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IMDbPro

Tales of Terror

  • 19621962
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
7.7K
YOUR RATING
Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Debra Paget in Tales of Terror (1962)
Home Video Trailer from MGM
Play trailer2:19
1 Video
99+ Photos
ComedyHorrorMystery
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
7.7K
YOUR RATING
    • Roger Corman
    • Richard Matheson(screenplay)
    • Edgar Allan Poe(based on the stories by)
  • Stars
    • Vincent Price
    • Maggie Pierce
    • Leona Gage
    • Roger Corman
    • Richard Matheson(screenplay)
    • Edgar Allan Poe(based on the stories by)
  • Stars
    • Vincent Price
    • Maggie Pierce
    • Leona Gage
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 75User reviews
    • 71Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    Tales of Terror
    Trailer 2:19
    Watch Tales of Terror

    Photos117

    Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Basil Rathbone in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Vincent Price and Maggie Pierce in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Vincent Price and Joyce Jameson in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Peter Lorre and Vincent Price in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Vincent Price and Debra Paget in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Vincent Price in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Leona Gage in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Vincent Price and Maggie Pierce in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Vincent Price in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Peter Lorre in Tales of Terror (1962)
    Debra Paget in Tales of Terror (1962)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Vincent Price
    Vincent Price
    • Locke…
    Maggie Pierce
    Maggie Pierce
    • Lenora (segment "Morella")
    Leona Gage
    Leona Gage
    • Morella (segment "Morella")
    Peter Lorre
    Peter Lorre
    • Montresor (segment "The Black Cat")
    Joyce Jameson
    Joyce Jameson
    • Annabel (segment "The Black Cat")
    Basil Rathbone
    Basil Rathbone
    • Carmichael (segment "The Case of M. Valdemar")
    Debra Paget
    Debra Paget
    • Helene (segment "The Case of M. Valdemar")
    David Frankham
    David Frankham
    • Dr. James (segment "The Case of M. Valdemar")
    Lennie Weinrib
    Lennie Weinrib
    • Policeman (segment "The Black Cat")
    Wally Campo
    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
    Edmund Cobb
    • Driver (segment "Morella")
    • (as Ed Cobb)
    Scott Brown
    • Servant (segment "The Case of M. Valdemar")
    Benjie Bancroft
    • Wine Society Member (segment "The Black Cat")
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Bradley
    • Wine Society Member (segment "The Black Cat")
    • (uncredited)
    Kenneth Gibson
    • Wine Society Member (segment "The Black Cat")
    • (uncredited)
    Kenner G. Kemp
    Kenner G. Kemp
    • Wine Society Member (segment "The Black Cat")
    • (uncredited)
      • Roger Corman
      • Richard Matheson(screenplay)
      • Edgar Allan Poe(based on the stories by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The "Black Cat" segment was recycled for "The Comedy of Terrors (1963)" (even the presence of a meddlesome cat). Many of the same actors appear in both films, only here Peter Lorre plays the drunk married to devoted Joyce Jameson, with Vincent Price introduced as the third member of the triangle; in "Comedy of Terrors" Price and Lorre exchange roles, and Jameson essentially repeats her performance. Not only that, but Price's line "What place is this?" from the "M. Valdemar" segment of "Tales of Terror" is recycled as a running gag for Basil Rathbone in "Comedy of Terrors".
    • Goofs
      When Morella takes control of Lenora's body, as Vincent Price walks up the last time before the reveal, you can see a red backstage light in the "window."
    • Quotes

      Montresor Herringbone: Pardon me, ladies, but could you spare a coin for a moral cripple?

    • Alternate versions
      The shots of Valdemar 'liquefying' over Carmichael were originally cut from the UK cinema print and later restored for video.
    • Connections
      Featured in Nightwatch Presents Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Terror (1973)

    User reviews75

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Very Good Poe Adaptations
    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.
    helpful•26
    2
    • BrandtSponseller
    • Jan 27, 2005

    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 18, 1962 (Italy)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Virginia, USA
    • Production company
      • Alta Vista Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 29 minutes
      • Mono

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