Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Convinced that his family is tainted by generations of evil, Roderick Usher is hellbent on stopping his sister Madeline’s wedding to prevent the cursed Usher bloodline from expanding. When her fiancé Philip Winthrop arrives at the crumbling estate to claim his bride, Roderick goes to ruthless—even deadly—lengths to keep them apart.
Roger Corman's adaptation of Poe's classic is elevated considerably by Vincent Price's commanding, nuanced performance as Roderick Usher — one of his finest turns. Floyd Crosby's cinematography makes striking use of color and gothic atmosphere, giving the crumbling Usher estate a vivid, painterly decay that was genuinely impressive for a low-budget production. The plot is a fairly faithful expansion of a slender short story, padded somewhat to feature length but carried by Price's presence. The film was influential in launching the Corman-Poe cycle but isn't radically distinctive in conception. The ending delivers satisfyingly on the gothic promise with the collapse of the house, though it lacks genuine surprise for those familiar with Poe.