L'empire de la terreur

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.

‘Tales of Terror' is a movie which generally is hard to accept as a serious horror film, but fun when considered as a camp and kooky entry into the genre. Vincent Price is excellent in all three of his fairly contrasting roles and one could certainly see this film as a major piece of evidence when attempting to ascertain just how great and diverse a performer the late Mr. Price actually was. Roger Corman's directorial lavishness served to give the entire a movie a certain air of pomposity that lacked from some of his previous efforts and the varying directorial styles that Corman utilised throughout the film are the most prominent reason for the enjoyability of the movie.

In the first segment, entitled ‘Morella', Vincent Price stars as Locke, a man traumatised to the point of insanity following the death of his wife (Leona Gage). Locke blames the early passing of his wife solely on his daughter Lenora (Maggie Pierce) and is therefore unimpressed and enraged when she shows up at his door twenty-six years since he last saw her. However, the relationship between the two starts to grow strong, before events take a horrifying turn. Easily the most solemn and horrific of the three stories, ‘Morella' is unfortunately too short a segment for one to really enjoy the production. It seems that Corman preferred to concentrate the majority of the segment solely on the relationship between Lenora and her father, thus leaving the ending scenes looking rushed and the viewer to feel rather unsatisfied. That is not to say the story itself is not entertaining, it just does not appear to have fulfilled its potential. Good performances, some magnificent (albeit brief) haunting scenarios and a frightful image of a decomposed corpse are the highlights to this segment and certainly help to save it from the problems with pacing.

The following segment is far more corny and amusing. 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. This segment seems so far removed from the opening segment that one could be forgiven for thinking they were watching a different movie. ‘The Black Cat' takes a far more light-hearted tone as the entire segment is laced with camp humour – particularly the facial expressions and general mannerisms of Vincent Price during the wine-tasting contest. This is a far more extravagant Vincent than we had previously seen. Despite one or two dramatic moments of tension and suspense, the segment never really sends any chills down the spine and is quite obviously present mainly for comedy value. It is in this story that Corman primarily chooses to utilise camera effects and visual trickery to set the mood, which is usually to enhance the humorous aspects of the film, such as during the wine-tasting contest where the effects are obviously used to show the increasing state of Montressor's intoxication. Even a hallucinatory sequence where Vincent Price's character plays with a severed head has an undeniable camp, comic charm. All in all, this segment is fun but far from truly horrifying.

The final segment, called ‘The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar', stars Vincent Price as a terminally ill man receiving pain relief through a form of hypnosis. Valdemar (Price) agrees to be hypnotised at the point of death by Carmichael (Basil Rathbone), much to the dismay and disgust of Valdemar's wife (Debra Paget) and physician Elliot James (David Frankham). Unlike the first segment, this one suffers by moving too slowly. Corman does an excellent job of building the tension where required, but he seems to take a rather lethargic approach to moving the story along. Performances from the entire cast were excellent and are the main positive aspect to the segment. Overall, this seems a fitting way to end the film and features one particularly gruesome scene. Just like the previous two segments, the story never really seems to fulfil its potential but can hardly be described as poor.

Generally, the film is entertaining despite the pacing problems and intermittent moments of overabundant camp humour. Horror fans should not go into this movie expecting a serious fright fest. Instead it is best to view when ready to see some great performances from Vincent Price in three rather differing types of story. Excluding a couple of scenes, one should not find anything horrifying about this film, but should find multiple amusing aspects and a jolly good time. My rating for ‘Tales of Terror' – 7/10.

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. I found the film very enjoyable if not a masterpiece. As a matter of fact two thirds of the movie is great, but I did find one segment lacking. That segment was Morella. It is not terrible by all means, it does have the best costume and set design of the film- though the whole of Tales of Terror is very handsomely mounted- and Vincent Price is great as ever in a role that suits him to the bone. But the story is all over the place and doesn't make that much sense, Leona Gage is bland in the title role and the segment is much too rushed so we don't feel much of the atmosphere. The Black Cat fares much better though, again it looks spookily sumptuous, and the writing is broadly droll, while the story still evokes a chilling atmosphere. Price is excellent once again, and Peter Lorre- these two are very memorable together- is in excellent scene-stealing form. The best of the three is The Case of Mr Valdemar, the closest in spirit to Poe's stories(with Morella being the loosest) and the most chillingly atmospheric, especially at the end. 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. Overall, a spooky, handsomely mounted and fun movie that just falls short of being a masterpiece. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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! Enter his daughter, who at birth was the reason for Morella's death and thus Price originally holds a grudge, but of course there is a twist in the tale.

Secondly is The Black Cat, with Peter Lorre joining Price in the best of the three tales. 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. Price is in this as well, but spends most of the story as a corpse.

It's a short sharp shock piece of film making, fun and sometimes stylish, it doesn't however have the requisite scares to marry up with the welcome black humour that makes the second instalment the standout.

Still, having three legends of cinema in one picture has to be a bonus, and The Black Cat alone is worth investing time with this one. 7/10

This Roger Corman adaptation of three Edgar Allan Poe stories is fun to watch, hard to take too seriously. The first tale, Morella, is the most sombre, featuring Vincent Price mourning the death of his wife, for which he blames his young daughter. It's short and quite dramatic. The second story, The Black Cat, is an amiable mess, featuring Price and Peter Lorre. It has some agreeable humor, especially in its wine tasting scenes, and has some evocative nineteenth century street and tavern sets. The final tale, Facts In the Case Of M. Valdemar, features Price as a dying man whose consciousness but not body is kept alive by a scheming mesmerist, played by Basil Rathbone. 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. Perhaps to compensate somewhat for the morbidity of the stories, Corman emphasizes bright colors throughout, as the decor and costumes are quite attractive, almost garish at times. The actors are fine, the older ones especially, though Maggie Pierce in Morella is quite good, if too contemporary in looks and voice.

I can't resist a few sociological comments on the Corman-Poe cycle of films of the early sixties. Tales Of Terror came out in 1962, the high noon of the New Frontier. This was a time of optimism and social change, the start of the space program and the Civil Rights movement, and yet in the middle of it all there was this series of low budget horror films, aimed mostly at children and teenagers, and quite unwholesome in atmosphere and subject matter. These weren't even monster movies, like the horrors of old, they were morbid movies about death, torture, witchcraft and premature burials. They were like anti-Disney films, with Price, Lorre and Rathbone instead of MacMurray, Brian Keith and Dorothy McGuire. If in Disney nothing really bad ever happened, in Corman-Poe nothing really good ever happened. Disney represented the smiling surface of America, while Corman-Poe hinted as anxieties just below the surface, and as such, sad to say, portents of things to come.

"Tales of Terror" presents three adaptations of good stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by Roger Corman.

(1) "Morella": The twenty and something years old Lenora (Maggie Pierce) returns to the derelict house of her estranged father Locke (Vincent Price). Her mother Morella (Leona Gage) died after giving birth to Lenora and Locke still grieves and blames Lenora for the death of his beloved wife. Lenora finds the corpse of Morella on her bed and Locke tells that he could not leave her in a coffin six feet under. Locke tries to make amends for abandoning Lenora but something supernatural happens.

"Morella" is the weakest segment of this trilogy of horror tales. The good theatrical performances and the excellent sets make it worthwhile watching. 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. He also mistreats her black cat. One day, Montresor meets the connoisseur of fine wines Fortunato Luchresi (Vincent Price) and he disputes his knowledge with him. Fortunato brings Montresor home and woos Annabel. When Montresor discovers that his wife is having a love affair with Fortunato, he plots an evil scheme to seek revenge.

"The Black Cat" is the best segment of this trilogy. This story has humor and Peter Lorre's performance is very funny. The conclusion is hilarious with the cat's meow. My vote is eight.

(3) "The Case of M. Valdemar": The wealthy Ernest Valdemar (Vincent Price) is terminal feeling great pain. He hires the hypnotizer Carmichael (Basil Rathbone) to relief his pain and asks his beloved wife Helene (Debra Paget) and his Dr. James (David Frankham) to get married to each other after his death. However Carmichael controls his mind and Valdemar dies but his soul stays trapped in his body. Carmichael tells Helene that he let Valdemar go only if she marries him but his attitude brings tragic consequences.

"The Case of M. Valdemar" is a creepy tale of terror. Debra Paget is very beautiful, the veteran Basil Rathbone is scary with his eerie power and the conclusion is great. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Muralhas do Pavor" ("Wall of Terror")