of tales based on the works of EAP.

Price is a 'priceless' actor when it comes to films of gothic horror. Somehow, he can dramatise horror and revultion as no other can -- truly he is a master of the macabre.

The film itself consists of three spooky tales which will enthral the watcher (assuming this is your sort of chosen entertainment). There is virtually no bloodletting in these tales, but they strike a deeper note than Freddy ever has.

Not for younger children unless you want to sit up with them all night for their dreams, mature audiences should find this trilogy great for an evenings diversion.

** Recommended **

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: GARBAGE
Review: Don't waste your time or money with this DVD. The best part of the DVD is probably the Trailers and most of those are Garbage also. My DVD came loose in the package and scratched, too bad it didn't do any damage to ruin the Movie. I couldn't wait until the Movie was over, I would have stopped it earlier, but wanted to see if any damage was done. You'll be counting the minutes and seconds after watching the first half or even earlier. The last story was stupid and horrible and should have been left off. Don't waste your money, spend it on the cheap $5-6 horror DVD's, because at least those can be somewhat entertaining.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: GARBAGE
Review: Don't waste your time or money with this DVD. The best part of the DVD is probably the Trailers and most of those are Garbage also. My DVD came loose in the package and scratched, too bad it didn't do any damage to ruin the Movie. I couldn't wait until the Movie was over, I would have stopped it earlier, but wanted to see if any damage was done. You'll be counting the minutes and seconds after watching the first half or even earlier. The last story was stupid and horrible and should have been left off. Don't waste your money, spend it on the cheap $5-6 horror DVD's, because at least those can be somewhat entertaining.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vincent Price is the man!!
Review: First of all, let me say that Mr. Price was incredible on all three stories. Although the movie scripts of Matheson didn't convince me, Price saves the movie. I thought that all three stories were from Poe, and I think, after I saw the DVD, that they are like a 30% or so of Poe. I have read E. A. Poe since I was on Junior High, and I didn't remember "the black cat" as in the movie, but Price is superb!! Outstanding!! His face changed a lot through all Tales of terror!! And his interpretation of Valdemar was ultra cool!!

Bravo, Mr. Price. There aren't many artists like U right now (besides Jack Nicholson, that is!!).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: JUVENILE HODGEPODGE....
Review: Interesting but lame all-star trio of Poe stories that kids may find fun. Admittedly bravura cast saddled with tame treatment of Poe tales tries to make good but ultimately sink beneath the silliness. The script (by the normally reliable Richard Matheson) could have been a lot better. First story "Morella" features a horrible actress named Maggie Pierce who cannot hold her own with Vincent Price. The next two stories are tritely handled and so tame they're boring. Price (who's in all three), Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone liven things up a bit but the results are disappointing on an adult level. The Corman touches are here but the film has a low budget quickie feel. Watch "Tomb of Ligeia" for a "Morella" type tale and stick with the other Corman/Price/Poe adaptations--they're more sophisticated and SO much better. As for this?---leave it for the kids.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Price, Lorre and Rathbone in a Poe Anthology Film
Review: Mention Roger Corman's 1962 "Tales of Terror" and you immediately think of Vincent Price teaming up with Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. But for me this film owes as much to writer Richard Matheson, who adapted four Poe stories into three film vignettes. "Morella" is another one of those dark family secret stories. The title character (Leona Gage) had died in childbirth 26 years before, cursing her baby daughter. When Leonora (Maggie Pierce) comes home suffering from a fatal disease, she discovers her father Locke (Price) has been keeping mom's mummified corpse in his bedroom. "The Black Cat" also works in elements of Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." Montressor Herringbone (Lorre) finds out his wfie Annabel (Joyce Jameson) is having an affair with Fortunato Lucresi (Price), a rather foppish wine connoisseur. Unexpectedly funny because of the comic performances of the two stars, the story is this sequence inspired Corman to make "The Raven." Finally, "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," an elderly man (Vindent) whose dying days have been eased in part because of a hypnotist, Carmichael (Rathbone), whos wants to hypnotize Valdemar at the moment of death. The experiemnt succeeds, after a fashion, but Carmichael refuses to release Valdemar until his wife Helene (Debra Paget) agrees to marry him.

"Tales of Terror" is noteworthy for two particular impacts it had on horror films. The first was the emergence of anthology films that followed in its wake, such as "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" and "Black Sabbath." The second was the revival of interest in former movie stars at American International, which would soon add Boris Karloff to their roster. The stand out segment of this film is certainly "The Black Cat," with Lorre and Price showing marvelous comic timing. Lorre takes such perverse glee in walling up his wife and Price, plus there is nothing like the macabre politeness of movie villains . There is something transcendent about watching these old Hollywood pros have fun with taking these roles so seriously, so to speak.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tales of Not So Terror
Review: This is an interesting of tales based loosely on Poe's writings. The first tells of a family reunion-the daughter returns to her family's home to discover dear ole Dad (Price) wandering around a cob web covered filty house in s drunken stupor with Mother Dear rotting in her bed (dead for 26 years). It seems that Dad sent the daughter away after the death of the mother, blaming the child for her death. ...
The 2nd is based on the Cask of Amatillado, with the TellTale Heart and the Black Cat thrown in. Peter Lorre play Montressor, a drunken wino, married to a long-suffering wife. price plays Fontunato, a wine connessior. Lorre challenges price to a wine-tasting contest becomes drunk and Price carries him home,...

The Case of Mr. Valdemar is the oddest and scariest. Price plays Valdemar, a old man racked with pain who uses a hypnotist, Rathbone, to ease the pain. Price also agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death. ...
A nice way to spend an evening


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