I am a big fan of Roger Corman's work, even some of the schlock you find in those bargain bin collections that are, now, public domain. I think that the man was exceptional at doing a lot with nothing. That fact that his low-rent films are still remembered, while so many others are lost to the sands of time, show that he was doing something right. That something was that he really understands story and how to make a riveting movie.
I had, until now, seen all of Corman's "Poe Cycle" with the exception of this film, the anomaly in the group. Corman was in a dispute with AIP, who had produced his previous two Poe films and tried to create one without them. Since AIP owned the rights to Corman's muse, Vincent Price, he went with Ray Milland in the main role. Milland is best known to horror fans for THE UNINVITED and another Corman classic, X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES, though his most famous role may be in Hitchcock's DIAL M FOR MURDER.
As with most of the movies in this cycle, the Poe short story is not enough material to fill out a 90 minute movie, so Corman has to pad the proceedings with other material. Most of this movie is a "parlor film" much like the classic Gothic movies (a la Dracula), meaning that a great deal of the action takes place in the same few rooms, with minimal camera work and movement, but focusing on our actors and their lines, sort of a play on film. That can be disastrous in the wrong hands, but the acting here is what makes it work so well. Milland is fantastic, as usual. He plays a man whose father may (or may not) have been buried alive. His fear of repeating his father's fate is propelled by an incident at the beginning of the movie, where Milland's doctor robs a grave, only to witness a clear example of another man buried alive. As the movie goes on, the viewer is never sure if Milland is just plain crazy, or if anything has real grounding in reality. He builds an elaborate vault with a dozen escape routes to prevent his burial and his obsession begins to tear apart his marriage to AIP beauty Hazel Court. Milland is the main reason all of this works. He never feels "hokey" even in the most bizarre circumstances and evinces a clear sense of investment from the audience as they share his fear.
In the end, we find that what Milland really had to fear was much more mundane, as we get more of a "whodunit" plot in the final act that is, also, played out with tight film making until our exciting finale. Corman's eye for Gothic detail is on full display here. Even though most of the movie takes place in a few rooms, they add to the sense of constriction. The dungeon laboratory is a great scene, full of cobwebs and vaults. There is so much fog in this movie, you feel the dampness coming through the screen. The most feels far more "epic" than the limited scenery would warrant.
It's not the best of the Corman/ Poe Cycle, for that check out MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH or PIT AND THE PENDULUM, but it is certainly a great example of Gothic 60s horror and well worth a watch.
I had, until now, seen all of Corman's "Poe Cycle" with the exception of this film, the anomaly in the group. Corman was in a dispute with AIP, who had produced his previous two Poe films and tried to create one without them. Since AIP owned the rights to Corman's muse, Vincent Price, he went with Ray Milland in the main role. Milland is best known to horror fans for THE UNINVITED and another Corman classic, X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES, though his most famous role may be in Hitchcock's DIAL M FOR MURDER.
As with most of the movies in this cycle, the Poe short story is not enough material to fill out a 90 minute movie, so Corman has to pad the proceedings with other material. Most of this movie is a "parlor film" much like the classic Gothic movies (a la Dracula), meaning that a great deal of the action takes place in the same few rooms, with minimal camera work and movement, but focusing on our actors and their lines, sort of a play on film. That can be disastrous in the wrong hands, but the acting here is what makes it work so well. Milland is fantastic, as usual. He plays a man whose father may (or may not) have been buried alive. His fear of repeating his father's fate is propelled by an incident at the beginning of the movie, where Milland's doctor robs a grave, only to witness a clear example of another man buried alive. As the movie goes on, the viewer is never sure if Milland is just plain crazy, or if anything has real grounding in reality. He builds an elaborate vault with a dozen escape routes to prevent his burial and his obsession begins to tear apart his marriage to AIP beauty Hazel Court. Milland is the main reason all of this works. He never feels "hokey" even in the most bizarre circumstances and evinces a clear sense of investment from the audience as they share his fear.
In the end, we find that what Milland really had to fear was much more mundane, as we get more of a "whodunit" plot in the final act that is, also, played out with tight film making until our exciting finale. Corman's eye for Gothic detail is on full display here. Even though most of the movie takes place in a few rooms, they add to the sense of constriction. The dungeon laboratory is a great scene, full of cobwebs and vaults. There is so much fog in this movie, you feel the dampness coming through the screen. The most feels far more "epic" than the limited scenery would warrant.
It's not the best of the Corman/ Poe Cycle, for that check out MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH or PIT AND THE PENDULUM, but it is certainly a great example of Gothic 60s horror and well worth a watch.