"Tales of Terror"*** (out of ****)
"It is with death and dying that we concern ourselves with."
Vincent Price (voice-over narration)
"Tales of Terror" (1962) was directed by Roger Corman, based on the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. It was the fourth entry into the "Poe Series" of movies directed by Mr. Corman adapted from Poe stories. There were eight movies in total with "Tales of Terror" coming after "House of Usher" (1960) and "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1962), both starring Vincent Price. In fact Mr. Price starred in all of the Poe adaptations with the exception of one, "The Premature Burial" (1962) which starred Ray Milland and was third in the series.
At this point in the Poe series Mr. Corman tried something different. First, "Tales of Terror", as the title may suggest, is based on several stories, using an anthology format consisting of three stories; "Morella", "The Black Cat" (which is largely based on Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado") and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdeman". Secondly, as is the case in "The Black Cat", Mr. Corman incorporates humor into the story. Perhaps pleased by the result, in Mr. Corman's next Poe adaptation, "The Raven" (1963), the entire movie would take a comical approach to Poe's writing. However some may claim there was always a level of camp in Mr. Corman's movies making them humorous.
With the theme of death and dying linking the stories together, "Tales of Terror" cuts between the stories to Mr. Price's voice-over narration, over a predominately black screen while the sound of a beating heart is heard, making us think of another of Poe's short stories, "Tell-Tale Heart". If it matters to anyone, that is actually my favorite of Poe's stories. The stories try to explain what happens after death to a person that didn't want to die, what leads to death and finally how to prolong avoiding death.
"Morella"
The first story in the anthology is "Morella". Here we met Lenora (Maggie Pierce), who travels from Boston to meet her estranged father, Locke (Mr. Price), whom she has not seen in for more than 20 years. Locke and his now deceased wife, Morella (Leona Gage), blamed Lenora for her death. Morella died a few months after giving birth to Lenora, causing Locke to sink into a deep depression, which is supposed to be made evident to the viewer by the cob-webs found on the walls and furniture. Locke lives alone and spends his time drinking while his dead wife remains in their home, rotting in her bedroom.
Locke and Lenora initially have a contentious relationship with Lenora unaware her parents blamed her for her mother's death. Their relationship changes when Locke learns Lenora is terminally ill. This scene is so poorly constructed as the emotions swings back and forth with each new line of dialogue. Locke goes from being indifferent and cruel to Lenora to quickly showing sympathy back to anger and once more back to kindness.
The entire story is shot a little too "pretty" for my taste, not making use of shadows and darkness. The sequence with Lenora arriving to the empty home, should have taken place at night, creating more atmosphere in the cob-web ridden mansion. Instead it is morning and brightly lit.
The conclusion to the story happens a bit too quickly with again Locke's emotions swinging back and forth and remains unclear not fully explaining what we have just seen.
Still Ms. Pierce is decent in the role, playing the sweet unsuspecting innocent daughter and despite some dialogue issues, Mr. Price is well suited for the role, swinging for the fences, as he usually did. There was something about him though, I guess a natural screen presence, where no matter how campy the material and / or performance, Mr. Price was always watchable.
"The Black Cat"
Peter Lorre is Montresor Herringbone, a drunkard married to Annabelle (Joyce Jameson), who absolutely hates her black cat. The love in their marriage is gone with Montresor preferring to spend his time drinking wine at the local pub. One night, after spending all of his wife's savings, he stumbles into a merchants wine tasting gathering, challenging the guest of honor Fortunato Luchresi (Vincet Price), the foremost wine tasting expert. Although merely looking for free drinks, Monstresor surprises the group by actually knowing the various vintages of wine before passing out, forcing Fortunato to accompany Montresor home, where he becomes enchanted by Annabelle and even likes her black cat.
Discovering Annebelle is in love with Fortunato, Montresor plans his revenge by drugging his wife and her lover, changing them to a basement wall, where he plans to leave them there to die while he entombs by building another brick wall. Will the police discover his devious act? Will Montresor be haunted by the sounds of Annabelle and Fortunato's voices?
As a dark comedy the story is mildly successful with the two veteran actors, Mr. Lorre and Mr. Price, doing exactly what is expected of them. Never really winking at the camera, they know how to play up the comedy without tripping over the line into camp but they are clearly having fun. Of course, I say that even though there is a sequence where Annabelle and Fortunato rip Montresor's head off and toss it between each other while Montresor's headless body chases his head back and forth.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"
M. Valdemar (Price again) is dying but with the help of a hypnotist, Mr. Carmichael (Basil Rathbone), can be put into a trance to ease his suffering. Valdemar's wife, Helene (Debra Paget) and his doctor (David Frankham) remain suspicious of Mr. Carmichael's methods and motives.
Mr. Carmichael and Valdemar reveal their true intent, which is to prolong death through hypnoses. Can Mr. Carmichael delay death by putting Valdemar in a trance before the fatal moment? What would the consequences be for Valdemar?
Tone wise, this finally story has more in common with "Morella". Of the three stories "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar' may be the one trying to be the most dramatic. It may try a little too hard and like "Morella" rushes its conclusion. Once again it is too nicely lit as well. Mr. Corman seems to resist the temptation to provoke an eerie atmosphere through lighting and shadows.
Essentially "Tales of Terror" is a "B" movie but it looks better than "B" movies made in the 40s at Universal. Before dismissing Mr. Corman, I would recommend at least watching his Poe adaptations. "Tales of Terror" isn't the best among them but its almost simplistic nature is still charming, in its own way, and entertaining, whether or not you want to view it as pure camp or not.
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