The Fall of the House of Usher (1982) User Reviews

"Usher" us in, please

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 29 August 2006]

In one of his two adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories - the other was "The Pit and the Pendulum" - Czech animator Jan Svankmajer creates a more horrific version than most movies ever have, namely since the black and white cinematography gives it a more Gothic feel. "Zanik domu Usheru" has the protagonist go to the house only to find the owner feeling ill and the sister moribund. But of course, there's something even uglier in store.

Svankmajer puts his own spin on it, with the furniture moving on its own, among other things. Poe would certainly be proud of this. Definitely worth seeing.

It works

[Polaris_DiB · 7/10 · 12 February 2010]

Typically adaptations of literature in this style do not operate well--where the original text is overlaid in voice over against images, either the words clash with the imagery or reinforce it too much, making the experience of either watching or reading redundant. Instead of populating the house with Usher, his sister, and his friend, however, Svankmajer lets the elements, space, and furniture speak of its own characterization while a very good reading of the short story plays over some of Svankmajer's signature stop motion animation. It has been a while since I've read the short story, but from my memory of it this is the text in exactness and entirety, so that's really good. The storm and the abode are satisfyingly Gothic, and a really good graphic match between animated clay and a tree's roots are but one of many examples of the muddy and hazy quality of all of the imagery in this movie which weighs down with its dark Romantic tone. Svankmajer at least managed to hit the spirit of the story, if not the character's faces.

--PolarisDiB

Excellent use of stop-motion techniques wedded to Poe's story

[hofnarr · 8/10 · 14 July 2003]

Beginning and ending with the shot of a large raven, Jan Svankmajer's rendition of Poe's tale of The Fall of the House of Usher uses various stop-motion animation techniques to tell a riveting version with mold growing, chairs moving about, and the name of Roderick's sister appearing magicly in clay. All sorts of furniture rapidly departing (without the help of human hands) the house as it disintegrates adds a somewhat light touch to the story.

Wish I Spoke Czech

[Yxklyx · 6/10 · 13 October 2006]

Couldn't really enjoy this as much as I'd like to. It seems that the entire poem is recited here - problem is I don't understand Czech and the visuals while good don't really stand on their own. This is one case where subtitles don't really work because they prevent the visuals from being appreciated. Someone should redo this with the poem recited in English. I don't think Mr Svankmajer would object. For a better Poe work by Svankmajer check out The Pit, the Pendulum and Hope. Actually, that movie's the best Poe adaptation I've ever seen. Both of these films can be found on the recently released two DVD set of Svankmajer short films called Collected Shorts Of Jan Svankmajer.

great on imagery, but some of the actual story is... lost on me

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 31 August 2008]

For sixteen minutes Czech animator and filmmaker Jan Svankmajer does his job well with getting a real terror and doom and gloom and deconstruction of the house of Usher, one of those quintessential spots of horror of Poe. In just watching the images go by and the stop-motion utilized in creative and unexpected ways involving the house and walls and pools of water and mud, it's amazing work. But the problem for me was in the actual translation of the story itself. Perhaps it's being only most familiar with English, so with the DVD subtitles going by at a quick clip that it's hard to keep up with keeping an eye on all of these dark visions put on the screen. That there's also a complete lack of any actors (unless one counts a sole raven among the cast) is also a deterrent since the story features all of these characters decomposing along with the damned house itself. It's an expressionist experiment, somewhat reminiscent of parts of Last Year at Marienbad, but it's only successful in part because of the director's dedication to the imagery. It's great pictures put to a so-so execution of "story" if there is much of one at all; maybe I'll learn Czech one say and it'll appear better.

captures poe's style with near perfection

[framptonhollis · 7/10 · 17 December 2016]

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is definitely my favorite story by the great American write Edgar Allan Poe due to its legitimate creepiness and heavy atmosphere. With this 15 minute long stop motion animated short film, the master filmmaker Jan Svankmajer attempts to translate Poe's beautifully atmospheric writing to the language of cinema, and does so with much success.

I would like to note that the animation in this film is fantastic, as it is in all of Svankmajer's works. You can tell that a lot of effort was put into the stop motion, and it looks absolutely spectacular and adds to the eeriness of the short.

Other than the animation and haunting atmosphere, this short is really just a reading of the original Poe story. None of the characters appear on screen, and there is only one narrator. It works quite well, but I do admit that more creativity could have been inserted into the project. However, I'm not necessarily complaining, because the animation and moodiness of this film are enough for me to highly recommend it.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Jan Svankmajer, 1982) **

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 12 October 2013]

An abstract claymation version of Edgar Allan Poe's famous horror tale. The lack of a proper narrative here ultimately makes one appreciate the original intent more readily than admire – or enjoy – the obvious effort involved. Admittedly, my low estimation of this short film has much to do with the fact that the verbose Czech narration was not supplied in an English-friendly form (being solely accompanied by Spanish subtitles). The original source material is among the tormented American author's most famous works which, consequently, has had innumerable adaptations for both the big and small screens; I have three of the latter planned for future viewing during this ongoing Halloween marathon. Again, the seminal Corman/Poe film version from 1960 is the most popular but one should not forget that the narrative can lend itself equally to Art – Jean Epstein's 1928 avant-garde classic – and Trash – Jesus Franco's REVENGE IN THE HOUSE OF USHER (1982)!

Animation to Story

[Tornado_Sam · 17 April 2020]

Jan Svankmajer's "Zánik domu Usherú" ("The Fall of the House of Usher") is hardly an adaptation of Poe's classic story, which I, despite having heard several Poe stories, have not read. It certainly helps if you know the story to fully appreciate the film, but it also goes without saying that because this is Svankmajer's creation, it doesn't follow the plot using the visuals themselves (i.e. Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky"). The set-up is simple and some of the visuals pertain to the story itself, but most of it tends to be the classic, wacky imagery one expects from the Czech filmmaker.

Unlike most filmmakers, who would retell the story using live actors with real dialogue, Svankmajer's approach is more off beat as is to be expected. A narrator, speaking in Czech (which I unfortunately do not understand one bit) reads the story, or a condensed version of it in this version to provide background, while the screen itself is filled up with a variety of strange visuals of an old house - intended to be the one in the story. There are live action shots of old walls, windows, etc., interspersed with animation segments - including mud, leaves, cracks in walls, rubble and other things moving of their own accord. The ending was the most memorable part, as numerous pieces of furniture move by themselves and fall out the windows into the river - rather strange, but nonetheless very nicely executed. Well made for what it is certainly, but not one that can be called a real adaptation - although still, knowing Svankmajer, one wouldn't expect it to be anyhow. He was still learning his potential as this film demonstrates - but, as is also shown, it wouldn't be long before he really proved his worth.

"Fall of the House of Usher" only as Svankmajer could have made it.

[planktonrules · 29 January 2013]

This version of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is amazingly strange--which shouldn't be much of a surprise since it's by the surrealist stop-motion filmmaker, Jan Svankmajer. Only he would make such an odd film. Think about it--the Poe story with absolutely no actors in it whatsoever! Instead, there is a narrator while all kids of weird things occur in a very old home which looks abandoned. You'll see closeups of walls, lumps of clay that mold themselves and a coffin that drags itself to an interment. None of it makes any sense--though that is exactly the point in a surrealist film. But, because it is so strange and difficult to approach, I can't see this art film appealing to most--just lovers of Svankmajer's work and people who like artsy-fartsy stuff. As for me, I can respect what he did, but I certainly didn't enjoy it very much.