Tales of Terror

This movie is actually three short movies linked by Price's narration. The first story deals with a young woman who returns to the home of her father, a recluse tormented by the death of his wife; how she died is not really clear, but she is nonetheless intent on revenge. The second story - the best of the three - is a take-off on the Cask of Amontillado with Lorre as a murderous drunk. The final story has Rathbone as a mesmerist who traps Price in a state between life and death.

All three stories have potential, the first and last for horror, and the middle one for humor. Unfortunately, none of the stories are executed well, a fault that seems to lie primarily with Corman. For fans of the Poe movies of the sixties (directed primarily by Corman), this might be worth watching, but for horror fans, it is best to look elsewhere.

The first story is based on Poe's "Morella," but Corman and Matheson take great liberties to make the tale darker and scarier than the original. Unfortunately, the altered plot and its resolution (?) are a bit hard to follow, and it is therefore the weaker of the three plays.

The second--and best!--vignette, "The Black Cat" is actually a composite of Poe's story of the same name and his "The Cask of Amontillado." Peter Lorre hilariously hams it up as the cuckolded Montresor Herringbone, and Vincent Price is also a riot as Herringbone's nemesis, Fortunato. In spite of the humor, however, there are still plenty of chills when Lorre builds a wall around his "problems."

The final vignette, based on Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," features the wonderful Basil Rathbone as the hypnotist who uses his powers to put the titular character, Valdemar (portrayed by Price), in a sort of limbo between life and death. Again, Corman and Matheson have taken liberties with the original story (e.g., making the hypnotist malevolent and self-serving), but this time it's to great effect, as Rathbone makes a delightfully devilish villain. The make-up job on Price in the final scene is pretty creepy, too, in spite of the film's low-budget effects. Good old-fashioned frights in this one.

The DVD edition of TALES OF TERROR is short on extras (trailer only)--it would've been great to have a Corman commentary on this one, which many of the other MGM releases of Corman's films DO have--but seeing this film in widescreen makes it well worth the reasonable cost. A worthy addition to any fan of classic horror.