A POE EXCUSE FOR A MOVIE

January 19 . . .

201 years ago today, in Boston, Edgar Poe (later Edgar Allan Poe) entered the world; neither the world nor Poe would emerge unscathed.

As a poet, he was unparalleled in American verse (‘The Raven’, ‘The Bells’). As a story teller, his influence was incalculable. He is credited with inventing the detective story (in ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ and ‘The Gold Bug’); he is arguably the father of modern sci-fi (see ‘The Balloon Hoax’), and his ability to summon the dark side of the human psyche (‘The Tell Tale Heart’, ‘Fall of the House of Usher’) have influenced generations of horror authors.

But his impact on the world of film has been problematic. As of this writing, very few of his stories have been filmed as he told them. Countless films carry his titles and influences, but hardly any adhere to his original plots. Roger Corman helmed an impressive series of movies inspired by Poe in the 1960s, starring Vincent Price (‘Fall of the House of Usher’, ‘Masque of the Red Death’). He even turned Poe into a comic with 1963’s ‘The Raven’ (worth watching for Peter Lorre’s droll ad libs.)

The best ‘adaptations’ of Poe – perhaps in spirit rather than substance – are Universal’s films of the 30s, most especially ‘The Black Cat’ (1934). Edgar Ulmer (who would later direct ‘Detour’) directed this masterfully perverse mixture of Satanism, psychology, incest, murder and torture, mixing elements of Art Deco and Bauhaus with élan. Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff co-star – Lugosi in a rare semi-heroic role (but still bent enough to skin Karloff alive), and Karloff as a Devil worshipper based on Alistair Crowley. Considering the censor’s heavy-handed clean-up job, the film remains impressively morbid. The actual tale of ‘The Black Cat’ is relayed more faithfully in Corman’s 1962 ‘Tales of Terror’.

Here’s a clip from the 1934 version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X9StsrNurw