Rating: 
Summary: This is the movie that made Vincent Price my idol!
Review: In the 1960's, when I was a kid, the NUMBER ONE horror star was definitely Vincent Price! True, he started scaring us out of our shorts in the 50's, what with HOUSE OF WAX, THE FLY, THE TINGLER, and (best of all, in my humble), HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. But it wasn't until he joined forces with American International Pictures and Director/Producer Roger Corman that Vinnie carved his niche as a true American horror icon! THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER started it all, the first in what's come to be known as "the Poe cycle." Released on tape in the mid 1980's (an inferior transfer), HOUSE OF USHER (its title, once the credits roll) has never looked better than on this gorgeous DVD. Colors are rich, sound is crystal clear, really, it's like seeing the film in a movie theater! And Vinnie, oh, Vinnie, he's in fine form here as the tragic Roderick Usher. Plagued by an over-heightening of the senses, he can't bear to hear loud noises or smell anything stronger than the most delicate perfume (yet, it doesn't prevent him from strumming a few off key notes on his mandolin!), Roderick is a tragic figure indeed. And what an imposing sight! Breathtaking, even! This is Vincent Price's most startling and compelling characterization--snow white hair, blue eyes, pale complexion, and that oh-so-very proper way of speaking and acting. I loved Hammer Films, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, but Vincent Price was somebody we could call our our own, a true national treasure! Corman's direction is solid, and he makes the most of his limited cast (only 4 people) and budget--but everything looks so luxurious and expensive! You've got to remember that AIP was notorious for cranking out cheapjack black and white quickies for the juvie market--so HOUSE OF USHER was an utterly drastic change of pace for them. And it paid off, big-time! PIT AND THE PENDULUM (also available)soon followed, with TALES OF TERROR, THE RAVEN, and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, et al,waiting in the wings! Can't wait for them to all hit DVD--and if MGM's Midnite Movies claims them, we can expect quality, quality, quality! Oh! I should mention that Corman does an interesting and humorous commentary! Attractively packaged, moderately "PRICED," THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER gives you MUCHO bang for your buck! Vincent, you may have departed our mortal world in 1992, but your legacy is alive and well! We'll never see the likes of you again, sad to say!
Rating:
Summary: it scarred me to death!
Review: it was the most freightening film of it's time. it will scare the daylights out of you...
Rating:
Summary: Fall of the House of Usher
Review: One of my favorite Vincent Price movies.I have most of them.Good cast / Great plot/ convincing acting. Some good creepy moments in this one for horror fans or fans of Edgar Allen Poe.Good choice to add to your collection. Enjoy Lisa C.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of Poe and Vincent Price
Review: One of Prices best.He is at his best in Poe stories also get Tales of Terror and The Pit and the Pendulum BEST sofar on dvd of his work also get Twice Told Stories, Theater of Blood, House on Haunted hill , The Last Man on Earth,The Bat and the Tingler, not Poe but just as good can hardly wait for Comedy of Terrors, Cry of the Banshee,and Tomb of Ligeia to come out on dvd also Haunted Palace, Conquer Worm,Scream and Scream Again, and Master of the World.All classics.
Rating: 
Summary: A big let-down, literally.
Review: Price is a wonderful actor, but some parts are wrong for him. Like this one. In many ways this is the least interesting of the Corman/Price movies. like the other Poe's they did together it looks good, but nothing much happens through-out. Somehow the "horrific" atmosphere isn't quite right. A cobweb here - the odd skeleton there; it just doesn't add up to a whole lot. -And that creepy crypt isn't enough, either. Also, similar "resurrection" scenes were done to much greater effect in Val Lewton's "Isle Of The Dead" (RKO, 1945.) In my view, the only "scary" sequence is the blue-ish nightmare scene. The rest of the film is a dull theatre play; even an appreciated letterbox version couldn't change that.
Rating: 
Summary: Home Improvement...
Review: Roderick Usher (Vincent Price) has a serious medical condition. He is stricken with a severe heightening of the senses which turns the slightest touch, sound, sight, taste, or smell into sheer agony. Roderick also believes that both he and his sister Madeline (Myrna Fahey) are doomed to impending insanity and death (it's a family curse). So, the Usher house is not a happy place! Enter Mark Damon as Madeline's fiance, bent on getting her out of this dreary atmosphere and you've got big trouble. Roderick insists on her staying put, to the point of burying her alive! Can her betrothed save her from this hideous fate? Well, not if old Rod can help it! Meanwhile, the very house itself is crumbling around them. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER is a solid Roger Corman / Poe movie with lots of ghastly charm. One of Vincent's best performances...
Rating:
Summary: CRASH!
Review: Roderick Usher is an eccentric living in a crumbling New England mansion with his sister Madeline. The Usher family has been tainted for centuries with madness, vice, and criminal tendencies; Roderick believes it would be a great service to humanity if the line simply died out with himself and his sister.
His sister however has become engaged to a young man from Boston. Roderick fears the family's malignancies will be perpetuated into future generations if Madeline procreates. When Madeline's fiance comes calling and Madeline prepares to leave the house for a new life, Roderick confronts his sister.
Words are exchanged behind closed doors. The strain is too much for Madeline; she falls into a cataleptic state. Roderick knows Madeline is subject to cataleptic fits and is alive in her deathlike state. Nevertheless, he pronounces her dead and places her in the family crypt - conveniently ridding himself of her troubling notions and plans.
Madeline recovers and finds herself sealed in a coffin. The horror of her situation pushes her over the edge and into madness. She escapes the coffin, stalks her brother, and strangles him as fire sweeps the house. The ruins sink into the desolate land surrounding it.
The film adaptation is limited to a few rooms in the Usher mansion and its characters to four. The drama belongs to Vincent Price as Roderick Usher and to Mark Damon as Madeline's lover Philip Winthrop. The two men cross swords over Madeline throughout the film.
Madeline is torn between a desire for happiness with her lover and Roderick's oppressive love and manipulation. Her mad scene - the horror climax - is somewhat disappointing however.
Unlike Poe's Madeline, the film's Madeline is developed as a character; we like her, we take an interest in her concerns, we want her to be united with her lover in spite of her brother. Love conquers all but her love story is forgotten in the final moments of the film as she becomes nothing more than a wild-eyed, horror film monster.
Madeline has displayed none of the vicious tendencies that marked her ancestors; she is innocent. We should pity her as she meets her horrible fate; we don't, however. For me, the film could have been bettered by having Madeline return to a lucid state after murdering Roderick, recognize her actions with sorrow, regret and horror, and die in the inferno as she attempts to gain her lover's arms. The short shrift given Madeline at film's end is the one dramatic flaw in an otherwise fine horror film.
The film is fun and I didn't experience a dull moment. Price's morbid arias are the highlights of the film. Mark Damon exudes youthful, sexy determination as Winthrop and Myrna Fahey is appealing as Madeline. Harry Ellerbe is fine as a loyal old servant.
(Notes: The most celebrated of Poe's stories is the first in the Corman/Price/Poe series. The script departs from Poe's original; there is no love story in Poe's tale.
Some viewers have suggested an incestuous relationship exists between the Usher siblings. Nothing in the original tale, the script, or the performances suggested such a relationship to me. However, an unspoken incestuous desire upon Roderick's part is a plausible explanation for his opposition to Madeline's marriage and his insistence that she remain in the house with him.
Corman said the house itself was a character in the film and if it is, the idea is handled very nicely. Are the few accidents that occur in the house - a chandelier falling, a bannister breaking - really the work of the house itself or just the consequences of sloppy housekeeping? You decide!)
Rating: 
Summary: Vincent Price & The House of Usher
Review: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, actually just called THE HOUSE OF USHER originally, was the 28th film for Roger Corman to make. He produced and directed it. Such was quite an achievent for a man not yet 38 years of age. It was Corman's most expensive picture to date, costing some $200,000. $50,000 went to the star, Vincent Price. Price bleached his hair, thinking that it better fit his character than the black hair originally intended. A lot of filler had to be used to stretch Poe's story into a feature film of 1 hour and 20 minutes. Corman's films often ran short and he regularly used extended camera shots and other tricks to make them long enough for European release. This film did quite well, ranking at number 5 at the box office in 1960. Roderick Usher (Price) tries to convince the fiancee to his sister, Madeline, that he must leave the house and give up all hope of marriage. The young man refuses. After Roderick has had an argument with his sister, she goes into a catatonic shock and is presumed dead. Roderick knows the truth but decides to bury her alive. While the house itself might be considered the real murderer and monster, this is really a psychological thriller. Has Roderick convinced his sister that she is sick and is going to die? Are his senses really so developed that he can hear the most meager sounds or is it an aspect of his own delusion? The sins of the Usher line are blamed for the death and decay that have poisoned the grounds and made living in the house hazardous to health-- there are a lot of accidents. Despite a private chapel with crucifix, the Ushers seem convinced that there is no hope for them, just more misery and pain, even after death. Roderick believes that the sins of his ancestors have stained his own life and soul, and that there is no escape. Taken from a scientific perspective, the fissure that has undermined the house's foundation may have released a gas that destroyed the grounds and poisoned their minds and bodies. Nothing is said about this in the film, but there are similar cases where such things and not spiritual evil have been the real culprits. Taken in a theological sense, the lack of hope (despair) and the refusal to repent brings one to a fiery judgment. The film has the house erupt in flame and the fissure, literally a pit, consumes the house. Madeline's suitor escapes and stands safely on the other side of the property's gates. He tried to battle with optimism the darkness that had possessed the house and the minds of its inhabitants. Roderick insisted that he did not understand-- what?-- that Madeline was insane? Or did he make her so by burying her alive? >No vulgar words.
>No nudity or sexual situations.
>Minor plot violence. Richard Matheson, of Twilight Zone fame, wrote the screenplay. The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Audio is two-channel mono, and is okay. Extras are a theatrical trailer and a commentary track by Roger Corman.
Rating:
Summary: Vincent Price & The House of Usher
Review: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, actually just called THE HOUSE OF USHER originally, was the 28th film for Roger Corman to make. He produced and directed it. Such was quite an achievent for a man not yet 38 years of age. It was Corman's most expensive picture to date, costing some $200,000. $50,000 went to the star, Vincent Price. Price bleached his hair, thinking that it better fit his character than the black hair originally intended. A lot of filler had to be used to stretch Poe's story into a feature film of 1 hour and 20 minutes. Corman's films often ran short and he regularly used extended camera shots and other tricks to make them long enough for European release. This film did quite well, ranking at number 5 at the box office in 1960. Roderick Usher (Price) tries to convince the fiancee to his sister, Madeline, that he must leave the house and give up all hope of marriage. The young man refuses. After Roderick has had an argument with his sister, she goes into a catatonic shock and is presumed dead. Roderick knows the truth but decides to bury her alive. While the house itself might be considered the real murderer and monster, this is really a psychological thriller. Has Roderick convinced his sister that she is sick and is going to die? Are his senses really so developed that he can hear the most meager sounds or is it an aspect of his own delusion? The sins of the Usher line are blamed for the death and decay that have poisoned the grounds and made living in the house hazardous to health-- there are a lot of accidents. Despite a private chapel with crucifix, the Ushers seem convinced that there is no hope for them, just more misery and pain, even after death. Roderick believes that the sins of his ancestors have stained his own life and soul, and that there is no escape. Taken from a scientific perspective, the fissure that has undermined the house's foundation may have released a gas that destroyed the grounds and poisoned their minds and bodies. Nothing is said about this in the film, but there are similar cases where such things and not spiritual evil have been the real culprits. Taken in a theological sense, the lack of hope (despair) and the refusal to repent brings one to a fiery judgment. The film has the house erupt in flame and the fissure, literally a pit, consumes the house. Madeline's suitor escapes and stands safely on the other side of the property's gates. He tried to battle with optimism the darkness that had possessed the house and the minds of its inhabitants. Roderick insisted that he did not understand-- what?-- that Madeline was insane? Or did he make her so by burying her alive? >No vulgar words.
>No nudity or sexual situations.
>Minor plot violence. Richard Matheson, of Twilight Zone fame, wrote the screenplay. The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Audio is two-channel mono, and is okay. Extras are a theatrical trailer and a commentary track by Roger Corman.
Rating:
Summary: TAINTED BLOOD......
Review: The first of Roger Corman's Poe cycle films is probably the most simple. A cast of four and a spooky old house are the characters. The house being a malignant symbol of the evil and depravity lived in it by the Usher family. Roderick Usher (Vincent Price) and his sister Madeline (Myrna Fahey) are the sole surviving members attended to by the long suffering family servant Bristol (Harry Ellerbe). Roderick, pale, clean shaven and with white hair, is hypersensitive to light, sound, touch and taste. He is convinced that he and Madeline suffer the curse of the Ushers---incipient madness. When Madeline's fiance Philip (Mark Damon) comes for her to marry her, Roderick forbids Madeline to leave. He doesn't want their tainted blood to continue. Philip refuses to believe Roderick's morbid stories and refuses to leave without Madeline. But he notices that the house is crumbling, cracking and shaking as if it wants to fall apart---as if the house itself is tired of bearing the curse. Then Madeline suffers a cataleptic stroke and falls into a coma, causing Roderick to declare her dead and bury her in the family crypt. But things are not as they seem and soon Madeline's screams can be heard throughout the house. Then things REALLY hum. "House of Usher" is low budget but Corman does wonders with minimilism. The use of red, normally a vibrant color, is used here to depict morbidity and death. Red candles, red furniture upholstery, Madeline's blood red dinner gown, Roderick's jackets and Madeline's own blood---all vividly captured amid the dark gloom of the house. Price gives another of his patented eccentric performances but who else could deliver lines based on Poe so well? Richard Matheson's script is efficient and literate leaving little room for open ends. Damon and Fahey are well suited as the lovers if a little inexperienced next to Price. And Les Baxter's score is moody and spooky. For 80 minutes, this is a pretty tight little film. Certainly one of the better horror films ever made. If you're a fan of the Price/Corman/Poe films this is the first and a collector's item.
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