The House of Usher

I, for one, thought it was a solid, Gothic tale that sad, high school girls will absolutely adore. Izabela Miko and Austin Nichols are great as the star-crossed, darkly romantic leads and the mood and tone throughout the entire film. Art direction is good and the cinematography is well done. The breakout role has to be Beth Grant, who really is a delight as the rigid, creepy disciplinarian assistant. Now, if you are looking for an adaptation of the classic Poe tale, then you'll be disappointed. It's a re-imagining, not like Baz Lurman's ROMEO & JULIET. Instead it is very influenced by Hammer films. All in all, I would consider it a good DVD to check out.

I own a movie review blog and I reviewed this movie recently. IMDb does not allowed me to include URL's, so I will just paste what you would have found on my blog as my review of this film. "Based off the popular Edgar Allen Poe short story The Fall of the House of Usher. This 2006 adaptation was nothing like the Poe story. Other than a few names being the same I don't know how they can claim this as an adaptation. It was incredibly confusing. And the film ended leaving my mother and I with tons of questions. What was originally a story about two (male) college buddies somehow became about a girl and her old college lover in this film. There was some sexual content, not severe, but totally pointless. Not to mention the way the Rodrick Usher kisses his lover Jill makes me want to vomit. It was like he was trying to eat her face! Slirping and smacking and....ugh make me shiver just to recall it. No one should ever kiss like that, especially on film. There was a pointless character added in named Mrs. Thatcher. What she was supposed to bring to the plot I do not know. She was basically just a creepy old woman thrown in to add ambiance I guess. The acting was to be desired, but the scenery was pretty cool. I liked the old large manor, though it lacked the foggy green glow that the Usher manor was described as having in the short story. Overall, I would not see this film unless you want to be confused. Its not scary, its not suspenseful, its not accurate to the original story, (and if go for the hot and steamy films) the sex in this film isn't even sexy. All around fail in my book. "

If you love the classics and was hoping for something remotely related to Poe.... stay away from this one. Nurse Thatcher? That really took a lot of creativity - not. I mean, thats something Mel Brooks would come up with. As a matter of fact, "High Anxiety" has more to do with Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" than this crap. And, they should have got Cloris Leachman to play nurse Thatcher. Geez! This was bad. So bad. It was like something out of the far left wing of the democratic party. It was so bad. Like, maybe, Dennis Kucinich. In any event, there is no need to take the Tyleno PM with this bomb. 10 lines? I'm having a hard time coming up with ten lines. This movie was so bad you can't even say enough bad things about it.

I must say, I'm not really a fan of Poe, but after this film.. Woh, I am now.. This film was great! The feel brought me back to the time of Alfred Hitchcock! I love this film! Ms. Thatcher was an amazing touch! What to say about this film? It's a great film, especially when you don't know the plot. Thats how I went in and I loved it!

The acting is very good. Austin and Izabella are very great in this film. I for one, am not a Izabella fan, only seeing her in Forsaken. But was pretty impressed. I wonder why she hasn't broken out yet. And Austin Nichols was a very nice addition. He made a great choice of the character, but felt he could've been less wooden. Other than that, great watch! I suggest this to everyone!

Poor attempt at the Edgar Allen Poe tale. . I was not invested as an audience member in the film. I actually walked out. I have better things to do with my time. The acting is wooden, the direction and editing are quite poor as well. Cinematography was so so, if not that motivated, predictable. Most everything about the film was predictable. Too bad, could have been a great little thriller. Shot digitally and projected that way, which made it look even worse. the production design wasn't that bad. It didn't get in the way nor stick its head out, which is good. The sound was often out of sync and looped after the fact. All in all, I was disappointed. It really isn't that hard with a story this good to make and even passable movie, but some how this director found a way to squander it all. Don't bother.