House of Usher (1960)

Upon entering his fiancée's family mansion, a man discovers a savage family curse and fears that his future brother-in-law has entombed his bride-to-be prematurely.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (based on "The Fall of The House of Usher"), Richard Matheson (screenplay)

Stars:

Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vincent Price	...	Roderick Usher
Mark Damon	...	Philip Winthrop
Myrna Fahey	...	Madeline Usher
Harry Ellerbe	...	Bristol

Storyline

After a long journey, Philip arrives at the Usher mansion seeking his loved one, Madeline. Upon arriving, however, he discovers that Madeline and her brother Roderick Usher have been afflicted with a mysterious malady: Roderick's senses have become painfully acute, while Madeline has become catatonic. That evening, Roderick tells his guest of an old Usher family curse: any time there has been more than one Usher child, all of the siblings have gone insane and died horrible deaths. As the days wear on, the effects of the curse reach their terrifying climax.

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Plot Keywords:

gothic horror | 19th century | national film registry | curse | mansion | 

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Taglines:

He buried her alive... to save his soul!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Studios [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1960 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Haunted House of Usher

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alta Vista Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The rental studio left the small basement staircase set standing after production wrapped, so Roger Corman reused it in subsequent films.

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Goofs

When asked to remove his boots, Phillip sits down and starts to remove his right boot, but stops when he realizes Bristol has disappeared. He then stands up and walks away in socks.

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Quotes

Philip Winthrop: Is there no end to your horrors?
Roderick Usher: No. None whatever.

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Connections

Referenced in Corman's Comedy of Poe (2003)

User Reviews

A Masterpiece of Gothic Horror Cinema

Roger Corman's brilliant adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale is one of the greatest achievements in cinematic horror. It's hard to pick one of Corman's Poe adaptations as the best, but this, the first, might be it.

The movie is fairly faithful to the story, but extremely faithful to the tone of Poe's writing. No one but the team of Corman and writer Richard Matheson could pull it off like this. Poe's deranged sense of dread and sardonic humor are all here, in every shot.

Vincent Price turns in one of his finest performances as Roderick Usher, a man who is glad that he and his sister, Madeline (the wonderful Myrna Fahey) are the last of their bloodline, as he believes the family is doomed to all eventually go mad. He also suffers from hyper-sensitivity, and must have quiet, dim light, soft clothing and bland food, otherwise he suffers extreme pain. Whether this is a physical or psychological anomaly is never confirmed.

Madeline's fiance Philip (Mark Damon) comes to the house to claim Madeline as his wife. Roderick forbids it, believing he and his sister should die together, thus ending the Usher line of insanity. But it may be too late, as Madeline is already showing signs of flipping out, and Roderick has some pretty twisted ideas of how to stop that from happening.

The movie leads up to a spine-tingling finale that's as intense and scary a climax as anything I've seen. HOUSE OF USHER is a great horror movie, and perhaps the most faithful adaptation of Poe, both in content and style, ever filmed.