Revenge in the House of Usher

Jess Franco made a hell of a lot of movies in his career, and rather unsurprisingly that has lead to a lot of respect from the cult movie community, and it also means that he made a lot of bad films - and unfortunately, Revenge in the House of Usher is right down there with the likes of Succubus as one of his very worst efforts! Edgar Allen Poe's story was made into a brilliant film in 1960 by the great Roger Corman, but unfortunately Jess Franco wasn't able to do likewise - mainly because he hasn't based this on the Poe story at all, but rather the common idea that stemmed from the classic Eyes Without a Face, and which he made did himself some years earlier with The Awful Dr Orloff, that being basing the film on a doctor who is trying to help his daughter and sacrificing a lot of other people in the process. The main problem with this film, aside from the fact that it has nothing to do with the story that it's supposedly based on, is the fact that it's BORING. I seriously was completely numbed for most of this movie and it did often make me wonder quite how anyone involved could have thought it was a good idea. Franco regulars Howard Vernon and Lina Romay star but neither has a good day and not even the atmosphere is worth commenting on. Don't bother with this one!

Director Jess Franco's REVENGE OF THE HOUSE OF USHER has little to do with the original Poe story. It's about the insane Dr. Eric Usher (Franco regular Howard Vernon) and his diabolical experiments.

When the visiting Alan Harker (Antonio Mayans) uncovers Usher's activities, involving female test subjects locked in his dungeon, Usher goes into an extremely lengthy explanation.

Said explanation includes 20+ minutes of "flashback" footage from an unrelated movie (Franco's THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF)! The rest of this film appears to be whatever happened to arise in the Director's mind at the time.

Sitting through this, like having your face stuffed into the world's biggest armpit, is pure misery...

Phew...I am a devoted fan of Jess Franco, but watching 3 incredibly awful movies of his in less than one week (this one, Oasis of the Zombies and The Castle of Fu Manchu) really isn't my admiration and respect for him doing much good! "Revenge in the House of Usher" is a very disappointing effort and it's a complete mystery to me what Franco intended to pull off by making it. Why filming another version of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale when there are already other (and better) movies made revolving on the tale of the Ushers? Why did Franco feel it was necessary to link Poe's tale with his own 60's chiller "The Awful Dr. Orloff"? And, more importantly, why in God's name did I spent 10 Pounds buying this DVD?? This movie has nothing to do with Poe, it's unimaginably boring and it lacks every form of action or excitement. Howard Vernon (him again) stars as an insane "doctor" who keeps on trying to resurrect his late daughter with the blood of young girls. Living with him in the ramshackle castle are some insane employees and a couple of ghosts from the past. 'Revenge in the House of Usher' is horribly slow and it completely lacks all the elements that made Jess Franco (in)famous! Lina Romay stars in this film, yet she keeps her clothes on and the only bit of violence there was to see were actually flashbacks. I can imagine Franco is proud of his "Awful Dr. Orloff" but that doesn't give him the right to re-edit entire sequences of it in other movies! Like every other reviewer here already pointed out: stay far away from this movie!

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Revenge In The House Of Usher; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.00 Direction: 0.75 Pace: 0.25 Acting: 0.75 Enjoyment: 0.75

TOTAL: 3.50 out of 10

Oh dear, what happened to Jesus Franco? After watching his version of Dracula, which I didn't mind, I thought I'd keep an eye on this director. However, had I viewed any of his subsequent films first, I would never have watched Dracula. It would appear Franco plummeted after old fang face. Though Revenge shows a glimmer of hope in its direction, the story is atrocious.

However, its awfulness isn't too surprising. Not when you consider the three rewrites it required to get international distribution. Three revisions and three movies. Why not forget the project after being laughed at and booed out of the festival and revisit it later? I don't mind the premise for the final story. The trouble is that Franco tries to cobble it together with the original tale, making it problematic. It would have been better to start afresh with a new script. He then shoots the new scenes and patches them into the previous work to create a new monster. Yep. Franco is Frankenstein, but his creation isn't as entertaining as Victor's.

That said, I did see a glimmer of hope in Franco's filming. Some segments are pretty decent. He utilises shadows and light to create an uneasy atmosphere. There are some diverse camera angles to add interest to the scenes. Sadly though, he doesn't get the best from his cast. And they often let him down, as does the flow of the picture. It's okay for a set to be lit and filmed perfectly, but if the sequence drags on too long or the performers don't bring their characters to life, the segment starts to fail. And there are too many of these in Revenge. One of the worst and best things with Revenge is Dr Orloff. Franco takes a large portion of the black and white Dr Orloff flick to use as a backstory to his character of Eric Usher. The good thing is that both films' lead character is portrayed by Howard Vernon. The terrible thing is also Howerd Vernon playing both characters. In the old B&W clips, Vernon is a much stronger actor. He comes across with panache and flair. In Revenge, it's a different story. He looks bored and comes across as tired, for the most part. The lack of umph is a hindrance to the film. It adds to the picture's lacklustre feel and dullness. It's a shame as he appeared to be a talented actor.

In fact, a few of the cast members suffer from the same malediction. The worst is the second lead, Antonio Mayans, as Alan Harker. Franco could have saved money by substituting Mayans for a cardboard cut-out - It would have possessed the same emotional range.

Revenge in the right hands and with the right performers could have been good. Sadly, the hands belonged to Jesus Franco and his regular cast of actors and actresses. Therefore, unless you're a die-hard Franco fan, I suggest you beat a clear path away from this House Of Usher.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers and Absolute Horror lists to see where I ranked Revenge In The House Of Usher.

Take Care & Stay Well.

A traveler arrives at the Usher mansion to find that the sibling inhabitants are living under a mysterious family curse: The brother's senses have become painfully acute, while his sister has become nearly catatonic.

Why has this film been given the new name of "Zombie 5"? I mean, sure, it is a stretch to say it is based on Poe's "House of Usher", but it is an even bigger stretch to try to say this somehow fits in the Italian "Zombie" franchise... not even close.

People seem to hate this film, and I can see why. The effects are terrible: the poor use of a spotlight to simulate a hand-held light, the strange eyeball. One reviewer said they fell asleep twice in the first fifteen minutes. I did not find it nearly all that bad. Cheesy, sure, A bit weak on plot, certainly. But I have seen a lot worse than this, even from Jess Franco.