Tales of Terror

Plot synopsis:
The film uses an anthology format, presenting three short sequences based on the following Poe tales: "Morella", "The Black Cat" (which is combined with another Poe tale, "The Cask of Amontillado"), and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar". Each sequence is introduced via voiceover narration by Vincent Price, who also appears in all three narratives.
=== "Morella" ===
When Lenora Locke (Maggie Pierce) travels from Boston to be reunited with her father (Vincent Price) in his decrepit and cobwebbed mansion, she finds him drunk, disordered, and depressed. He refuses her company, insisting that she killed her mother Morella (Leona Gage) in childbirth. Lenora then discovers her mother's body decomposing on a bed in the house. Lenora cannot return to Boston and remains in the house to care for her father. His feelings soften towards her when he learns she has a terminal illness. One night Morella's spirit rises, and kills Lenora in revenge for her childbed death. Morella's body is then resurrected, becoming as whole and as beautiful as she was in life. This is in exchange for Lenora's, which is now decomposing where Morella lay. Morella strangles her horrified husband as a fire breaks out in the house. Then Morella and Lenora return to their original bodies, Lenora smiling as she lies on her dead father, rotten Morella cackling as the flames consume the house. The cast includes Edmund Cobb as a coach driver.
=== "The Black Cat" ===
Montresor Herringbone (Peter Lorre) hates his wife Annabelle (Joyce Jameson) and her black cat. One night on a ramble about town, he happens upon a wine tasting event and challenges the world's foremost wine taster, Fortunato Luchresi (Vincent Price), to a contest. Herringbone becomes drunk. Luchresi escorts him home and meets his wife. Time passes, and Annabelle and Luchresi become intimate. The cuckolded Herringbone then entombs them alive in an alcove in the basement. The authorities become suspicious and two policemen (John Hackett and Lennie Weinrib) visit the house to investigate. Hearing screeching behind a basement wall, they knock the wall down to discover the dead lovers — and Annabelle's black cat, which Herringbone had accidentally walled up with the lovers. Cast includes Wally Campo as bartender Wilkins and Alan DeWitt as the Wine-Tasting Chairman.
=== "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" ===
Dying from a painful disease, M. Valdemar (Vincent Price) employs a hypnotist, Mr. Carmichael (Basil Rathbone), to alleviate his suffering by putting him under various trances. He then remains between the world of the living and the dead. In a trance, Valdemar begs Carmichael to release his soul so he can die but Carmichael cruelly refuses. Months pass and Valdemar's putrefying body remains in his bed under the complete control of Carmichael. The hypnotist tries to force Valdemar's wife Helene (Debra Paget) to marry him. When she refuses, he attacks her. Valdemar's putrid body rises from the bed and kills Carmichael. Helene is rescued by Valdemar's physician (David Frankham) and carried from the scene of horror.

Tags: gothic, murder

Review:
This one ends on a note of pure horror, and is nearest to Poe in its mood and ideas.Screenwriter Richard Matheson did a reasonable job of adapting Poe, and Corman was probably wise to emphasize jokes in the middle tale, as Poe was one grim, death-haunted writer, and each of these stories is a meditation on death and the tricks it plays on us.
Tales of Terror is a classic anthology of Edgar Allen Poe stories brought to life by Richard Matheson's writing and Roger Corman's directing.
This film is a very loose adaptation of three Edgar Allan Poe tales, "Morella", "The Black Cat" and "The (Facts in the) Case of M.
Valdemar concerns a doctor experimenting with hypnosis (or "mesmerism") on a terminally ill man.Although fairly clunky and uneven compared to the other Roger Corman/Vincent Price Poe collaborations (which tend to be excellent), and even compared to other similar collections of short films from the same era, such as Amicus' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), this is still a good film, and earned an 8 out of 10 from me.It is usually very difficult to try to adapt Poe stories to film--similar to the difficulty of attempting to adapt H.P. Lovecraft to film.
This segment is particularly notable for the set design, which is the best in the film.The Black Cat, which is Poe's most conventionally plotted tale out of the three presented here, is also probably the most changed.
In a fairly literal way, this is a great zombie story, although the ending of the filmed version is a bit more vague in both plot and in explaining the horrific dilemma than Poe's version.Despite its slight flaws--mainly that it's a bit too bright and colorful and the mood of the segments could have matched better--Tales of Terror is worth viewing, especially for any Poe, Corman, Price or Rathbone fans..
"Tales of Terror" presents three adaptations of good stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by Roger Corman.
My vote is six.(2) "The Black Cat": The drunkard Montresor (Peter Lorre) is an abusive man that spends the money that his wife Annabel (Joyce Jameson) earns working drinking wine in a tavern.
Another of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price films based VERY loosely on three Edgar Allan Poe tales.The first is "Morella" where a dying girl comes to visit her father (Price) and find out why he abandoned her as a child.
Roger Corman presents this horror anthology based on three stories by Edgar Allen Poe, where all three segments are introduced by and star Vincent Price.
Entitled The Black Cat', this story follows the drunk, cat-hating Montressor (Peter Lorre) who during one of his less sober moments, challenges Vincent Price's wine-critic character of Fortunato to a wine-tasting contest and shortly Montressor begins to wish the two had never met.
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to enjoy this film as much as i did, but  the more I thought about it, weren't Poe's stories one big sick joke themselves?Vincent Price appears in all three segments and he does a good job under the circumstances.
Also, making Morella the heroine instead of the victim was an improvement.The final sequence "Valdemar", has a great revenge ending involving a melting Price and Basil Rathbone.
The fourth venture into Poe adaptations for Roger Corman and Vincent Price sees them taking on the portmanteau format with a trilogy of creepers.First off is Morella, which finds Price as a typecast loner living in a big old mansion with the dead corpse of his wife!
Price is a wine tasting dandy, Lorre a complete drunk and once Price meets Lorre's beautiful put upon wife, things are going to end badly.Finally is The Case of M Valdemar which pits Basil Rathbone into the mix as a devious hypnotist who uses his powers for what he thinks will be sexually tinged deeds.
All together, Roger Corman directed eight movies that were based on (short) stories by the legendary Edgar Allen Poe. Tales of terror is the fourth one and some sort of turning point in the series.
'Tales of Terror' consists of three separate stories based loosely on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. The trilogy is directed by Roger Corman and among the cast are Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone.
By the time the incredibly prolific Roger Corman came round to making his fourth entry in the now-dubbed Corman-Poe cycle, it seemed that the count-the-coppers director was getting a bit bored with Edgar Allen Poe. Although he would make four more adaptations, including one of the best - The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) - Tales of Terror lacks the Gothic atmosphere generated in the likes of The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) and The Pit and the Pendulum (1961).
In fact, the film works best as a comedy thanks to some tongue-in-cheek camping from Corman-Poe stalwart Vincent Price, and one of the most convincing impersonations of a drunk I've ever seen from Peter Lorre (although the actor's morphine addiction may have played some part).The first tale, Morella, sees Price don the familiar guise of a reclusive widower, Locke, holed up in a decaying mansion in solitude.
1962's Tales of Terror is another entry in the subgenre, only there are three stories, and one combines aspects of two Poe stories.The first one, Morella, is about an aged widower (Vincent Price, who appears in all three stories) who lives alone in an isolated family castle, grieving over his dead wife and blaming the daughter who killed her during childbirth.
Three short stories, all based on the collection of Edgar Allen Poe, are told in an anthology setting.The Good Stor(ies): Morella-Arriving from Boston, a young woman arrives at the castle home of her father to meet him after a lifetime of being away.
Between the experience of the movie and the 8 hours of being home alone, it burned this memory into my brain that won't ever go away, but the strange thing is that despite excellent acting, a great adaptation of Poe's short stories and great direction by the King of nickel horror films, Roger Corman, I never saw this film again until I tripped across a copy of it on DVD on Amazon.As I have often found with films that made a huge impression on me in my younger years, I expected to be disappointed but I was surprised to be caught up in the narrative and acting of all the people involved in the project.
It's impossible to hate Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone and Roger Corman can definitely make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.This movie helped to launch a lifelong love of Edgar Allen Poe and other writers of horror bent fiction--but not the slasher flicks or needless and gratuitous sex and blood movies of today.If you want a quality piece of horror cinema then go see Dracula with Bela Lagosa, or Frankenstein with Boris Karloff, or even The Fly with Vincent Price.If you're not interested then this review won't mean much to you anyway so you can just breeze by to the next one and no hard feelings..
Fine Roger Corman horror anthology with a trio of Edgar Allan Poe tales adapted to screen by Richard Matheson, each starring Vincent Price."Morella" - Lenora (Maggie Pierce) returns home after years abroad to live with her father (Vincent Price) in his decrepit mansion.
Still, the elements mentioned, though familiar, do entertain."The Black Cat" - Drunkard Montressor Herringbone (Peter Lorre) befriends Fortunato Lucrezi (Vincent Price) over their love of wine and soon discovers Fortunato is having an affair with Herringbone's wife (Joyce Jameson).
I saw Tales of Terror because I'm a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone and I like Peter Lorre too.
The story and writing convey the wittiness, intelligence and horror of Poe's writing very well, while Price gives his best performance of the three segments again in a role that really plays to his strengths and very rarely will you see Basil Rathbone as evil as he is here.
Roger Corman teamed up with Vincent Price, director and star, to produce two thirds of a good trilogy inspired by tales from Edgar Allan Poe. Sad that it couldn't have been a horror trifecta.The first and weakest of the stories is Morella where Price plays a distraught father who has never gotten over the death of his wife, weakened from childbirth and who lives like a male version of Dicken's Miss Havasham.
As usual, they star Vincent Price, are written by Richard Matheson and come from Roger Corman's masterful hands.The first story ("Morella") is a bit average, which is unfortunate for a Price/Poe tale.
Roger Corman's entire Poe cycle starring the great Vincent Price (one of the greatest actors of all-time, as far as I am considered) is essential in Horror movie history.
The third movie in this wonderful cycle (not counting "The Premature Burial" of the same year since it doesn't feature Vincent Price), "Tales Of Terror" of 1962 is an anthology horror flick consisting of three Poe-based stories, "Morella", "The Black Cat" an "The Facts In The Case Of M.
The movie is, besides "The Raven" of 1963, the most humorous entry to the cycle, especially the second story "The Black Cat" is often very comical (in a certain creepy manner), and although it is not one of the best entries to Corman'S Poe-cycle, "Tales Of Terror" is a film that no fan of Gothic Horror and Vincent Price can afford to miss.The first story, "Morella" is a short yet creepy and atmospheric Horror tale that reminds both of the Poe cycle's first movie, "House Of Usher" (1960) and "The Tomb Of Ligeia", which became the final film to the cycle in 1964.
A young woman named Leonora (Maggie Pierce) visits her father (Vincent Price), who lives in a derelict mansion since his wife Morella (Leona Gage) died in childbirth with Leonora...The second story, "The Black Cat" is basically a dark comedy.
Apart from Price, the movie features two other great icons, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone, and, not surprisingly, those two brilliant actors also deliver excellent performances.
The supporting performances are furthermore also very good.All said, "Tales Of Terror" does not quite share the brilliance of the Poe-cycle's greatest masterpieces (such as "The Pit And The Pendulum", "The Haunted Palace" and "The Masque Of The Red Death"), but it is definitely great Horror that my fellow Vincent Price fans, as well as fans of Gothic- and Classic Horror in general can not afford to miss.
Three short stories from Edgar Allan Poe that has a comedy treatment and black humor,in first segment "Morella" a daughter visiting the dying father (Price) after long time was haunting by mother's ghost,the second segment "The Black Cat" is more interesting,Peter Lorre playing a Jealous husband when your wife falling in love to high class wine-taste (Price) and third and final segment "The Case of Mr. Valdemar played by Price who is dying has a help of a hypnotist (Rathbone) before the death comes....directed by Corman this tales are really amazing!!!.
Price plays the demented widow and father in the first film entitled "Morella." The second part is my favorite entitled "The Black Cat" which stars Peter Lorre as Mr. Heringbone.
Roger Corman's Tales of Terror is a mostly wonderful showcase for Vincent Price along with Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone in good support.
"Tales of Terror" is a splendid mix of humour and horror.The first story-"Morella" is rather creepy,albeit a little bit predictable,the second one-"The Black Cat" is my favourite-filled with black humour,and Peter Lorre is just amazing in the main role!The third story-"The Facts in the Case of M.Valdemar" is quite good and it features Vincent Price as a zombie-woah!To be fair all three stories contain English horror veteran Vincent Price.All in all I liked this one so choose it as your next horror film..
Opening with an outré shot of a beating, bright-red human heart suspended in air, Vincent Price directs us to an estranged father and daughter arguing over the corpse of her mother in the upstairs room ("Morella"); a drunken villager who takes revenge on his unfaithful wife and her lover ("The Black Cat"); and a hypnotist who keeps the mind of a man alert long after his body has expired ("The Facts in the Case of M.
From the talented team of Roger Corman, Vincent Price and, of course, Edgar Allen Poe comes this lively and inventive trio of horror stories; Tales of Terror.
The first story is a lot like Corman's excellent earlier film, 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and stars Vincent Price as the father of the girl whose mother believes murdered her.
This tale is very short, and we don't get a lot of time for the important things such as atmosphere building or character development due to it being short; but it's a nice little tale non the less and gets the audience in the mood for Poe's style of story telling.The second and longest tale is based on one of Poe's most famous stories, 'The Black Cat' and stars Peter Lorre as the drunk who discovers his wife is having an affair and proceeds to take revenge.
This tale has been covered many times and from many different angles, from the 1934 classic to Fulci's version, all the way to Argento's take on it in Two Evil Eyes; but not one of them has ever truly done the story justice in my opinion; and in spite of this starring Peter Lorre and featuring a performance from Vincent Price, this one doesn't quite do it either.
The black cat itself doesn't really get enough screen time in this tale, and that's what I think keeps it from being the definitive version.The third, final and best tale of the trilogy again stars Vincent Price and covers another tale that was covered in 1990's Two Evil Eyes; The Case of Mr. Valdemar.
Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone star in these Roger Corman directed adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories:"Morella" - Price plays a man mourning his late wife who welcomes his daughter back to his castle with unfortunate results: Though atmospheric, tale is too quickly told and lacks impact."The Black Cat" & "The Cask Of Amontillado" - Price and Lorre are amusing, but relies too much on visual trickery than terror, not to mention comedy."The Case Of M.
Though Corman was no stranger to taking a few meagre pages and expanding them to feature length with previous films such as The Pit and the Pendulum and The Fall of the House of Usher, he wisely keeps the running time to roughly 30 minutes each here.The first story is an adaptation of Morella with Vincent Price brooding in his gloomy castle, pining for his long-dead wife and the daughter who's birth killed her.
While TALES OF TERROR is not my favorite of the Roger Corman/Edgar Allen Poe/Vincent Price outings, it's ghoulish fun to watch since the cast includes such horror stalwarts as BASIL RATHBONE and PETER LORRE joining VINCENT PRICE for three handsomely produced tales supposedly based on some Poe tales of terror.The first tale is preoccupied with the spirit of a dead woman getting revenge on the daughter who caused her death and is pretty reminiscent of too many other Poe tales dealing with the undead.The second, THE BLACK CAT, takes only some of the material from that tale and turns it into a combination of horror and sophisticated fun as VINCENT PRICE plays a wine taster to good comic effect.
In "Tales of Terror", Price teams up with horror director Roger Corman in a somewhat overly lavish production of three stories based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. In particular, the extravagant use of color doesn't lend itself to the creepiness of the subject matter, and the picture might have been better served in good old black and white.Of the three vignettes, I enjoyed the Black Cat story the best, particularly with Peter Lorre in full bloom matching wits with Price in a wine tasting challenge.
Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone all shine in this hugely enjoyable Edgar Allan Poe horror anthology treat.
This immensely entertaining vintage 60's American International Pictures horror anthology treat based on a trio of delectably macabre Edgar Allan Poe short stories features Vincent Price in peak form in all three episodes.First and most spooky yarn, "Morella" - Young Lenora (the lovely Maggie Pierce) visits her estranged alcoholic father Locke (a superbly anguished Price) in his crumbling mansion and attempts to reconcile with him, which in turn incurs the deadly wrath of the vengeful spirit of her long deceased mother Morella (the stunning Leona Gage).Second and funniest anecdote, "The Black Cat" - Peter Lorre gives a hilarious, spirited performance as wretched drunkard Montresor, a pathetic sot who befriends pompous wine expert Fortunato (a deliciously droll Price).
Consisting of three tales; Morella, The Black Cat and The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar, it's a cracker, partly because I just love anthologies, and partly due to the presence of distinguished horror writer Richard Matheson, who adapted the three stories for film.
The treacherous character played by Basil Rathbone and eerie voice from the spirit of Valdemar (Vincent Price) make this a great horror experience.
With a powerhouse team of talent, including Roger Corman, Richard Matheson ('I am Legend'), Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone, these three short horror films are still a lot of fun to watch some 53 years later.
In 1962, Corman and Matheson signed on Vincent Price to star in 'Tales of Terror', which showcased four different Poe stories in three separate shorts.
"Tales of Terror" has three stories, two dramatic and one comic, but all having two things in common: Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Price.
Having been away from Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe horror series with 'The Premature Burial' ( 1961 ) - which starred Ray Milland - Vincent Price returned for this, a compendium of three short stories.