Returning to the gothic horror genre that helped launch his horror career, Jess Franco's Revenge in the House of Usher stars Howard Vernon as Dr. Usher, who drains the blood from prostitutes in an attempt to revive his seriously ill daughter Melissa.
It was only yesterday that I described Alan Birkinshaw's The House of Usher (1989) as probably the worst film ever to be inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's novel The Fall of the House of Usher. Having just finished watching Jess Franco's Revenge in the House of Usher, I take it all back - this is the worst.
That said, other than the title, and the surname of Howard Vernon's character, Revenge in the House of Usher has little to nothing to do with Poe's tale: it's more like a continuation of Franco's Dr. Orloff series, complete with disfigured assistant Morpho, and flashbacks to the far superior The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), which also starred Vernon.
This film is aimless, overly talky, horribly acted, nonsensical, and completely and utterly boring, making it one of the most intolerable of all of Franco's work. And that's saying something. I defy anyone to adequately explain the relevance of the women singing 'Ring Around the Rosie' and 'Three Blind Mice', and who the hell is Adrien?
It was only yesterday that I described Alan Birkinshaw's The House of Usher (1989) as probably the worst film ever to be inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's novel The Fall of the House of Usher. Having just finished watching Jess Franco's Revenge in the House of Usher, I take it all back - this is the worst.
That said, other than the title, and the surname of Howard Vernon's character, Revenge in the House of Usher has little to nothing to do with Poe's tale: it's more like a continuation of Franco's Dr. Orloff series, complete with disfigured assistant Morpho, and flashbacks to the far superior The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), which also starred Vernon.
This film is aimless, overly talky, horribly acted, nonsensical, and completely and utterly boring, making it one of the most intolerable of all of Franco's work. And that's saying something. I defy anyone to adequately explain the relevance of the women singing 'Ring Around the Rosie' and 'Three Blind Mice', and who the hell is Adrien?