Six Gothic Tales
Moderator: yoloswegmaster
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Six Gothic Tales
Full specs for the individual discs in the SIX GOTHIC TALES box. The set will also come with a 200-page book containing new writing on each of the films, an interview with Roger Corman, and reproductions of tie-in comic books for Tales of Terror, The Raven and The Tomb of Ligeia originally published in the sixties.
The Fall of the House of Usher
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S OVERWHELMING TALE OF EVIL & TORMENT
When exploitation maestro Roger Corman decided to raise his game by hiring Vincent Price to star in an adaptation of a classic tale by Edgar Allan Poe, he set in train a series of Poe adaptations that would redefine American horror cinema.
When Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) visits his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey) in her crumbling family mansion, her brother Roderick (Price) tries to talk him out of the wedding, explaining that the Usher family is cursed and that extending its bloodline will only prolong the agony. Madeline wants to elope with Philip, but neither of them can predict what ruthless lengths Roderick will go to in order to keep them apart.
Richard Matheson’s intelligent, literate script is enhanced by Floyd Crosby’s stylish widescreen cinematography, but it’s Price’s anguished conviction in one of his signature roles that makes the film so chillingly memorable over half a century on.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed 2.0 Mono PCM Audio
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman
• Legend to Legend, an interview with director and former Corman apprentice Joe Dante
• Interview with author and Gothic horror expert Jonathan Rigby
• Fragments of the House of Usher, a specially-commissioned video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns examining Corman’s film in relation to Poe’s story
• Archival interview with Vincent Price
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
Pit and the Pendulum
DOWN - STILL UNCEASINGLY - STILL INEVITABLY DOWN!
A horse-drawn carriage pulls up on a deserted beach. A sombre figure dismounts and gazes up towards his destination – a foreboding cliff-top castle perched high above the crashing waves. Thus the perfect Gothic scene is set for The Pit and the Pendulum, the second of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations once again starring the ever-reliable Vincent Price (The Fall of the House of Usher, Theatre of Blood) alongside the bewitching Barbara Steele (Black Sunday).
Having learned of the sudden death of his sister Elizabeth (Steele), Francis Barnard (John Kerr) sets out to the castle of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina (Price), to uncover the cause of her untimely demise. A distraught, grief-stricken Nicholas can offer only the vaguest explanations as to Elizabeth’s death – at first citing “something in her blood”, but later asserting that she quite literally “died of fright”. What sort of unspeakable horrors are buried within the walls of this castle that could cause one’s heart to stop so? With Francis determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, the terrible truth will not stay buried for long.
Right from its brooding kaleidoscopic opening titles, The Pit and Pendulum draws you into its world of cobwebs, secret passageways and dusty suits of armour. All the necessary elements are present and correct and, along with one of Price’s most tortured performances, makes The Pit and the Pendulum every inch the Gothic masterpiece.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman
• Audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas
• Behind the Swinging Blade, a new documentary on the making of The Pit and the Pendulum featuring Roger Corman, star Barbara Steele, Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price and more!
• Added TV Sequence – Shot in 1968 to pad out the film for the longer TV time slot, this scene features star Luana Anders
• An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe with Vincent Price (1970, 52 mins), Price reads a selection of Poe’s classic stories before a live audience, including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado and The Pit and the Pendulum (with optional SDH subtitles)
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
Tales of Terror
TRILOGY OF SHOCK AND HORROR!
In his earlier Edgar Allan Poe films, Roger Corman took short stories by the great Gothic master and expanded them into full-length features. Here, by contrast, the stories stay short, the only other thing they have in common being the participation of Vincent Price.
In ‘Morella’, Price plays a tormented man forced to confront a dark family secret when his long estranged daughter tracks him down. In ‘The Black Cat’, he’s the rakish lover of the wife of Peter Lorre, who naturally plots a deadly revenge. And in the title role of ‘The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar’, he tries to relieve chronic pain by asking Basil Rathbone to hypnotise him, something that leaves poor Valdemar hovering on the border between the dead and the living.
Corman’s previous Poe films were played completely straight, and parts of Tales of Terror are as authentically creepy as any of them. But he also stirred comedy into the Poe brew for the first time, particularly in the scenes between Price and Lorre.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Directors: Roger Corman, an hour-long documentary on the filmmaker featuring contributions from James Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard
• Kim Newman on Edgar Allan Poe, the novelist and critic looks at Poe’s influence on the big screen
• Cats in Horror Films, critic, novelist and Cats on Film blogger Anne Billson discusses the genre contributions of our feline friends
• The Black Cat, a 1993 short film adaptation of Poe’s classic tale directed by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
The Raven
ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT DREARY…
Although The Raven is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poems, the lack of a narrative hook initially stumped screenwriting legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Duel) until he realised that the idea of adapting the poem was so ridiculous that he might as well make it a comedy.
And what a comedy! Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff play rival magicians whose paths cross when Dr Craven (Price) hears Dr Bedlo tap-tap-tapping on his windowpane. For Bedlo has been turned into a raven by Dr Scarabus (Karloff), and when transformed back into his old self he naturally vows revenge. But the scripted rivalry is as nothing compared to three great horror masters relentlessly upstaging each other - even a young Jack Nicholson, as Bedlo’s son, barely gets a look-in.
If there’s not much authentic Poe in these sorcery shenanigans, the sets and cinematography more than compensate: director Roger Corman was by then a master of conjuring Gothic atmosphere on a very modest budget.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Two Faces of Peter Lorre (1984, 61 mins), Harun Farocki’s career-spanning portrait from Lorre’s early days in the theatre alongside Brecht to his untimely death
• Richard Matheson: Storyteller, an interview with the legendary novelist and screenwriter
• Corman’s Comedy of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman about making The Raven
• The Trick, a short film about rival magicians by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Promotional Record
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Vladimir Zimakov
The Haunted Palace
ONE BECOMES ACCUSTOMED TO THE DARKNESS…
Although recognised as part of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe cycle (its title comes from a Poe poem), The Haunted Palace has a much more significant place in film history for being the first high-profile adaptation of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, in this case his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
Ward is one of two characters played by Vincent Price, the other being Ward’s great-great-grandfather Joseph Curwen, burned as a warlock 110 years before. When Ward returns to the village of Arkham to reclaim the family mansion, his striking resemblance to his ancestor is just the first of many macabre events that proceed to unfold, including the screen debut of Lovecraft’s legendary Necronomicon.
As before, Corman and his team worked wonders with their modest budget, with Daniel Haller’s sets amongst the most elaborate in all the Poe cycle, enhanced by genuinely creepy moments such as the crowd of deformed villagers still living under Curwen’s curse.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by Vincent Price’s biographer David Del Valle and writer Derek Botelho
• Kim Newman on H.P. Lovecraft, a look at the relationship between Lovecraft and the cinema, and the challenges of adapting his work
• A Change of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
The Tomb of Ligeia
THE EYES, THEY CONFOUND ME!
For the last of his cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, Roger Corman asked screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown) to turn Poe’s story ‘Ligeia’ into another vehicle for Vincent Price, who once again plays a man so haunted by his past that he is unable to function in the present.
In this case the past comes in the form of his now-deceased first wife Ligeia, who casts a long shadow over an ill-advised second marriage to a woman who resembles her (Elizabeth Shepherd), particularly when he becomes convinced that Ligeia’s spirit is returning to him in the form of a black cat. But is this actually a delusion on his part?
Although the doom-laden narrative and Price’s tormented performance had become well established ingredients in the Corman Poe cycle, the film looks strikingly different from the earlier films, with much of it taking place in broad daylight, and shot in actual English locations (notably Stonehenge and Norfolk’s Castle Acre Priory) instead of Hollywood sets.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by director and producer Roger Corman
• Audio commentary by star Elizabeth Shepherd
• All-new interviews with crew members including cowriter/ production assistant Paul Mayersberg, first assistant director David Tringham, clapper loader Bob Jordan and composer Kenneth V. Jones
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
The Fall of the House of Usher
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S OVERWHELMING TALE OF EVIL & TORMENT
When exploitation maestro Roger Corman decided to raise his game by hiring Vincent Price to star in an adaptation of a classic tale by Edgar Allan Poe, he set in train a series of Poe adaptations that would redefine American horror cinema.
When Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) visits his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey) in her crumbling family mansion, her brother Roderick (Price) tries to talk him out of the wedding, explaining that the Usher family is cursed and that extending its bloodline will only prolong the agony. Madeline wants to elope with Philip, but neither of them can predict what ruthless lengths Roderick will go to in order to keep them apart.
Richard Matheson’s intelligent, literate script is enhanced by Floyd Crosby’s stylish widescreen cinematography, but it’s Price’s anguished conviction in one of his signature roles that makes the film so chillingly memorable over half a century on.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed 2.0 Mono PCM Audio
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman
• Legend to Legend, an interview with director and former Corman apprentice Joe Dante
• Interview with author and Gothic horror expert Jonathan Rigby
• Fragments of the House of Usher, a specially-commissioned video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns examining Corman’s film in relation to Poe’s story
• Archival interview with Vincent Price
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
Pit and the Pendulum
DOWN - STILL UNCEASINGLY - STILL INEVITABLY DOWN!
A horse-drawn carriage pulls up on a deserted beach. A sombre figure dismounts and gazes up towards his destination – a foreboding cliff-top castle perched high above the crashing waves. Thus the perfect Gothic scene is set for The Pit and the Pendulum, the second of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations once again starring the ever-reliable Vincent Price (The Fall of the House of Usher, Theatre of Blood) alongside the bewitching Barbara Steele (Black Sunday).
Having learned of the sudden death of his sister Elizabeth (Steele), Francis Barnard (John Kerr) sets out to the castle of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina (Price), to uncover the cause of her untimely demise. A distraught, grief-stricken Nicholas can offer only the vaguest explanations as to Elizabeth’s death – at first citing “something in her blood”, but later asserting that she quite literally “died of fright”. What sort of unspeakable horrors are buried within the walls of this castle that could cause one’s heart to stop so? With Francis determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, the terrible truth will not stay buried for long.
Right from its brooding kaleidoscopic opening titles, The Pit and Pendulum draws you into its world of cobwebs, secret passageways and dusty suits of armour. All the necessary elements are present and correct and, along with one of Price’s most tortured performances, makes The Pit and the Pendulum every inch the Gothic masterpiece.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman
• Audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas
• Behind the Swinging Blade, a new documentary on the making of The Pit and the Pendulum featuring Roger Corman, star Barbara Steele, Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price and more!
• Added TV Sequence – Shot in 1968 to pad out the film for the longer TV time slot, this scene features star Luana Anders
• An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe with Vincent Price (1970, 52 mins), Price reads a selection of Poe’s classic stories before a live audience, including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado and The Pit and the Pendulum (with optional SDH subtitles)
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
Tales of Terror
TRILOGY OF SHOCK AND HORROR!
In his earlier Edgar Allan Poe films, Roger Corman took short stories by the great Gothic master and expanded them into full-length features. Here, by contrast, the stories stay short, the only other thing they have in common being the participation of Vincent Price.
In ‘Morella’, Price plays a tormented man forced to confront a dark family secret when his long estranged daughter tracks him down. In ‘The Black Cat’, he’s the rakish lover of the wife of Peter Lorre, who naturally plots a deadly revenge. And in the title role of ‘The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar’, he tries to relieve chronic pain by asking Basil Rathbone to hypnotise him, something that leaves poor Valdemar hovering on the border between the dead and the living.
Corman’s previous Poe films were played completely straight, and parts of Tales of Terror are as authentically creepy as any of them. But he also stirred comedy into the Poe brew for the first time, particularly in the scenes between Price and Lorre.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Directors: Roger Corman, an hour-long documentary on the filmmaker featuring contributions from James Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard
• Kim Newman on Edgar Allan Poe, the novelist and critic looks at Poe’s influence on the big screen
• Cats in Horror Films, critic, novelist and Cats on Film blogger Anne Billson discusses the genre contributions of our feline friends
• The Black Cat, a 1993 short film adaptation of Poe’s classic tale directed by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
The Raven
ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT DREARY…
Although The Raven is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poems, the lack of a narrative hook initially stumped screenwriting legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Duel) until he realised that the idea of adapting the poem was so ridiculous that he might as well make it a comedy.
And what a comedy! Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff play rival magicians whose paths cross when Dr Craven (Price) hears Dr Bedlo tap-tap-tapping on his windowpane. For Bedlo has been turned into a raven by Dr Scarabus (Karloff), and when transformed back into his old self he naturally vows revenge. But the scripted rivalry is as nothing compared to three great horror masters relentlessly upstaging each other - even a young Jack Nicholson, as Bedlo’s son, barely gets a look-in.
If there’s not much authentic Poe in these sorcery shenanigans, the sets and cinematography more than compensate: director Roger Corman was by then a master of conjuring Gothic atmosphere on a very modest budget.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Two Faces of Peter Lorre (1984, 61 mins), Harun Farocki’s career-spanning portrait from Lorre’s early days in the theatre alongside Brecht to his untimely death
• Richard Matheson: Storyteller, an interview with the legendary novelist and screenwriter
• Corman’s Comedy of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman about making The Raven
• The Trick, a short film about rival magicians by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Promotional Record
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Vladimir Zimakov
The Haunted Palace
ONE BECOMES ACCUSTOMED TO THE DARKNESS…
Although recognised as part of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe cycle (its title comes from a Poe poem), The Haunted Palace has a much more significant place in film history for being the first high-profile adaptation of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, in this case his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
Ward is one of two characters played by Vincent Price, the other being Ward’s great-great-grandfather Joseph Curwen, burned as a warlock 110 years before. When Ward returns to the village of Arkham to reclaim the family mansion, his striking resemblance to his ancestor is just the first of many macabre events that proceed to unfold, including the screen debut of Lovecraft’s legendary Necronomicon.
As before, Corman and his team worked wonders with their modest budget, with Daniel Haller’s sets amongst the most elaborate in all the Poe cycle, enhanced by genuinely creepy moments such as the crowd of deformed villagers still living under Curwen’s curse.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by Vincent Price’s biographer David Del Valle and writer Derek Botelho
• Kim Newman on H.P. Lovecraft, a look at the relationship between Lovecraft and the cinema, and the challenges of adapting his work
• A Change of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
The Tomb of Ligeia
THE EYES, THEY CONFOUND ME!
For the last of his cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, Roger Corman asked screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown) to turn Poe’s story ‘Ligeia’ into another vehicle for Vincent Price, who once again plays a man so haunted by his past that he is unable to function in the present.
In this case the past comes in the form of his now-deceased first wife Ligeia, who casts a long shadow over an ill-advised second marriage to a woman who resembles her (Elizabeth Shepherd), particularly when he becomes convinced that Ligeia’s spirit is returning to him in the form of a black cat. But is this actually a delusion on his part?
Although the doom-laden narrative and Price’s tormented performance had become well established ingredients in the Corman Poe cycle, the film looks strikingly different from the earlier films, with much of it taking place in broad daylight, and shot in actual English locations (notably Stonehenge and Norfolk’s Castle Acre Priory) instead of Hollywood sets.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by director and producer Roger Corman
• Audio commentary by star Elizabeth Shepherd
• All-new interviews with crew members including cowriter/ production assistant Paul Mayersberg, first assistant director David Tringham, clapper loader Bob Jordan and composer Kenneth V. Jones
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Looks great! Please do keep us advised if this set gets close to selling out.
- jindianajonz
- Jindiana Jonz Abrams
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
I take it that this is a UK only release?
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Yes, Arrow Video USA doesn't launch until 2015. And Shout! has all of these films in the U.S.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Six Gothic Tales
I'm really glad to see the Rob Green short films turn up on Tales of Terror and The Raven. His version of The Black Cat in particular is excellent, and if you can't wait it is up on YouTube.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sat Nov 01, 2014 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Six Gothic Tales
We approached him over The Black Cat and he offered us The Trick as well. And seeing that its rival magicians story tied in so well with The Raven, it was hard to say no!
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Six Gothic Tales
DVD Compare - the first review I've seen by someone who's clearly watched everything all the way through.
I'm especially pleased that he liked the homegrown extras so much - you can't go wrong with Kim Newman, of course, but Anne Billson's Cats in Horror Films piece was "a lot more interesting than I was expecting it to be". He also has nice things to say about the excellent Haunted Palace commentary by David Del Valle and Derek Botelho ("I've not heard of either of them before, but I'd happily listen to another commentary by this pair.") and the original Tomb of Ligeia interviews - which may have been with junior crew members, but they'd have been present when almost every foot of film was actually shot.
I'm especially pleased that he liked the homegrown extras so much - you can't go wrong with Kim Newman, of course, but Anne Billson's Cats in Horror Films piece was "a lot more interesting than I was expecting it to be". He also has nice things to say about the excellent Haunted Palace commentary by David Del Valle and Derek Botelho ("I've not heard of either of them before, but I'd happily listen to another commentary by this pair.") and the original Tomb of Ligeia interviews - which may have been with junior crew members, but they'd have been present when almost every foot of film was actually shot.
-
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 7:19 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Yes Michael. I did indeed enjoy the homegrown extras. It's a great set all in and I'm certainly looking forward to further homegrown extras. I'm actually considering ordering Derel Botelho's book after listening to the commentary on The Haunted Palace. In comparison to the old MGM DVDs, this was a nice upgrade. I can't wait for my retail copy I pre-ordered to arrive so I can dig into the book!
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Cine Outsider has provided individual reviews for the whole set...
Overview
The Fall of the House of Usher
Pit and the Pendulum
Tales of Terror
The Raven
The Haunted Palace
The Tomb of Ligeia
Overview
The Fall of the House of Usher
Pit and the Pendulum
Tales of Terror
The Raven
The Haunted Palace
The Tomb of Ligeia
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
- Dr Amicus
- Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:20 am
- Location: Guernsey
Re: Six Gothic Tales
I'd just like to add to the praise received for the set. I watched The Raven last night, and it looked absolutely stunning (and the film itself is obviously a lot of fun). I haven't had time to properly dive into the extras, but The Trick is a fine addition.
Oh, and the book (hardback!) is a joy as well - it's a shame it couldn't be a bit larger for the comic adaptations, but that's unavoidable and I'm just happy that they've been included.
As an aside, I haven't seen most of these films since the BBC2 season in, about, 1989 / 90. These had highly entertaining introductions from Corman (to bulk up the running time for a 90 minute slot) - he took great pleasure in pointing out reused sets and stock footage. I almost cheered when I saw one particular piece of footage which got a LOT of use in the series:
Oh, and the book (hardback!) is a joy as well - it's a shame it couldn't be a bit larger for the comic adaptations, but that's unavoidable and I'm just happy that they've been included.
As an aside, I haven't seen most of these films since the BBC2 season in, about, 1989 / 90. These had highly entertaining introductions from Corman (to bulk up the running time for a 90 minute slot) - he took great pleasure in pointing out reused sets and stock footage. I almost cheered when I saw one particular piece of footage which got a LOT of use in the series:
SpoilerShow
The burning wine rack / trellis crashing down
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Six Gothic Tales
The Raven and Tales of Terror will be coming out as separate releases on March 9th - the discs will be identical to the ones in the box set. Click on the titles for pre-order links.
- chatterjees
- Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:08 pm
- Location: Pittsburgh, PA
- Contact:
Re: Six Gothic Tales
This box set is a limited edition set, right? I thought it is also supposed to be numbered like some of the previously released ones. I found no number or certificate inside. Was I wrong to expect one? Thanks.
-
- Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 1:10 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
There are no certificates or numbering on this set, nope.
- chatterjees
- Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:08 pm
- Location: Pittsburgh, PA
- Contact:
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Thanks, for some reason I just thought that there supposed to be one.David M. wrote:There are no certificates or numbering on this set, nope.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
The box is OOP (and going for nearly double MSRP on Amazon) but you can still get it from Arrow direct here (Though they posted a couple months ago that they only had less than sixty copies left)
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Finally got to this box and I'm glad others recognize how relentlessly Corman got his money's worth out of that shot from the Fall of the House of Usher-- I think it shows up in five of the six films here, for starters! As for the movies themselves, well, things started promisingly (but not amazingly) with Usher and Pit (though John Kerr gives by far the worst performance in any of these films-- although Nicholson gives him a run for the title in the Raven!), but it was all downhill from there for me. It seems like after a couple of these Corman latched onto the idea of returning to the Poe Well without really following through on his ideas (or developing ideas in the first place), and the result are some truly half-assed mishmashes. There were parts of the Raven and the Haunted Palace I enjoyed, but the rest is pretty dire. Price seems to be phoning most of the latter perfs in, but he's effectively intense in Usher at least. I saw Corman's other Poe film from this period, the Premature Burial, just before these and I think it's a better film than any included here. On a brighter end note, Arrow, as ever, lived up to their reputation in the copious extras and presentation.Dr Amicus wrote: I almost cheered when I saw one particular piece of footage which got a LOT of use in the series:SpoilerShowThe burning wine rack / trellis crashing down
- Dr Amicus
- Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:20 am
- Location: Guernsey
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Is Ligeia the odd one out? It's a few years since I saw it but, along with Masque of the Red Death, falls somewhat outside the cycle being shot in the UK. IIRC from the Corman intros I mentioned above, each film until these two reused the earlier sets and added to them using the new film's budget.domino harvey wrote: Finally got to this box and I'm glad others recognize how relentlessly Corman got his money's worth out of that shot from the Fall of the House of Usher-- I think it shows up in five of the six films here, for starters!
Incidentally, and in reference to your comments on Hammer in the Horror list, there is a lot of spot-the-reused sets fun to be had there (especially the Rasputin / Prince of Darkness and Reptile / Plague pairs which were shot back to back)
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
That one def has it, I think it's only missing from the Haunted Palace (unless I missed it there too!)
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
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Re: Six Gothic Tales
It's in Ligeia as well. If I remember rightly, on the commentary Corman says something like "this is the one film where I didn't use that shot" and then it pops up and he laughs.
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- Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am
Re: Six Gothic Tales
The problem with it is not that it's resused, but that stone edifices suddenly became timber!
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
I just think it looks like a worse case scenario for one of those shitty DIY pallet projects that are so popular now
- Boosmahn
- Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:08 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
I just finished watching the reissue... what a lovely set. It might be one of my favorites!
Frankly, I was only expecting to like the first and last two films... Tales of Terror and especially The Raven were not on my watchlist. (Poe as comedy? Horrible!) Turns out they were all a great deal of fun; only The Tomb of Ligeia dragged for me.
Frankly, I was only expecting to like the first and last two films... Tales of Terror and especially The Raven were not on my watchlist. (Poe as comedy? Horrible!) Turns out they were all a great deal of fun; only The Tomb of Ligeia dragged for me.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: Six Gothic Tales
Tomb of Ligeia is one of my favorites for the style. It's not as insane as Masque of the Red Death for obvious reasons, but by going the other extreme with a minimalist cool the aesthetic has a creepy exhaustion to it. It's also one of Price's more interesting performances as he shifts into a more modern mode. In a sense this is sort of Towne's film in the same way Masque is Roeg's.