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Post by lostinlimbo on Aug 5, 2021 4:49:35 GMT
Roger Corman directed a bunch of films in the early 1960s taking inspiration from the source material of Edgar Allen Poe. In spite of the low-budget restraints and sometimes being loose adaptions. They were always rich in gothic atmosphere, performances were on key and delivered on the ghoulish fun.
What would be your favourites? You can choose up to 3 from the poll.
I added ‘The Terror’ to the list, as Corman considers it part of the cycle.
The Masque of the Red Death, The Haunted Palace & The Pit and the Pendulum would round off my favourite three.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 5, 2021 6:06:49 GMT
The Pit and the Pendulum The Raven and I chose The Haunted Palace although I had to think about it.
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Post by Anonymous Andy on Aug 5, 2021 16:00:34 GMT
I've only seen about a third of these, so I don't feel right voting.
I plan to rectify that with the October Challenge, as my theme will be Vincent Price (previous years were Universal Horror and Hammer). I'm sitting on a stack of unwatched Vinny P and several of these movies are included.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Aug 5, 2021 16:09:03 GMT
I've only seen about a third of these, so I don't feel right voting. I plan to rectify that with the October Challenge, as my theme will be Vincent Price (previous years were Universal Horror and Hammer). I'm sitting on a stack of unwatched Vinny P and several of these movies are included.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Aug 6, 2021 1:47:20 GMT
I've only seen about a third of these, so I don't feel right voting. I plan to rectify that with the October Challenge, as my theme will be Vincent Price (previous years were Universal Horror and Hammer). I'm sitting on a stack of unwatched Vinny P and several of these movies are included. You’re in for a treat. Halloween + Vincent Price = good vibes.
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Post by politicidal on Aug 6, 2021 13:02:23 GMT
The Pit and the Pendulum.
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Post by Anonymous Andy on Aug 6, 2021 14:32:06 GMT
I've only seen about a third of these, so I don't feel right voting. I plan to rectify that with the October Challenge, as my theme will be Vincent Price (previous years were Universal Horror and Hammer). I'm sitting on a stack of unwatched Vinny P and several of these movies are included. You’re in for a treat. Halloween + Vincent Price = good vibes. There's a handful that almost always make the mix. House on Haunted Hill, The Fly etc. Last year I saw Madhouse and Theater of Blood for the first time and they were both a lot of fun and, like you say, added to the Halloween vibes in a big way.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Aug 7, 2021 3:05:09 GMT
You’re in for a treat. Halloween + Vincent Price = good vibes. There's a handful that almost always make the mix. House on Haunted Hill, The Fly etc. Last year I saw Madhouse and Theater of Blood for the first time and they were both a lot of fun and, like you say, added to the Halloween vibes in a big way. Theatre of Blood is a Price film I haven’t seen. I might add it to my October watch-list if I come across it online. Also ‘The Mad Magician’.
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Post by novastar6 on Aug 7, 2021 14:33:26 GMT
Masque of the Red Death, that is our 'official' kick-off movie to start the Halloween season viewing every year.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Aug 7, 2021 15:42:43 GMT
Masque of the Red Death, that is our 'official' kick-off movie to start the Halloween season viewing every year. What's your official kickoff date?
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Post by novastar6 on Aug 7, 2021 16:00:42 GMT
Masque of the Red Death, that is our 'official' kick-off movie to start the Halloween season viewing every year. What's your official kickoff date?
The last Saturday in September.
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Post by phantomparticle on Aug 8, 2021 10:10:04 GMT
I'm fortunate in having seen all of the Corman/Poe movies theatrically, except The Tomb of Ligeia, which I finally caught on television.
Fall of the House of Usher (my third choice) shows the heavy influence of Hammer on Corman. The main problem with the film is that there are only four characters to fill the run time, forcing the directory to stretch the material to the breaking point. Even so, the movie was a smash hit and Corman was on a roll.
The Pit and the Pendulum (second choice) was a vast improvement, allowing more characters and a more intricate plot that was wholly concocted by the writers and nowhere near Poe's short story. The excellent set design, particularly the pendulum sequence, harkens back to the days of Universal Gothic. Check out The Raven (1935) for another Poe/pendulum climax (albeit a far less elaborate one).
Top choice is Masque of the Red Death, which incorporates another Poe story, Hop-Frog, into the mix. It is Corman's most accomplished movie, abetted by Nicholas Roeg's stunning cinematography, Daniel Haller's fabulous production design and a top notch script. Superbly acted by Vincent Price, Hazel Court, the lovely Jane Asher and Patrick Magee. The final scene has been described as one of the most poetically conceived evocations of horror on film.
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Post by Nalkarj on Aug 8, 2021 17:17:19 GMT
Of what I’ve seen, easily Masque of the Red Death. House of Usher is fun but somehow not atmospheric or nightmarish enough for this story. Tales of Terror is overlit; The Terror and The Haunted Palace I found very boring. I haven’t seen the others, but of the ones I have seen Masque is the only one to have a certain mood to it. It’s not quite Poe-esque (the Ulmer Black Cat, which borrows a title but not a plot from Edgar Allan, is the only movie I’ve seen that accurately captures Poe’s mood), but it’s close. The movie still has a spookiness to it that the other Corman Poe adaptations I’ve seen lack.
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Post by wmcclain on Aug 8, 2021 18:52:23 GMT
As the only person to vote for it I have to offer this: The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), directed by Roger Corman. It's no picnic for Lady Rowena, being Vincent Price's second wife while the spirit of the first still haunts the castle. And why does he keep vanishing for hours at a time? The last of Corman's Poe cycle, this is more of a women's gothic thriller, where the new wife has to fight dark forces for the affections of her husband. It reminds me of the Val Lewton pictures of the 1940s, where the awful truth is lurking just out of sight. In this case, that the husband, under hypnotic compulsion is ... attending to ... the corpse of his dead wife in the locked tower room. Corman felt he had exhausted the Freudian "landscape of the mind" motifs of the earlier films, and for this last entry moves outdoors to real locations, including a great ruined abbey. Shooting in England, as for The Masque of the Red Death (1964). After this he moved into Biker films. Elizabeth Shepherd does fine work as both Lady Rowena and Ligeia. The dialogue is better, a bit more adult than the earlier films. Credit screenwriter Robert Towne for that. Her commentary track explains some bits I hadn't noticed before: that the Egyptian mask is also her face, and that Rowena finds Price's coat on Ligeia's bed and throws it at him. That poor black cat sure earned its kibble for this film. It gets thrown all over the place. Available on Blu-ray with three commentary tracks: - The director, another pleasant if low-density commentary.
- A lively conversation with Elizabeth Shepherd (Lady Rowena / Ligeia).
- An informative track by a film scholar.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 8, 2021 19:25:40 GMT
I like Usher and Masque (though I have a problem with the Red Death laughing with the child at the end--I know it was intended to lessen the morbid aspects of the story but I think that's a little too personable). Pit is my favorite because I think it does a good job taking a Poe story and expanding it. It has the Poe theme of hereditary madness and being buried alive. I like Premature Burial too but I think Price was meant to be the lead in that.
Interestingly, Richard Matheson did not write Masque or Ligeia. And The Comedy of Terrors is not a Poe story.
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Post by wmcclain on Aug 8, 2021 20:35:53 GMT
And Haunted Palace is actually Lovecraft.
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