Tales of Terror (1962)

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (stories) and
Richard Matheson (writer)

Release Date:

23 February 1963 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A Trilogy of Shock and Horror!

Plot:

Three tales of terror involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife's black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man's death.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Wife | Daughter | Cat | Drunkard

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Locke / Fortunato / Valdemar
Maggie Pierce	...	Lenora (segment "Morella")
Leona Gage	...	Morella (segment "Morella")
Peter Lorre	...	Montresor (segment "The Black Cat")
Joyce Jameson	...	Annabel (segment "The Black Cat")
Basil Rathbone	...	Carmichael (segment "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar")
Debra Paget	...	Helene (segment "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar")
David Frankham	...	Dr. James (segment "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar")
Lennie Weinrib	...	Policeman (segment "The Black Cat")
Wally Campo	...	Barman Wilkins (segment "The Black Cat")
Alan DeWitt	...	Chairman of Wine Society (segment "The Black Cat") (as Alan DeWit)
John Hackett	...	Policeman (segment "The Black Cat")
Edmund Cobb	...	Driver (segment "Morella") (as Ed Cobb)
Scott Brown

Also Known As:

Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror (USA) (alternative title)
Poe's Tales of Terror

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathé Colour)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #20234) | USA:Unrated (video release) | UK:15 (video rating) (1993) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | Australia:M

Company:

Alta Vista Productions

Trivia:

The adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" also incorporates elements of Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Driver: Ma'am, I have to get back to Boston.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tremors: The Sounds of Silence (#1.10)" (2003)

Very watchable as long as you really aren't looking for Poe!

An alternate title add's "Edgar Allen Poe's" to the beginning of the title, though fans of Poe's stories will be a tad confused to say the least because these stories are only broadly inspired by his stories. For example, the tale BLACK CAT is actually created by morphing Poe's "The Black Cat" with "The Cask of Amontillado" and allowing the writers to add and hack away a lot of material. Unfortunately, American International Pictures (never a place of "high art") used the titles but often little more of Poe's stories for a batch of movies starring Vincent Price. Some of them are very watchable and good, but they usually have contempt for the original material--straying extremely far from the original in most cases. Often, the public thought they were seeing a Poe tale, but it was really an all-new story from start to finish.

Despite this, this is still a pretty good film--particularly the third tale of the trilogy. I would score them as follows: the story about Morella (4), The Black Cat (6) and The hypnosis segment (9). So, as you can see, the stories got progressively better. The one about Morella just didn't make much sense and was dull. The Black Cat was, for me, too comedic in tone to be anything other than ordinary. But, the segment starring Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price was exciting and the only negative was the gross and silly melting special effect. Many will like it, but I think it was a bit too much. As for the acting and production values, they were pretty good for an AIP movie. Nothing to get excited over, but for fans of horror, I am sure you won't be disappointed.