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TALES OF TERROR
"The Black Cat" is my favorite segment in the film because of its combination of horror with black (and not so black) humor. In "The Black Cat" Peter Lorre portrays Montresor Herringbone, a neglectful husband who hasn’t worked for 17 years and spends all of the money that his wife Annabel (Joyce Jameson) earns on alcohol. One evening, while bereft of financial support, Montresor happens upon a wine tasting and challenges the abilities of world expert Fortunato Luchresi (Price). If nothing else, 17 years of hard drinking have made Montresor an expert wine taster in his own right. By the end of their competition, Montresor is quite inebriated and his new friend Fortunato helps him home. However, the new friendship proves to be short lived because soon after Fortunato meets Annabel the two begin having a love affair behind Montresor’s back. Even through his alcohol-induced haze, Montresor soon realizes what is happening and takes revenge against the two lovebirds. While he thinks he has committed the perfect crime, Montresor seems to have forgotten about Annabel’s pet black cat… In "The Case Of M. Valdemar" Vincent Price portrays the title character, an elderly man dying a very painful death. With traditional medical techniques unable to alleviate his pain, Valdemar turns to a mesmerist named Carmichael (Basil Rathbone), whose techniques prove effective. However, neither Vlademar’s wife Helene (Debra Paget) nor his physician Dr. James (David Frankham) trusts Carmichael’s motives. They soon find their fears completely justified, when Carmichael refuses to release Valdemar from his deathbed trance. With Valdemar trapped between life and death, Carmichael begins to make demands upon the beautiful widow until the dead man can stand it no more…
TALES OF TERROR has a clean sounding Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack that is free from distortion and perceivable background hiss. Dialogue reproduction is crisp and fully intelligible, however Les Baxter’s score is a bit flat sounding. Subtitles have been encoded onto the DVD in French and Spanish. The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a theatrical trailer. MGM’s fine wide screen presentation of TALES OF TERROR is something that horror fans will definitely want to add to their DVD collections. Let’s hope that MGM follows through and produces more AIP/Poe DVDs. I know that I am looking forward to seeing THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, PIT AND THE PENDULUM, THE COMEDY OF TERRORS, THE HAUNTED PALACE, THE RAVEN, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and THE TOMB OF LIEGIA on DVD in 16:9 enhanced wide screen. |
This DVD review 
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DVD
reviews are Copyright © 2000 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied
or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. |
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I
have always been a big fan of the AIP/Poe series of horror movies directed
by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price. These films were shown on
television almost continuously during my childhood, however they have
since then pretty much disappeared from broadcast. That is why I always
been eager to own my own wide screen copies of these classic horror movies,
first on Laserdisc and now on DVD.
Although
it wasn’t the first film to be produced in the AIP/Poe series, 1962’s
TALES OF TERROR ($20) is the first to be released on DVD. TALES
OF TERROR is anthology film that adapts three separate Edgar Allen
Poe tales for the screen. Writer Richard Matheson’s screenplay has taken
some liberties with the Poe stories, but most of the changes have been
made for cinematic reasons and to increase entertainment value. "Morella"
features Vincent Price as Locke, an embittered, alcoholic recluse, who
finds his solitary existence disturbed by the return of his estranged
daughter Lenora (Maggie Pierce). At first, Locke wants nothing to do with
his daughter because he still holds her responsible for the death of his
beloved wife Morella (Leona Gage). However, after learning that his daughter
has only a few months to live, Locke realizes that his hatred for his
daughter has been an irrational response to the untimely death of his
wife. Unfortunately, it turns out that the long dead Morella isn’t quite
as understanding as her grieving husband. 
MGM
Home Entertainment has made TALES OF TERROR available on DVD in
both full screen and wide screen versions. Since the full screen version
crops away too much of the film’s 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it isn’t really
worth watching. However, the 16:9 enhanced wide screen presentation proves
to be quite beautiful for a film of low budget origins. The element utilized
for the transfer displays a modest number of blemishes and a bit of noticeable
film grain crops up from time to time. Floyd Crosby’s cinematography always
sets the right mood, plus his careful lighting produces a clean and detailed
image on the DVD. Colors are nicely saturated throughout and flesh tones
appear very natural, except for a few shots in which they come up a bit
pale. Blacks are pretty accurate looking, however shadow detail is limited
by age and the caliber of the original negative stock, upon which the
film was shot. The cleanly authored DVD doesn’t show any visible signs
of digital compression artifacts. 
