L'empire de la terreur

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", each roughly one half-hour in length. All three feature Vincent Price. The Black Cat also features Peter Lorre, and M. Valdemar also features Basil Rathbone. Morella concerns a daughter returning to the home of her father, who is estranged because of the mother's death. The Black Cat concerns an alcoholic who makes a crucial mistake in covering up a crime. And 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. Both authors write very dense, poetic, often abstract prose, and Poe, especially, is sometimes not very plot-oriented. Each segment in Tales of Terror succeeds in its own way, however.

Morella, as Poe writes it, is an exploration of what personal identity means, particularly as it applies to continuation through offspring. In director Corman and writer Richard Matheson's hands, Morella becomes an even more abstract depiction of the ideas of personal identity, turned into more of a supernatural ghost story. It's also implied in the film that a lot of the events perhaps occurred in Locke's (Price) mind, leading up to the tragic ending. 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. The changes in this case are surely due to the still lingering studio-imposed moral and content restrictions of the "Golden Era" of Hollywood. The changes are understandable, if still lamentable, in historical context. Corman and Matheson turn Poe's very dark and somewhat grisly story into more of a comedy for its first half, then more a tale of moral retribution in the second half. It's a joy to watch in any event, especially seeing Price's hammy comic performance. The ending of this section is as chilling as the beginning is humorous.

Except for the addition of a couple characters, The Case of M. Valdemar is probably the closest to its source in spirit. This is a tightly scripted, creepy story, and the Carmichael (Rathbone) character is actually an improvement on Poe, and it's great to see Rathbone play someone so evil. 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.

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

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. Price blames Lenora for killing her mother Morella. He keeps Morella's mummified body on a bed in the house. One night, Morella's spirit returns looking for revenge. Probably the weakest of the three stories. It's got familiar elements from many of the Corman/Price Poe films. A dilapidated old house, an obsessively grieving Price, possession, fiery climax. It also has several plot holes and a lack of clear focus. 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). He takes his revenge on the two with unintended consequences. This is a lighter story with a fun performance from Lorre. Always nice to see blonde beauty Joyce Jameson as well.

"The Case of M. Valdemar" - Dying M. Valdemar (Vincent Price) uses the treatment of a hypnotist named Carmichael (Basil Rathbone) to alleviate his pain and suffering. Against the wishes of his doctor (David Frankham) and his wife (Debra Paget), Valdemar agrees to a last request from Carmichael. Carmichael wishes to put Valdemar in a trance on his deathbed. He is successful in this but holds Price's soul in a state between living and dead, hoping to force Valdemar's beautiful wife to marry him. This was my favorite of the stories. Creepy sound effects, nice makeup effects, and memorable ending. Rathbone is terrifically evil and anything with Debra Paget in it is automatically worth seeing.

This is fun movie with some nice horror stories. If you're a fan of Price or Corman or anyone else involved, you'll love it I'm sure.

This film's three segments are roughly based on Poe stories, with writer Richard Matheson adding subplots of adultery and jealousy. In "Morella," there's a dying father and daughter and a dead wife who decides to speed their demise (which Corman would cover again in his film "Tomb of Ligeia"). "The Black Cat" is an elaborated version of "The Cask of Amontilado" with the addition of adultery (and a funny guest part by Peter Lorre). "The Case of M. Valdemar" adds a lecherous hypnotist (Basil Rathbone) to the story of a hypnotized corpse. As in most AIP films, gore is minimal, and innocents rarely suffer (with the possible exception of the daugher in "Morella"). While not a major classic, it's enjoyable, with the charisma of the old cult film stars (Price, Lorre and Rathbone) one of the best elements.

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