Tales of Terror (1962)

I actually watched this one again the other week.  The fourth entry in Roger Corman's cycle of Poe-based features for AIP it emphasises the problems which lay with attempting to adapt the source material.  The previous films in the series, adapting some of Poe's best known titles, had already shown how thinly spread the original material had to be in order to fill out a movie to feature length.  All were loose adaptations of the original stories, taking the central ideas and fleshing them out with lots of atmospheric goings on in musty-seeming, fog shrouded sets. It must have seemed natural, at this point in the cycle, to attempt an anthology film, adapting three unrelated stories and packaging them into a feature, with the only link between the episodes being the presence of Vincent Price in each.  At shorter length, it might be assumed, the original stories could be adapted more faithfully.  But, as Tales of Terror (1962) shows, even with only a short running time to fill, Poe's stories still needed lots of padding.

The first story, 'Morella', for instance, bears only a passing resemblance to the story of the same name, retaining the basic scenario,setting and character names, but substituting a new plot to turn it into a 'revenge from beyond the grave' story.  It's undoubtedly atmospheric and contains some striking imagery, but feels too much like a condensed variation on The House of Usher (1960).  The third story, 'The Facts in the Case of M.Valdemar', in story form was little more than a vignette, so, likewise, required much padding out, making the hypnotist the villain of the piece and inventing a plot involving lust and greed.  While less atmospheric than 'Morella', it is, as it stands, an enjoyable, if unsubstantial, episode, the best thing about it being the presence of Basil Rathbone as the hypnotist.  It is the middle episode of Tales of Terror that is the most successful,  Not only is it based on one of Poe's best known titles, 'The Black Cat', but it features Peter Lorre, who gives a fine comedic performance.  Moreover, it sticks more closely to its source, in spirit at least, than many other Poe adaptations, (although parts of another story, 'The Cask of Amontillado' are also incorporated).  It also proved influential on the next entry in the Poe series, The Raven (1963), which also teamed Lorre with Price and was played completely for laughs.  The Raven also marked the point at which the films moved decisively away from its source material, using only the titles and basic themes of its source stories and inventing original stories, (or, in the case of The Haunted Palace (1964), actually adapting an H P Lovecraft story under a Poe title).

Ultimately, Tales of Terror epitomises what I've always found unsatisfactory about Corman's Poe series: they simply feel too slight, too unsubstantial, reliant upon atmosphere and - in all but one case - the performances of Vincent Price to carry them along.  It is notable that the only one that doesn't feature Price, The Premature Burial (1961) which stars Ray Milland instead, is the least successful - even upping the amount of swirling fog, filters and sound effects can't disguise the fact that the lack of Price's presence robs it of much dramatic weight.  Which isn't to say that I don't enjoy these films, or dismiss them.  They are hugely enjoyable, (and have been hugely influential), but I've never found them entirely satisfying.  Ultimately, of course, that reflects the source material: Poe's stories are likewise often slight and insubstantial, little more than a brilliantly macabre idea, making them near-impossible to adapt effectively for the screen.  The Corman films, whilst flawed, remain probably the best attempt to translate them to the screen.