Thoughts on a Movie Marathon: Roger Corman's Poe Cycle

Well I had about 5 hours sleep after finishing the marathon an hour earlier than expected, but still felt a bit rough after that. I ended up burning out a couple of hours later and fell asleep on the sofa watching sitcoms, but that usually happens even on a good day so, well, there you go.

So was the marathon worth it? Yes, they were all interesting films in their own right and each very different, which was a surprise in itself. I started getting really tired and fed up halfway through Tales of Terror but had a second wind during The Raven after an internal struggle over whether to give up for the night. I must admit that during that stage I seriously asked myself: "Why are you staying up all night doing this? Why didn't you just watch them all during the day? You have plenty of free time, you fool!", which was a fair point, but I reminded myself of the four reasons I laid out in my Prelude To A Movie Marathon post which still stand as decent arguments. Plus, well, I guess it added a bit more pressure to the event - there didn't seem to be much danger in just sitting on my arse during the day like I always do.

So here are a few thoughts on each film as best that I can remember them:

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

This was a beautiful, still and poignant beginning. It felt like an emo's wet dream as the Usher family shuffle about in their big old house just wanting to be alone. The colours were vibrant and lush, but Corman's direction was basic point-and-shoot stuff which didn't fill be with confidence - but I was sort of expecting that. The story struck a chord with me as, like the Ushers, I've been purposefully isolating myself (mainly from my own family) since 2010 after a long bout of depression which inadvertently left a few people close to me a little upset. I see it as giving them all a break from me but, since I guess I'll be battling with depression for the rest of my life, maybe just communicating with them via the internet is for the best. But enough about me! I'd recommend this to anyone as a beautiful, sombre, period melodrama with a touch of horror at the end.

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

It surprised me that this took a leap back in time to be set in a completely different era. It's basically the dodgy ruff show, but that's okay. There are some great matte paintings by Albert Whitlock which made me yearn for a simpler time; in fact I've actually started to wonder whether, as people get desensitised and maybe even sick of CGI, the art of handcrafted special effects and illusion in film will make a return. I must admit that this was the first but perhaps only film where I was imagining the parody as it went along. Not as striking as Usher but very much a worthwhile watch.

THE PREMATURE BURIAL

This was fun and perhaps the cheapest looking of the lot. Not in a bad way, mind you, as I do love studios standing in for locations, but the facts of the case are there for anyone who doesn't. Ray Milland is an okay-ish stand in for Vincent Price but lacks the same magnetism. The story felt more like it should have been the length of a TV episode than a feature as there's not really enough in there to sustain it, but it is by no means substandard. Plus the ever elaborate ways that Milland comes up with to escape his possible early grave are quite amusing and over the top. Dynamite? Really?

TALES OF TERROR

And here's where the series trips up a little bit. I was wondering whether this might have been the inspiration for The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror vignettes, but who knows. The first and third stories are familiar territory and just about forgettable, but the secondis more interesting in that it's sort of a failure. It's basically The Cask of Amontillado/The Telltale Heart done for laughs, with an ill looking but still great Peter Lorre hamming it up as a jealous alcoholic. There are some dated still-frame zooms which feel very 60s that draw you out of the experience, but apart from that and the fairly damp storytelling it's still an entertaining watch. In fact the last story - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar - has a touch of The Exorcist to it and is a little disturbing if you think about it too hard.

THE RAVEN

Now I really wasn't expecting this to be a comedy, which took me by surprise, but once I got into the groove of it I ended up really enjoying myself. This one was the first that felt like, well, I guess a proper film. They're all proper films, of course, but this had more elaborate lighting and special effects, not to mention some powerhouse acting talent. It actually felt more like an early Mel Brooks film, perhaps more The Producers than Young Frankenstein, where the humour isn't joke orientated so much but more to be found in the sense of fun and in the performances. It's just a nice, ambling story about rivalling magicians. I guess you could say it's the best Discworld adaptation we've had so far, even though it was made over twenty years prior to. If nothing else it's worth watching for seeing Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre sat around a table with a very young and handsome Jack Nicholson. I'll be watching this one again soon, for sure!

THE HAUNTED PALACE

So here's the "black sheep" of the family, as it were. Not in that it's bad, which it is not by any means, but just in that it's not actually an Edgar Allan Poe story but a H. P. Lovecraft one with a Poe title and poem stuck on to make some money. Poor ol' Lovecraft - his name's worth a few bucks, surely? Price manages to essentially play two parts in this film - the spirit of an evil deceased ancestor trying to possess the body of his genial descendant - very well. I kind of lost my way towards the end and there were some Edward D. Wood Jr quality lines in there, but the torch-wielding villager finale is fun and the eerie atmosphere right up there with all the others. Solid but not greatly engaging.

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

This is where the evening took a really unexpected turn. Filmed in England on much more lush, elaborate sets and utilising locations for a change, this feels ahead of its time. You could argue Masque is a 70s film somehow transported back in time to 1964 and just waiting for those censorship laws to be relaxed a bit. In ten years the nudity, violence, horror and swearing would have been cranked up to the max and the whole thing probably would have ended up being banned in Britain as a Video Nasty. It feels like Ken Russell's The Devils without the teeth. But a few gnashers are still in there, retracted like a vampire's fangs. It's a deeply unsettling watch and Nicolas Roeg - who clearly has more control over the visuals than he's given screen credit for - proves to us that he won't be just a cinematographer for long. This is an important one.

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA

And here is where I officially checked out for the evening/morning. Don't get me wrong, I watched it and saw everything happen, but I wasn't really listening and basically found myself getting comfy and ready for bed. Funny that, though, as I was curious to see this one the most from a filmmaking standpoint as it was rushed into production simply to utilise the remaining budget, sets and some of the same actors from Masque since they had finished that one ahead of schedule. It doesn't look rushed, mind you, and feels more akin to Usher in it's slow, thoughtful pace involving characters hiding from the world. Maybe that's why they call this series of films a "cycle" - we're basically back where we started. The filmmakers tried to make Vincent Price look about thirty years younger with wigs and make-up but he weirdly ends up looking like a cross between Peter Sellers and Alan Rickman, which is fine and actually kind of works in a strange, otherworldly way. You don't feel like you're watching Price, but you are, but you're sort of not. I guess the thing to say is he does well pretending not to be himself because him is not who they really wanted to cast but had to because of demands from the studio, which is very sporting of him. I might watch this one again just so I can concentrate a bit more as it actually looked quite interesting. The literal catfight at the end certainly warrants closer inspection

So in conclusion, what have I learned? Well, all the stories were interesting and quite inspiring from a writing perspective; considering all the films were period dramas they didn't feel cheap, in fact I suspect it was mostly the filmmaking that was restricted by budget; Vincent Price has a soft, humorous side, which I didn't realise, and he seems to let his guard down as the series progressed... maybe he and Corman's team ended up feeling like a close family after spending four years in each others' company; and Corman ain't no great visualist: all the best things to look at in these films aren't by his hand, as far as I can tell, but they're no less entertaining for it.

So I'd say none of these films are bad but some are lesser than others. There's real effort put into all of them, which is more than you can say for films costing hundreds of times more nowadays, and they're all very satisfying experiences. If you see one on television don't turn your nose up - give them a go. Which would I recommend buying? Hmmm, probably The Fall of the House of Usher, The Raven and The Masque of the Red Death.

Go forth and experience, you devils!