The Fall of the House of Usher | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ivan Barnett |
Written by |
|
Produced by | Ivan Barnett |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Ivan Barnett |
Music by | W.L. Trytel |
Production company | GIB Films |
Distributed by | Vigilant Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Fall of the House of Usher is a 1950 British horror film directed by Ivan Barnett and starring Gwen Watford in her film debut, Kaye Tendeter and Irving Steen. [2] The screenplay was by Dorothy Catt and Kenneth Thompson, adapted from the 1839 short story of the same title by Edgar Allan Poe.
The film uses a framing device set in a gentlemen's club where one of the members reads to his friends from a copy of Poe's book.
A century before, a young man visits a bleak-looking mansion in the English countryside where his friend Lord Roderick Usher lives with his sister Lady Madeline. They are both mysteriously ill and he discovers that they are suffering from a curse caused by their father which will lead to them both dying shortly, resulting in the downfall and end of the ancient family of Usher.
The film was made in Hastings by a low-budget company GIB Films. Ivan Barnett produced the film and also worked as director and cinematographer. The film was made in 1948, [3] but it was not released until 1950. It was issued an 'H' Certificate, a rarity at the time, by the British Board of Film Censors. Despite its limited budget the film proved surprisingly successful on its release as a second feature and even topped the bill in some cinemas. [4] It was reissued in 1955 and again in 1961. [5] It may have been an influence on the subsequent development of Hammer Horror. [6]
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) is a short silent horror film adaptation of the 1839 short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. The movie was co-directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber, and starred Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, and Melville Webber. It tells the story of a brother and sister who live under a family curse. An avant-garde experimental film running only 13 minutes, the visual element predominates, including shots through prisms to create optical distortion. There is no dialogue in the film, though one sequence features letters written in the air moving across the screen.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, then included in the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840. The short story, a work of Gothic fiction, includes themes of madness, family, isolation, and metaphysical identities.
John Gilling was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Reptile (1966) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967). Elsewhere he directed Cross of the Devil (1975), among others.
House of Usher is a 1960 American gothic horror film directed by Roger Corman and written by Richard Matheson from the 1839 short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. The film was the first of eight Corman/Poe feature films and stars Vincent Price, Myrna Fahey, Mark Damon and Harry Ellerbe.
The Pit and the Pendulum is a 1961 horror film directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luana Anders. The screenplay by Richard Matheson was loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story of the same name. Set in sixteenth-century Spain, the story is about a young Englishman who visits a foreboding castle to investigate his sister's mysterious death. After a series of horrific revelations, apparently ghostly appearances and violent deaths, the young man becomes strapped to the titular torture device by his lunatic brother-in-law during the film's climactic sequence.
Gwendoline Watford, professionally known after the mid-1950s as Gwen Watford, was an English actress.
The Fall of the House of Usher is a 1928 French horror film directed by Jean Epstein, one of several films based on the 1839 Gothic short story The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.
The Fall of the House of Usher is an opera by Peter Hammill (music) and Chris Judge Smith (libretto). It is based on the 1839 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.
The Tell-Tale Heart is a 1960 British second feature ('B') horror film directed by Ernest Morris and starring Laurence Payne, Adrienne Corri and Dermot Walsh. It was produced by the Danzigers. The screenplay by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard is a loose adaptation of the 1843 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. The film was released in England in December 1960, and in the U.S. in February 1962 as The Hidden Room of 1,000 Horrors.
The House of Usher is a 2006 American drama thriller film based on the 1839 Edgar Allan Poe short story "The Fall of the House of Usher". The film was directed by Hayley Cloake and written by Collin Chang. It stars Austin Nichols, Izabella Miko and Beth Grant.
Brandy for the Parson is a 1952 British comedy film directed by John Eldridge and starring Kenneth More, Charles Hawtrey, James Donald and Jean Lodge. It was based on a short story by Geoffrey Household from Tales of Adventurers (1952). The title is a reference to the refrain of the poem "A Smuggler's Song" by Rudyard Kipling.
A Time to Kill is a 1955 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Jack Watling, Rona Anderson, John Horsley, Russell Napier, Kenneth Kent, and John Le Mesurier. It was written by Doreen Montgomery.
La chute de la maison Usher is an unfinished opera in one act by Claude Debussy to his own libretto, based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 short story "The Fall of the House of Usher". The composer worked on the score between 1908 and 1917 but it was never completed.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is an 1839 short story by Edgar Allan Poe.
Blood Orange is a 1953 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Mila Parély. The screenplay was by Jan Read. A private eye investigating a jewel robbery at a London fashion house finds himself involved in a murder mystery.
You Pay Your Money is a 1957 British 'B' crime drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Hugh McDermott, Jane Hylton and Honor Blackman. It was written by Michael Cronin and Rogers.
Act of Murder is a 1964 British crime drama film, directed by Alan Bridges. One of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series, it was Bridges's first film as director.
The Fall of the House of Usher is an American gothic horror drama television miniseries created by Mike Flanagan. All eight episodes were released on Netflix on October 12, 2023, each directed by either Flanagan or Michael Fimognari, with the latter also acting as cinematographer for the entire series.
The House of Usher is a 1989 horror film directed by Alan Birkinshaw and starring Oliver Reed, Donald Pleasence, and Romy Walthall. It is an adaptation of "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe.
What Moves the Dead is a 2022 horror novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. It is based on the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. The novella received critical acclaim, winning the 2023 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel and receiving a nomination for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella.