bad movie…SPOILERS AHEAD
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FlamRatamacues — 16 years ago(October 31, 2009 08:03 AM)
I agree that the first entry was the weakest of the three, but it served as a good warm-up story. However, I loved the last two.
Price's hammy, over-the-top performance in "The Black Cat" was quite funny. It was almost to the over-the-top level as his Egghead character on the Batman TV series a few years later. I also found it a nice treat for Edgar Allan Poe fans. Rather than simply retelling "The Black Cat", they combined it with the story of "The Cask of Amontillado" in a very clever way. I also enjoyed Peter Lorre's character. As a previous poster mentioned, this was more of a horror-comedy in the vein of "The Raven" and "Comedy of Terrors" than full-fledged horror like "The Fall of the House of Usher" or "The Pit and the Pendulum."
And the final story was quite enjoyable. Basil Rathbone is deliciously fiendish here.
If nothing else, this trilogy demonstrates (to a certain degree) the range Vincent Price brought to these Roger Corman/Edgar Allan Poe films. In the first story, he is mean and quite unlikable. In the second story, he is a great ham, striking the perfect comedic tone. In the final story, his character is rather understated, allowing the stronger emotions to come from the other actors. No wonder he was so popular in these types of roles. -
YankeeDood — 15 years ago(September 11, 2010 02:42 AM)
This movie only sucks to you because you are probably a 13-year-old dittohead who thinks unrealistic CGI horror movies with weak plots like "Piranha 3D" are masterpieces, lmao!
I think this movie is great and very chilling, especially the last story as would anyone who can appreciate chills over spills.
Up All Night Revisited!
http://usaupallnight.bravehost.com -
parisel — 14 years ago(September 22, 2011 08:58 AM)
DeviousO. You say you are going to give your reasons why it is a bad movie, but then you just say the first 2 are really bad. Why are they bad? Acting, direction, production values? Surely you could not presume to say the story is bad.
You clearly didn't understand The Black Cat. I think the above poster is right and that you are still very young, so I applaud that you even cared enough to watch the whole thingPlease give it another chance in a few years, and you may find more to like.
I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace. -
creativeowl — 14 years ago(February 20, 2012 09:55 PM)
To everyone saying he is probably young,
That's really not an excuse. I happen to be considered young, as in I'm a teenager, And I love this movie. I have loved this movie since I was thirteen. It is one of Vincent Price's best, especially with The Black Cat.
To Devious0, Why did you not like this movie, can you give us reasons why? -
IMDB_Vits — 12 years ago(December 09, 2013 04:03 PM)
In the first story, how the hell did his wife get replaced by his daughter & vice-versa?
In this kind of story, I don't think we need to know the mechanics of that kind of thing. We know that she was a ghost that took over her daughter. -
Rainey-Dawn — 10 years ago(June 14, 2015 06:27 PM)
First thing is first: Go back and re-read Poe's poems and short stories OR read a summery of them - then the Poe films (like this one) will make a lot more sense - even if the movies are loose adaptations they will make more sense to you.
The Black Cat is a comedy-horror. It's two in one. From the wiki: "The Black Cat" which is combined with another Poe tale, "The Cask of Amontillado".
I personally found The Black Cat on the scary side as well as being funny (just personal taste) - I love dark humor. Montresor (Lorre) is a killer - a murder and that is scary in itself. The "ghosts" that are haunting Montresor (guilty conscience?) are creepy to me. But it is that "tattle-tale" cat that got it's revenge that is the most creepy to me. Why? The fact that a cat can give away your darkest secrets - even murder!!
You have to remember - Montresor loved his wife and that cat at one time in fact he loved animals at one time (This is Poe's "The Black Cat") but he fell in-love with booze and shunned his wife and cat. (Again, this is a two in one story and the booze part is from "The Cask of Amontillado").
Now what about "Morella"? I posted this in another thread and I will repost it on this thread via copy & paste:
I think Poe's short story provides the answer: Morella blamed her husband for wishing her be dead and eternal peace for her because she was sick (instead of wish her to be well/healthy and to have a long life with him).
A quote from the wiki: "Eventually, Morella dies in childbirth proclaiming: "I am dying. But within me is a pledge of that affection which thou didst feel for me, Morella. And when my spirit departs shall the child live.""
The father never gave the daughter a name and at the age of 10 her father a had her baptized in order to drive out any evil spirits in the child (for you see she looked exactly like her mother).
From the wiki: "At the ceremony, the priest asks the daughter's name, to which the narrator replies "Morella". Immediately, the daughter calls out, "I am here!" and dies. The narrator himself bears her body to the tomb and finds no trace of the first Morella where he lays the second."
Basically it seems Morella blamed her husband for getting her pregnant while she was sick making her more ill - causing her to die more quickly (which he wished upon her) and it seems Morella used her daughter's body as an instrument to get her revenge.
IN THE FILM: Why was Lenora sick? My idea (which could be wrong): it was the mother causing her the unknown sickness, knowing the daughter would return one day to the home and Morella used her daughter's body as a vehicle to get revenge - very similar to, but not exactly like, Poe's short story.
Some people that has analyzed the short story says that Morella is a Vampire.
This is simply what I think happened in the film - but I am really unsure.
"I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me." ~ The Invisible Man