Intriguing early experimental treatment of Poe from the same filmmakers who would bring us the even more astonishing "Lot In Sodom" in 1933. Doesn't compete with the equally avant-garde feature length version made at the same time by Jean Epstein & Luis Bunuel, yet stands well on its own. More of a tribute to UFA & German Expressionism than an outright imitation, with specific nods to Caligari, Der Golem, and Faust. Visually rewarding for lighting, cinematography, sets, makeup. Compiled in a skewed fashion reminiscent of the structure of a nightmare. Captures the wonderfully gloomy, morbid atmosphere of Poe's work, the claustrophobic ambiance of "Usher" in particular. A treat for fans of the genre, in addition to being sufficiently unusual & brief (just over 12 minutes) to hold the average viewer's attention. At one time, this film was available on an anthology videotape called "American Avant-Garde" along with the aforementioned "Lot In Sodom." Great stuff if you're lucky enough to track it down.
19 Reviews
Caligari School
ww_sketcher14 May 2006
The Fall of the House of Usher has suffered a rather bad fate as a film, due to numerous problems.
Not due to the fact that it's a bad film, on the contrary, but due to it's name. In the same year there was also a french full-length with the same name by Jean Epstein. And there are countless other recreations of this of the Fall in the House of Usher story.
This film succeeds as a silent short expressed mostly through visuals and mood. It's not so much horror as it as an excuse to show surrealist images of words floating, off camera angles and general dillusion.
The only thing that may put people off about this short is that it's clearly more about lush enchanting visuals then it is as a good representation on the Edgar Allan Poe piece.
This is a fine silent short, and is highly recommended to fans of early silent expressionist cinema.
Not due to the fact that it's a bad film, on the contrary, but due to it's name. In the same year there was also a french full-length with the same name by Jean Epstein. And there are countless other recreations of this of the Fall in the House of Usher story.
This film succeeds as a silent short expressed mostly through visuals and mood. It's not so much horror as it as an excuse to show surrealist images of words floating, off camera angles and general dillusion.
The only thing that may put people off about this short is that it's clearly more about lush enchanting visuals then it is as a good representation on the Edgar Allan Poe piece.
This is a fine silent short, and is highly recommended to fans of early silent expressionist cinema.
This low-budget thriller was one of the first inde...
udave29 August 1998
This low-budget thriller was one of the first independent experimental films made in the USA. Heavily influenced by German Expressionist filmmaking (and in particular "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari") this film makes effective use of odd camera angles and stylized sets, and is still quite interesting to watch today as a sort of Gothic mood piece.
An Unusual & Memorable Version of the Story
Snow Leopard19 August 2005
This unusual and memorable movie version of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" has some creative details, and although it is one of the more obscure versions of the story, it offers a distinctive look at a couple of its many interesting aspects. The style is deliberately murky, and it has not so much as an inter-title, so that you do need to know at least the basic plot in order to understand what is happening.
The original story is psychologically provocative and often uncomfortable, even by Poe's usual standards, and this adaptation is pretty successful in using symbolism and visual images to bring out various aspects of the mental disorientation and dread that the characters struggle with. You can watch it a couple of times and still notice new details that the film-makers inserted at various points. It focuses particularly on the peculiarly complex relationship between Roderick and Madeline, with the narrator of the original story much less prominent here.
Poe's fascinating short story has been the source for many different movie versions, and Jean Epstein made a particularly good one in the same year as this feature. This Watson/Webber version, with its short length and its avant-garde approach, is hard to compare with the full-length versions. For what it tries to do, though, it works pretty well.
The original story is psychologically provocative and often uncomfortable, even by Poe's usual standards, and this adaptation is pretty successful in using symbolism and visual images to bring out various aspects of the mental disorientation and dread that the characters struggle with. You can watch it a couple of times and still notice new details that the film-makers inserted at various points. It focuses particularly on the peculiarly complex relationship between Roderick and Madeline, with the narrator of the original story much less prominent here.
Poe's fascinating short story has been the source for many different movie versions, and Jean Epstein made a particularly good one in the same year as this feature. This Watson/Webber version, with its short length and its avant-garde approach, is hard to compare with the full-length versions. For what it tries to do, though, it works pretty well.
Technological innovation
Polaris_DiB6 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Watson's and Webber's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is not necessarily a film meant to be consumed as that particular form and medium, but actually a showcase of their technological experiments. At heart, it is a straight-forward German Expressionist film: stage quality is emphasized, enormous love of chiaroscuro, and both set design and costume is marked by sharp black and white contrast. The two add to the effect by dislocating the viewer through the use of split-screens, prisms, and elliptical editing, effects that were popular among experimentalists of the silent era, but which unfortunately did not find popular response enough to turn into a normal mode of representation today--which is unfortunate because it does fit well into the Gothic style of horror Edgar Allen Poe is most famous for, and because Watson and Webber were both involved with poetry and were basically making a quite poetic cinematic form. The best I can tell, cinepoems died soon after the coming of sound, once dialog helped reinforce the desire in most audiences to really understand characters and narrative plots and stylistic explorations became special effects. However, the fascination with the fragmentation of reality (even Gothicly or Romantically) persisted in underground film-making, eventually leading the way to the likes of Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage. And of course, it's still fascinating to watch today.
--PolarisDiB
--PolarisDiB
An Avant-Garde Take on Poe's Horror Story
springfieldrental17 May 2022
As experimental as Jean Epstein's version of "The Fall of the House of Usher" was, coincidentally in the same year a more avant-garde 13-minute presentation on the same Poe story was released. Produced by two friends from Harvard University, Melville Webber, an art historian, and James Watson, a medical doctor and magazine editor, the two non-filmmakers sat down to compose a visual tour-de-force short film. The pair's "The Fall of the House of Usher," contains no inter titles except a handful of floating words as the house begins to fall.
The Americans' "The Fall" compiles a number of sequences with prisms multiplying the distorted view of the house bordering on insanity. The Weber/Watson team used many German Expressionistic visuals to translate the Poe story. The set design contains many irregular shapes of the house similar to 1920's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Using an optical printer, they created a few visually-pleasing zig-zag effects. Watson's wife, Hildegarde, lent her services by playing Madeline Usher.
Webber and Watson's film is reflective of the independent short films produced by experimental amateurs in the 1920s and 1930s. Before film festivals, these movies were picked up by movie groups and shown in small venues such as church basements, public libraries and people's homes. The high quality of the American version of "The Fall," however, reflects the lofty standards these amateurs were capable of producing. The two went on to create three additional short films, most notably 1932's 'Lot in Sodom,' and a Bausch & Lomb industrial short, before they dove into making 3D motion picture x-rays.
The Americans' "The Fall" compiles a number of sequences with prisms multiplying the distorted view of the house bordering on insanity. The Weber/Watson team used many German Expressionistic visuals to translate the Poe story. The set design contains many irregular shapes of the house similar to 1920's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Using an optical printer, they created a few visually-pleasing zig-zag effects. Watson's wife, Hildegarde, lent her services by playing Madeline Usher.
Webber and Watson's film is reflective of the independent short films produced by experimental amateurs in the 1920s and 1930s. Before film festivals, these movies were picked up by movie groups and shown in small venues such as church basements, public libraries and people's homes. The high quality of the American version of "The Fall," however, reflects the lofty standards these amateurs were capable of producing. The two went on to create three additional short films, most notably 1932's 'Lot in Sodom,' and a Bausch & Lomb industrial short, before they dove into making 3D motion picture x-rays.
The Cabinet of Edgar Allen Poe
ackstasis12 September 2008
Considering the large number of early horror films that drew inspiration (however loosely) from the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, I'm left asking myself why I'm so inexperienced with the author's work. 'The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)' compresses Poe's 1839 short story into thirteen convoluted minutes, and I don't think I understood a moment of it. Beyond the inkling of a supposedly-dead sister coming back to life, the film made no clear sense to me, and I suspect that at least a vague knowledge of Poe would be useful prior to viewing. Nevertheless, my ignorance didn't prevent me from being entranced by every single second of James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber's avante-garde excursion into German Expressionism. Clearly drawing stylistic inspiration from Robert Weine's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920),' as well as the numerous artistically-similar pictures that emerged from Germany during the 1920s, 'The Fall of the House of Usher' is a superbly-spellbinding montage of creative photography, used to tell, without a single intertitle, a morbid tale of family terror.
The directors utilise every trick in the book (and some they made up themselves) to give their film the dreamy, deranged visual logic of a dream or, more accurately, a particularly nasty nightmare. The camera often tilts steeply and woozily to simulate the characters' mental disorientation a technique that Carol Reed would later use, to a lesser extent, in 'The Third Man (1949)' and much of the shooting took place through prisms that distorted and reproduced images. Slow motion, both forwards and backwards, all adds to the tone of a drug-induced haze, as ominous, fragmented phantoms tower overhead. The warped and exaggerated set design directly references 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' and, on more than one occasion, Melville Webber's Traveller appears to emulate Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) himself. Shadows and lighting are used wonderfully to complement the mood, another technique borrowed from German Expressionism, and the gnarled outlines of unseen figures on the wall emphasise the overstated photography and set design, further stressing the Gothic overtones of Poe's story.
The directors utilise every trick in the book (and some they made up themselves) to give their film the dreamy, deranged visual logic of a dream or, more accurately, a particularly nasty nightmare. The camera often tilts steeply and woozily to simulate the characters' mental disorientation a technique that Carol Reed would later use, to a lesser extent, in 'The Third Man (1949)' and much of the shooting took place through prisms that distorted and reproduced images. Slow motion, both forwards and backwards, all adds to the tone of a drug-induced haze, as ominous, fragmented phantoms tower overhead. The warped and exaggerated set design directly references 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' and, on more than one occasion, Melville Webber's Traveller appears to emulate Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) himself. Shadows and lighting are used wonderfully to complement the mood, another technique borrowed from German Expressionism, and the gnarled outlines of unseen figures on the wall emphasise the overstated photography and set design, further stressing the Gothic overtones of Poe's story.
This MIGHT be a great film for you to watch,...if this type film appeals to you
planktonrules28 October 2006
The film may be one you will enjoy, but this really is strongly dependent on the type of person you are. If you CAN allow yourself to see a strange Avant Garde-style film that is reminiscent of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, then you might just enjoy this film. Otherwise, it will probably be a very confusing film that only superficially seems like the Poe story. It's really all a matter of just "turning off your brain" and enjoying the strange imagery and bizarre camera-work. It IS very inventive and almost hypnotic at times and looks like a film I would expect to see being played in a gallery of modern art or in a strange little coffee house where everyone wears berets and listens to free-form jazz.
Weird Experiment
gavin694221 July 2011
A traveler arrives at the Usher mansion to find that the sibling inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher, are living under a mysterious family curse: Roderick's senses have become painfully acute, while Madeline has become nearly catatonic. As the visitor's stay at the mansion continues, the effects of the curse reach their terrifying climax.
This is a very odd film, and one that can quite correctly be called "Avant garde" or "experimental". Some rudimentary special effects were tested here, all of which had to be done in-camera. The camera itself is often off-kilter, giving a disorienting effect. We also have plenty of double exposures and what looks like kaleidoscope vision. The words "beat", "crack" and "scream" take on a life of their own.
Roderick is particularly creepy, and one wonders what influence -- if any -- this had on later versions of the Usher story. Today, the best known one is likely the Roger Corman and Vincent Price picture, but to compare that to this film would be difficult... even the most basic plot elements here are mysterious.
This film is also not to be confused with another film that came out the same year with the same name, starring Charles Lamy and Jean Debucourt. This other version had Luis Buñuel as Assistant Director, and is probably the better of the two.
This is a very odd film, and one that can quite correctly be called "Avant garde" or "experimental". Some rudimentary special effects were tested here, all of which had to be done in-camera. The camera itself is often off-kilter, giving a disorienting effect. We also have plenty of double exposures and what looks like kaleidoscope vision. The words "beat", "crack" and "scream" take on a life of their own.
Roderick is particularly creepy, and one wonders what influence -- if any -- this had on later versions of the Usher story. Today, the best known one is likely the Roger Corman and Vincent Price picture, but to compare that to this film would be difficult... even the most basic plot elements here are mysterious.
This film is also not to be confused with another film that came out the same year with the same name, starring Charles Lamy and Jean Debucourt. This other version had Luis Buñuel as Assistant Director, and is probably the better of the two.
surreal Poe
lee_eisenberg16 April 2019
One of the earliest adaptations of an Edgar Allan Poe story is a short, surreal take. "The Fall of the House of Usher" came out the same year as a French feature version of the story (I haven't seen the latter). It's a low-key spin, with no dialogue or defined plot. You have to be familiar with the original story to understand it. Not bad, but nothing special.
Not a fan really
Horst_In_Translation24 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a work by famous writer Edgar Allen Poe that involves some horror as do some of his other creative achievements. And while this one was used by filmmakers many times before, also very early as you see here, I must say I have never really been a fan of the story. So yeah, I am a bit biased here, also due to the fact that I don#t really like silent films most of the time, but I still believe this could have been a better watch. As with many other silent films, there is the problem of a lack of subtitles in a quantity that would help the audience at least in understanding the very basic plot. The ones to blame in this case are director James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. The cast members do their best I guess. This one is already almost 90 years old and it was chosen to be picked up for the National Film Registry back in 2000. I do not share the praise though and I do not think this American film here is a must-see by any means. Thumbs down, nothing stands out here.
great movie
bcomte13 January 2007
I just saw this extremely short movie by pure chance, and I did not even know that it had been made.Its aesthetics are completely surrealist and the film is a strange combination of dancing, theatrics and a very modern approach to stage decor. It reminded me a little of Metropolis by Fritz Lang. I believe it is a jewel and viewers who enjoy art should definitely see it. I do not think that you have to consider this film in terms of the original story, because Poe's story just inspired this art piece. It should be seen as an avantgarde experiment. It is difficult to believe it was made in 1928! It would certainly be interesting to get to see other films by this director.
Out of date in 1928!
paul131420 April 2003
As a devotee of vintage horror and silent era in particular this should have been meat and drink to me. With a feature being released at the same time, commercialism was not one of the movie's flaws, but the reduction of the Poe tale to a vignette of a little over 10 minutes is woeful.
WOW! I'd like to match this Magic!
greatwar4 November 2001
This is great film. Based on the Poe poem it uses lots of camera tricks to create a magic and surreal world. Beautiful black and white cinematography. This was amazingly an "amateur" film that was made by some very talented film enthusiasts. If you have ever made your own independent or "amateur" film, as I have, you will marvel and REALLY appreciate the effort and time put into this film. This is one of the handful of films I wish I could say that I made it! If you like the 1920s German expressionist films etc, you'll eat this one up.
Brilliant Art
Rainey-Dawn23 January 2016
An amazing short film from 1928. Simply brilliant. The cinematography is is artful - extremely, brilliantly artful. This Gothic short film will leave lasting images in the viewers mind.
The Poe's short story is told so elegantly well in this short silent film - it's something one has to actually see for yourself in order to appreciate it because no words can describe it.
This a masterpiece in short silent films. This is a film that fans of all (or most) Gothic horror stories, Edgar Allan Poe and of silent film buffs should see at least once in their lifetime. It is not disappointing.
10/10
The Poe's short story is told so elegantly well in this short silent film - it's something one has to actually see for yourself in order to appreciate it because no words can describe it.
This a masterpiece in short silent films. This is a film that fans of all (or most) Gothic horror stories, Edgar Allan Poe and of silent film buffs should see at least once in their lifetime. It is not disappointing.
10/10
Intriguing
andrewjkd1 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I must admit, I had never seen any version of an Edgar Allan Poe work. I had not taken as much interest in the subject at school, when we read "The Black Cat", "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Fall of the House of Usher". Each was eerie and haunting in its own way. But I never payed much interest in the creepy Poe-like stories. Then I stumbled on this film version when I was on the Internet. It was available via Google Video, and, as I had nothing else to do, I spent 15 minutes watching it. And I was very impressed. The film captures the very essence of all Poe's work. His theme of insanity is excellently illustrated. Live burial, a signature Poe plot line, is illustrated also.
The film takes into account the original story, but makes it its own. A few minor points of interest were changed. Main character Roderick Usher, lives in the frightening house with his wife Madeline. This was changed from the original story, as in the original story Roderick and Madeline were brother and sister. In the original story, Roderick was portrayed as a raving madman, while in this film Roderick more or less trapped by his fears as opposed to insanity. Madeline is a very convincing, creepy character in her own right.
The special effects, very impressive for the time period, pervert the main point of interest enough to brace yourself and keep you guessing. Various scenes are perverted in dimension and angle for added horror and intrigue. Most of the movie features the plot line in the center, with either a never-ending staircase or tall pile of books on either side. The musical playing in the background was skillfully composed and performed. It has an eerie, haunting tone.
This film is a not-miss for anyone who enjoys horror films, and Poe in general.
The film takes into account the original story, but makes it its own. A few minor points of interest were changed. Main character Roderick Usher, lives in the frightening house with his wife Madeline. This was changed from the original story, as in the original story Roderick and Madeline were brother and sister. In the original story, Roderick was portrayed as a raving madman, while in this film Roderick more or less trapped by his fears as opposed to insanity. Madeline is a very convincing, creepy character in her own right.
The special effects, very impressive for the time period, pervert the main point of interest enough to brace yourself and keep you guessing. Various scenes are perverted in dimension and angle for added horror and intrigue. Most of the movie features the plot line in the center, with either a never-ending staircase or tall pile of books on either side. The musical playing in the background was skillfully composed and performed. It has an eerie, haunting tone.
This film is a not-miss for anyone who enjoys horror films, and Poe in general.
Wonderful Condensation
culliton22 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This film is a wonderful impressionistic condensation of the major themes of Poe's story. I have used it in class (11th grade), and many students have been enthralled and entrances (a difficult result to produce from teens for from a silent film)!
Although the costuming and much of the general appearance is seemingly Art-Deco, the film retains many of the important elements of the story. It seems to portray the interpretation that Roderick poisoned Madeline, as one of may possible interpretations of the story. Because it is so impressionistic it -- like Poe's original story-- contains many levels of meaning and lends itself to many interpretations.
Although the costuming and much of the general appearance is seemingly Art-Deco, the film retains many of the important elements of the story. It seems to portray the interpretation that Roderick poisoned Madeline, as one of may possible interpretations of the story. Because it is so impressionistic it -- like Poe's original story-- contains many levels of meaning and lends itself to many interpretations.
Early Art
Michael_Elliott28 February 2008
Fall of the House of Usher, The (1928)
*** (out of 4)
While this thing is missing the wonderful Vincent Price performance it does manage to outshine the Corman film with its use of brilliant visual effects, which are quite remarkable considering when this was made. The infamous Poe tale is retold in this short, which uses various visual effects to get the horror across. Those into weird cinema will certainly want to check this film out, which manages to have a couple creepy spots
Certainly worth checking out.
*** (out of 4)
While this thing is missing the wonderful Vincent Price performance it does manage to outshine the Corman film with its use of brilliant visual effects, which are quite remarkable considering when this was made. The infamous Poe tale is retold in this short, which uses various visual effects to get the horror across. Those into weird cinema will certainly want to check this film out, which manages to have a couple creepy spots
Certainly worth checking out.
Point vanguard
Apostic4 November 2001
This example of cinema is composed as avant garde expressionism. It uses various prism shots, multiple exposures, slow motion (forward and reverse), and inventive uses of sets and miniatures. Creative and experimental, it's a showcase for the filmmakers. However, this is to story telling what ballet is to story telling; you'd have to have some familiarity with the original to make sense of the action. Not meant for human consumption. There's a fine line between "artistic" and "arty," and like most ultimately pointless examples of avant garde, this carefully crafted work is pretentious enough for easy derision by the common observer.
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