Show I did not enjoy / will not finish: The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix. Watched two episodes and I'm out. Felt like a cheap haunted house with all the lights on and a guy in a mask running around going "booga booga!" Also seems to associate bisexuality with sexual deviance, decadence, and general villainy.

Show I loved / highly recommend: Say Nothing on Hulu. "True story" of IRA member Dolours Price. I'm admittedly an ignorant American on the subject but the show was absolutely phenomenal. Complicated, tragic situation. Complicated, tragic characters. And the show is getting sued by someone it portrays, so you know it's making waves.

#shows #tv #television #houseofusher #poe #saynothing #tvreview

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑾𝒂𝒚𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔: "𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒐𝒆?"

On their own, as a film, the changes made almost betray the claustrophobic prose of Poe’s story.

https://waywordsstudio.com/essay/day-2-price-or-poe/

#moviereview #halloween #horror #horrormovie #13DaysOfHalloween #houseofusher #TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher #RogerCorman #edgarallanpoe #bookstofilm

With Seattle Worldcon 2025 coming up, let’s take a look back at a couple of films that attendees at Seattle’s first Worldcon, way back in 1961, might have seen at their local theaters and drive-ins. Grab some popcorn and settle back for a pair of surprisingly good low budget movies from the king of B films, Roger Corman.

Roger Corman started directing in 1955 with a couple of low budget Westerns (Five Guns West and Apache Woman) as well the laughably inept science fiction monster movie Day the World Ended. By 1960 he had at least two dozen films under his belt. He must have learned something along the way, because he came up with some good ones.

First up is the black comedy The Little Shop of Horrors. Filmed in two days, this ultra-cheap quickie features a plant named Audrey Junior, named after Audrey Fulquard, the love interest of our hapless hero, Seymour Krelboined. Audrey Junior starts off as a small houseplant, but quickly grows to gigantic size after it gets a taste of human blood. Pretty soon it munches on entire people, and even learns how to talk. (Expect youngsters to walk out of the theater shouting “Feed me!” in deep voices.)

Wacky enough, but the movie also includes a guy who eats flowers (turnabout is fair play, I guess) and a deadpan parody of the cops from Dragnet. Stealing the picture is a young actor named Jack Nicholson as a masochistic dental patient. The witty screenplay is the work of Charles B. Griffith, who wrote a similarly gruesome farce, A Bucket of Blood, for Roger Corman a year before penning this one.

Much more serious is House of Usher, adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s famous 1839 story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” This is a lush production, by the standards of Roger Corman, although definitely low budget compared to Hollywood blockbusters.

Vincent Price, without his famous mustache and with his hair dyed a shade of blonde so pale that it’s almost white, stars as Roderick Usher. You probably know the basic plot. Roderick suffers from extreme sensitivity of the senses. His sister Madeline suffers from catalepsy. The man she intends to marry arrives at their gloomy home, only to be warned by Roderick that the Usher bloodline must not be continued, lest future generations suffer the same afflictions. Of course, that’s not all there is to the story, leading to a dramatic climax.

The screenplay, by the great Richard Matheson, remains loyal to Poe’s tale while expanding it sufficiently to justify the running time. Filmed in sumptuous color, the movie is gorgeous to look at. Vincent Price offers a restrained performance, and is ably assisted by a small number of lesser known actors.

Fans of comedy, fantasy, and horror should check out both of these classics.

https://seattlein2025.org/2024/09/02/fantastic-fiction-roger-cormans-1960-masterpieces/

#HouseOfUsher #RogerCorman #TheLittleShopOfHorrors

Fantastic Fiction: Roger Corman’s 1960 Masterpieces: With Seattle Worldcon 2025 coming up, let’s take a look back at a couple of films that attendees at Seattle’s first Worldcon, way back in 1961, might have seen at their local theaters and drive-ins. Grab some popcorn and settle back for a pair of surprisingly good low budget movies from the king of B films, Roger Corman. … (#HouseOfUsher #RogerCorman #TheLittleShopOfHorrors)

Full post: https://seattlein2025.org/2024/09/02/fantastic-fiction-roger-cormans-1960-masterpieces/

20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just book covers (don't forget the alt text).

#20books20days 3/20 #bookstodon #EdgarAllanPoe #EightTalesOfTerror #Horror #Gothic #HouseOfUsher

I'm on episode 5 of The Fall of the House of Usher. I love all the callbacks to Poe stories & poems. 🥹 I read some of the stories/poems referenced in high school. I even re-read House of Usher before starting the series.

#thefallofthehouseofusher
#houseofusher
#edgarallanpoe