This October, I somehow managed to watch multiple versions of The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe. This is not a bad thing. All in all, they all have something to offer...
The three versions in question are Corman's version from 1960 staring Vincent Price (The House of Usher), which kicked off his cycle of Poe films and revitalized the Gothic film tradition in the US, The Fall of the House of Usher from 1979, staring Martin Landau, Robert Hays, Charlene Tilton, and Ray Walston, and finally Mike Flannigan's Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher from 2023.
All of these are, of course, based to lesser or greater degrees on the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name.
Lets start out with the Corman version from 1960... and here the main selling point is the presence of Vincent Price as Roderick Usher. I'll be honest, its not my favorite of Corman's Poe films. Or, Price is great, but... they didn't seem to quite know what to do, and while this DID kick off the successful Poe series, its one of the weaker entries. Price doesn't really cut loose and chew the scenery enough in this one, but it does a nice job of establishing a somewhat offputting atmosphere. You can't help but feel things are WRONG in this house... and in a way that was Corman's point. He was famously asked by the producers where the monster was in this film (given his past history of low budget creature films) and he quickly responded "The HOUSE is the monster..." in order to sell the idea to them.
And indeed, everything from Price's oddly dyed hair, to the discordant music he plays, to the weirdly lit rooms, the burnt landscape, and artificial outdoor sets glimpsed through the windows keeps the production just offkilter enough to make the viewer incredibly uneasy. One of the things however, that makes this so strange is that Roderick claims her and Madeline have tremendously enhanced senses, which cause them great pain.... but we never SEE that. For someone who can touch only the softest of cloths without pain, and the slightest sound supposedly wracks him in agony, he loves to play his guitar and shout a lot.
The Usher's visitor in this case, and the audience PoV character, is Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) who is portrayed as Madeline Usher's fiancee rather than Roderick's old school friend in the story. This seems odd to mey, and seems to have been done to sort of capitalize on Price's usual role as a villain, to make one suspicious of him and his motives, and to thrust an unwanted romance into the storyline, as seemed to be deemed 'necessary' by the filmmakers and audiences of the time.
Moving on to the 1979 film, I had always heard of this film, but had never gotten a chance to see it, until I found it on YouTube during this last Halloween. The cast is more than promising; Martin Landau as Roderick, Dimitra Arliss as Madeline, Robert Hays as Jonathan Cresswell (An architect, engineer, and Roderick's old friend), Charlene Tilton as Jennifer Cresswell (Jonathan's new bride) and Ray Walston as Thaddeus, the Usher family's loyal retainer.
It was produced as a TV Movie by NBC as part of their 'Classics Illustrated' line of films. It wasn't actually aired until 1982. Its not seen often, which is a pity, because its actually really well done. Landau is excellent as Roderick, and you can feel his pain in every scene he's in. Madeline is a frightening presence that lurks just out of sight most of the time. Cresswell is given a reason to visit the house here because Roderick believes that his ailments stem from damage to the house that has gone unrepaired, and Cresswell's skills as an architect and engineer, used to shore up the house, is a deperate attempt on Usher's part to save he and his sister. While Jennifer is not given a great deal to do, she does move the plot along at times in ways that Jonathan cannot due to his job in repairing the house. Thaddeus is a great addition, as a loyal and protective servant of the Ushers, who acts as a proxy for Roderick in scenes where it simply would not make sense for the sickly and ailing master of the house to be present.
And even more than in the Corman version, the House itself is the final character. Its rot is reflected in its inhabitants, and when repairs are made, those too are reflected in the Ushers. It has a tangible presence, and just when it seems one thing is repaired, something else crumbles, which gives the whole proceeding a sense of urgency which is missing in the Corman version. If there is a criticism to be made, it is that Robert Hays and Charlene Tilton are much too 'light' as actors to carry the gravitas of the story.... but that is perhaps intentional. They are not the gothic icons that Roderick, Madeline, and even Thaddeus embody, and this perhaps helps to make the Ushers household more extreme in their darkness and decay by contrast.
What is more, we get a backstory of the Usher family, and the dark deeds of the previous generations which grounds the "curse" of the family in a satanic and supernatural history that seems to effectively infect the very walls of the House. This is alluded to, and implied in the Corman version, but it doesn't quite feel as well documented and 'earned' as here.
The visuals are not as striking as the Corman version, but it still works as a Gothic period piece.
Mike Flannigan's 2023 The Fall of the House of Usher feels in comparison almost like a record scratch. Rather than adapting the familiar story yet again, Flannigan instead took Poe's entire body of work as inspiration, and wove an intricate story around the rise and fall of the Usher Family ('House' in this case being more a bloodline than a physical location), a wealthy and morally bankrupt family made wealthy from controversial pharmaceutical development and sales.
Here, Roderick and Madeline are played by Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonall in an 8 episode miniseries that aired on Netflix. Poe references both subtle and obvious are sprinkled throughout. For those seeking the closest connection to the original story, you will find it in the final episode, which takes place in the crumbling family home of Roderick and Madeline, and which follows the original story after a fashion. However, the episodes up to that point tend to more closely allude to other Poe stories, and their titles will clue you in to which.... with the peculiar exception of the first, which is titled 'A Midnight Dreary', but which ultimately seems more like Poe's The Premature Burial.
As the show progresses, each member of the family meets a grisly and supernatural end, seemingly due to the manipulations of the mysterious 'Verna'. Unlike so many other adaptations, you see that the Ushers absolutely deserve their fate... but oddly, you also see the way paved for good in their passing wake. Decisions and choices made lead to consequences... for good or ill. And even the worst choices can prove fertile ground for future growth and good.
Flannigan's House of Usher feels like it has weight, and the characters feel quite true to life. The side characters are also fully fleshed out.... in this, Usher's guest is Charles Auguste Dupin, the crusading legal figure who sought to bring the Usher family to justice, and who Roderick confesses his sins to over the course of the series. He is not entirely faultless, and you can see what the entire lifetime of work against Usher has brought him. And there is his dark counterpart, Arthur Gordon Pym, played with gruff gravitas by Mark Hamill, who is the Usher family lawyer and 'Fixer' who covers up their legal and personal missteps. Both Dupin and Pym are two sides of the same coin... both good at what they do, but to opposite ends, and both accept the consequences for their actions in the end. Its hard to admire ANYONE in this show, but these two come closest.
These are three different takes, and all excellent in their own ways. Check them out.
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