the other day I watched the DVD of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. directed by Corman & starring Vincent Price- I was amazed how well the film has held up. So I just wanted some to read others comments on the classic 1960s AIP horror films (and maybe other AIP works).
I own The Pit and the Pendulum on DVD, and I think you’re right. (Though I first read the title as “Conan/Price/Poe” and wondered why you were staying up late reading Poe and watching Price on Conan.)
Corman’s Poe cycle was full of style AND substance. Masque is a great example of this.
Masque and Tomb Of Ligeia are probably my favorites.
I remember getting to watch Fall Of The House Of Usher in 9th grade English class and laughing about how most of the other kids heard “horror movie” and were expecting a slasher flick like Friday the 13th. I was familiar with most of the Poe Cycle from watching them with my Dad when I was little, and was a huge Vincent Price fan as a result.
I like most all of them, but beyond the titles and a few plot elements, the atmosphere was the greatest contribution from the works of Poe to most of these films. For example, The Haunted Palace is really based on H. P. Lovecraft’s "The Strange Case Of Charles Dexter Ward*.
So much of the credit for the quality of the Poe cycle must also go to the excellent work of screenwriters like Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and Robert Towne.
Ah, I love, love, love The Pit And The Pendulum. Price successfully portrays that he isn’t hamming it up. The character he plays has finally snapped and is hamming it up for his victim.
It’s times like these I wish I had cable. Or a credit card(needed to get a membership card at a rental chain).
Though I’ve loved Poe since elementary school(a brilliant actor/storyteller recited Hopfrog and a few others for us.), and Price for just as long, I’ve never seen most of the Cycle.