Reviews of movies directed by Roger Corman.
Thursday, August 2nd 2007
Grade: C+
Synopsis: A man (Vincent Price) believes his family is cursed with madness as his house crumbles around him.
House of Usher was director Roger Corman’s first Poe adaptation and remains one of his finest.
Vincent Price is great in the title role of Roderick and since the film is set in America, the distinctly American accent of Mark Damon doesn’t detract from the movie.
The sets are fabulous and the script by Richard Matheson checks in at a lean 79 minutes. While the first act can be a little slow to sit through, the great finale makes up for it, and actually improves on repeat viewings. MORE »
Posted at 5:58 PM in Movie Reviews, Roger Corman and Vincent Price.
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Monday, July 23rd 2007
Grade: B
Synopsis: A nobleman (Vincent Price) is convinced his late wife (Barbara Steele) is haunting him.
Pit and the Pendulum is the second, and finest of director Roger Corman’s series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. This film improves on Corman’s previous Poe adaptation (House of Usher) in almost every way.
Similar to the Hammer Film productions, Pit and the Pendulum features great sets and makes wonderful use of color. Unlike Hammer, however, Corman didn’t have a pool of great English actors to pull from. While Price and Steele are great, John Kerr is distinctly American in what should have been and Englishman’s role. MORE »
Posted at 9:45 PM in Movie Reviews, Roger Corman and Vincent Price.
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Friday, June 15th 2007
Grade: C-
Synopsis: A young French soldier (Jack Nicholson!) pursues a mysterious woman to a Baron’s (Boris Karloff) castle.
The Terror was made in the middle of director Roger Corman’s series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations and borrows stock footage from some of the earlier films. The end result is a throw-away film that lacks both the energy of its predecessors and the polish of its successors.
Karloff, as usual, manages to rise above the low budget, while Nicholson seems to wander through the movie half asleep. The other performers are fine, provided you can get past the accents (or lack thereof).
Bottom Line: Despite the flaws, the movie is watchable if you’re a fan of the genre, especially once you get through the slow first act.
Posted at 11:53 PM in Movie Reviews, Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson and Roger Corman.
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