In this case, Scream Factory’s only exclusive extras are the Iowa PBS station wrap-arounds and a stills gallery, as it shares with Arrow Roger Corman’s commentary (again, first recorded for MGM’s 2001 DVD release) and the same theatrical trailer (2m 28s). Arrow Video, on the other hand,


took the opportunity of this release to truly fête this skyrocket success, beginning with an isolated Mu- sic and Effects track that highlights one of Les Baxter’s outstanding film scores—and one that is not presently available on CD. (The cues sold at iTunes are lifted directly from the soundtrack.) For this release, Jonathan Rigby and I swapped places in our duties; whereas I wrote liner notes for USHER while he spoke about the film on-camera, here he provides superbly attentive liner notes while I re- corded a full audio commentary. I’ll leave judge- ment of my track to others, but, in terms of general description, it documents production data, dis- cusses (and in some cases, quotes) material omit- ted from Richard Matheson’s screenplay, shares some behind-the-scenes anecdotes, refutes a few accepted legends about the film (including why Steele’s performance was redubbed) and also of- fers some autobiographic details about my first encounters with the film onscreen and in the pages of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine. An excellent Arrow-produced documentary, “Behind the Swinging Blade” (43m 7s), includes new interviews with Corman, actress Barbara Steele, Victoria Price, and author-historians Kim Newman and Jonathan Rigby. Having been scooped on the USHER Over- ture, here Arrow gains additional advantage by ex- clusively offering a 5m 4s sequence filmed in 1968 to augment the film’s US television premiere, with actress Luana Anders reprising her supporting role


as Doña Catherine Medina in the setting of a mad- house (it appears to be the same, or a similar, madhouse to the one where Corman shot the clos- ing scene of DE SADE, the following year), with Sid Haig among the inmates. Rounding out the package are the aforementioned TV syndication special AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE (53m 7s), hosted by—as well as starring—Price in dramatic monologues based on Poe’s stories “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Sphinx,” “The Cask of Amontillado” and a more faithful telling of “The Pit and the Pendulum” itself. Though the program has some rough edges, it is a vital record of Price’s association with, and grasp of, Poe’s work as a dramatic reader and lecturer.


In terms of the main feature’s 2.35:1 presenta- tion, the Arrow disc wins hands-down as well, again sporting a much higher, dual-layer bit-rate, yielding a presence and depth of field that will put anyone who saw the film theatrically back in the seat of their childhood matinee. The Scream Factory transfer, in comparison, looks somewhat flatter. The Albert Whitlock matte paintings look particu- larly impressive, that castle by the sea evoking an actual sense of weight in its appearances.


TALES OF TERROR 1962, Arrow Video, 88m 40s Kino Lorber, 88m 41s


After scripting two feature-length adaptations that covered much the same ground (foreboding castles, dark pale women, premature burial), Rich- ard Matheson began to balk about the challenge


of another single-story Poe feature. Instead, he agreed to script a Poe anthology consisting of


PIT AND THE PENDULUM: Price’s Nicholas Medina trembles on receipt of the dream he has wished for, the return of his beloved Elizabeth (Barbara Steele).


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