Friday 1 November 2013

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1970)

Vincent Price tells 4 of Poe's most famous and beloved tales.
In The Tell-Tale Heart a man is driven mad with guilt, The Sphinx tells of a man who see's a monster looking out through his friend's window, The Cask of Amontillado sees a man lead a rival wine collector into the catacombs on the pretext of showing him a rare bottle, and finally, a first-hand account of a man sentenced to death by torture at the hands of the spanish inquisition brings things to a close in The Pit and The Pendulum.




I went into this almost completely blind, knowing only that it contained 4 Poe stories, and stared Price. I expected am anthology film, with Price in one or more of the segments.

Instead, the entire (less than one hour) movie is simply Price preforming dramatic readings, apparently in front of a live audience (although we never see them). Part audiobook, part one-man show... and utterly captivating.

There are few writers good enough that this could work, and still fewer actors who could pull it off; under any other circumstances, I would have been very disappointed that my last movie of the month was simply one guy talking... throw in the double headliner of Poe and Price though, and I'd say it comes close to essential Halloween viewing.

Highly recommended for a dark and stormy evening in.

No trailer, so here's the first story:

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