trapped-in-a-coffin nail-biter BURIED (2010) also borrow heavily from that theme without directly crediting Poe as inspiration. The subject of being buried alive also arises in KILL BILL II and both the Dutch and American versions of THE VANISHING. The idea of being haunted by an early burial is revisited by Poe


The shape of horrors to come in Poe’s OBLONG BOX.


in “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in which hyper-sensitive Roderick Usher loses his sister Madeline yet refuses to bury her fully in fear that she is not yet dead. The story was adapted in 1949 by Ivan Barnett, starring Kay Tendeter and Gwen Watford as the Usher siblings, but the film often is overshadowed by Roger Corman’s classic HOUSE OF USHER (1960) starring Vincent Price (who played the lead in many of Poe’s masterpieces). Both films were quite faithful to the original story, with Price offering up an iconic portrayal of the angst-ridden Roderick. The film was remade for television audiences in 1979 with Martin Landau and Ray Walston. Gifted animator Jan Svankmajer created his own version of the story in 1980’s Zánik domu Usherů. Svankmajer would return to Poe territory by adapting THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM some time later. 1982 saw REVENGE IN THE HOUSE OF USHER, also known as ZOMBIE 5, directed by Jesus Franco, which sets the Usher curse in a modern setting (although it has very


Her real curse? Cold hands. 1982’s REVENGE IN THE HOUSE OF USHER 46 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND • MAR/APR 2012


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86