Sometimes a Portmanteau film and a coalescing of horror super stars coalesce themselves. One such film is TALES OF TERROR from 1962. Directed by horror maestro Roger Corman and starring the legends Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone. In 1960 American International Pictures (AIP) began a series of eight films based off of the works of the great Edgar Allan Poe. Each film was directed by Roger Corman and all but one of them starred Vincent Price. Tales of Terror was the fourth film in the Corman-Poe cycle and the first anthology film in Vincent Price's career, the first of many.
Tales of Terror features three separate stories (without any sort of bridging sequences save for cryptic narration by Vincent Price) based off several short stories by Edgar Allan Poe including "Morella", an amalgamation of "The Black Cat" and "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar."
THE PLOT
Three tales to chill your blood. In Morella a young woman returns home for the first time since she was born to confront her estranged father. What she finds is a decrepit structure more tomb than home and the corpse of her long dead mother lying in wait. In The Black Cat an abusive alcoholic husband takes everything from his wife including her life, all for another drink. But the dead are not done with him as his conscience returns to haunt him. And in The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar the horrifying mysteries of life after death are revealed as a hypnotist conducts a bizarre experiment on a dying man. What the hypnotist discovers is that some mysteries are better left unsolved.
WHAT I LIKED
Versatile Vincent. Vincent Price is the only actor featured in all three segments. And he plays a different character in each tale, from a grieving widower and abusive father to a goofy adulterous wine connoisseur and finally a loving loyal husband on his deathbed. Price displays a wide range of his abilities here including comedy. He begins with a somewhat villainous role and ends as a sympathetic and tortured figure. If there was ever any question as to Vincent Price's abilities as an actor this movie puts them to rest. Few film opportunities give actors the chance to showcase such a wide range of emotions as this.
Atmosphere and Effects. The first segment displays some of the best effects work in the film. The matte paintings of the ocean-side mansion are wonderfully rendered. There's another matte painting for final segment too which is beautiful as well. The effects work of bringing Morella back to life is eerie and striking, two pieces of film laid atop each other to create a clever and potent effect. And Vincent Price's melting corpse at the end of the film is a great finale. Put yourself back in 1962 genre cinema where these kinds of films were made on shoestring budgets. These films may seem quaint today but there were some master technicians working behind the scenes. This was a low budget picture but what it does within its limitations is remarkable.
Les Baxter's film score adds another level of power to the images on screen, frightening and unnerving (showcasing similar motifs to John Williams' score for JAWS almost 11 years prior). Beautiful set dressings abound as well, especially in the Morella segment. Then of course there's a host of great supporting cast members alongside Vincent Price such as the beautiful sirens Debra Paget, Leona Gage, and Joyce Jameson. And of course there's the wonderful performances by the great Basil Rathbone and Peter Lorre.
NITPICKS
Horror and Humor. Humor, like horror, is completely subjective. What's scary and what's funny varies from person to person. Tales of Terror begins with a scary segment, then a funny segment, followed by a final scary segment. The middle piece is my least favorite for no reason other than I didn't find it particularly funny. I think the actors are great but I was more annoyed than amused. There are some great moments in the segment but overall it was the piece that I was least affected by. Interestingly, this more humorous segment is often regarded as the strongest piece in the film by critics. And certainly audiences have responded well to it as director Roger Corman recalls it was very well received. Take that for what it's worth. Humor in horror movies has always been rather difficult for me to embrace, but I'm sure eventually I'll come around.
THE VERDICT
Roger Corman's Tales of Terror takes several Edgar Allan Poe short stories and weaves them into a wonderful and wicked portmanteau film. There are some hauntingly beautiful gothic set pieces, dark and demented moments of humor, and shocking moments of horror. Vincent Price is given an actor's dream, playing three different characters with very different personalities, showing off his fantastic acting range. Screen legends Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone play opposite Price and deliver some truly devilish performances. A classic anthology horror film with an all star cast!
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10
For more Vincent Price and Portmanteau horror check out these other films below
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