Lady Usher (2020) User Reviews

Predictable and definitely not Gothic!

[dirrrectionerrrxd · 1/10 · 24 September 2021]

When I read the description of the film, I immediately wanted to watch it, "gothic", "creepy" and based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, sounds amazing, right? Wrong! Watching the film was pure torture for me, the way it was shot was bad, the vision is there, I get what the film maker was trying to do but it was very poorly executed. I've seen better cinematography in some no budget B list horror films, but since that is only my personal preference I won't focus on that.

The characters were poorly written and undeveloped, which made me hate every single one of them. Chemistry between the main character and her boyfriend is basically non existent which made it so painful to watch, it felt like the actors were threatened at gun point to film most scenes. I have better chemistry with a bottle opener. The twist at the end was expected so I wasn't surprised about that.

Even tough I didn't like the characters, the script or the cinematography the thing that bothered me the most was their portrayal of gothic clothing, architecture and behavior. The costumes looked like cheap items from the Halloween store, even the color shades were completely off. It just looked so bad and cheap, I can only say that I ordered higher quality items on AliExpress. It felt like whoever was in charge of that googled "Gothic" and read the wikiHow article. Printing out a stock picture of a raven is not gothic and sadly that was the most gothic part out if it all.

I've seen a lot of films in my life, both good and bad, intentional or not, I love watching independent films but this one was just bad, I know many films that are also independent but they deserve an 11/10, this one on the other hand deserves just the 1.

And that is why you leave a classic tale alone...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 30 September 2021]

Well, the "The Fall of the House of Usher" from Edgar Allan Poe certainly is a classic, so I must admit that I was expecting something in terms of a properly entertaining movie when I sat down to watch "Lady Usher" from writer and director George Adams.

However, I found myself to be in for some less than mediocre movie, truth be told. I made it a little bit more than half way through, then I just couldn't take it anymore. Why? Well, because the storyline told here was rather mundane and devoid of anything particularly thrilling or interesting. And a modern take on Poe's classic tale wasn't really such a great idea as it turned out.

The storyline here was just too boring and slow paced, and it was made even more unbearable with the fact that nothing interesting or exciting happened, well, unless you consider people sitting around and talking to be interesting, then by all means go to town.

The acting in the movie was every bit as bland and subpar as the storyline. However, I don't think that the performances of the actors and actresses were to blame, but it was the fact that the performers virtually had nothing solid or workable to make use of, and that showed on the screen.

And it didn't really help the movie much in any way that the character gallery had about as much luster and appeal as white wall paint.

"Lady Usher" was a swing and a miss from writer and director George Adams, and this is certainly not a movie I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on. And if you are a fan of the classic Edgar Allan Poe tale, then savor the classic and skip on this one entirely.

My rating of "Lady Usher" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Another low budget piece of garbage

[rodrigoalderete · 1/10 · 12 December 2021]

I see this movie because the poster is great but....

I couldn´t finish to watch is too slow and too boring.

The acting is terrible, and the production is very mediocre.

Next time i will watch the trailer before.

Amazing 👏

[djraych · 10/10 · 24 September 2021]

I absolutely loved this movie. The actors were incredible and I thought it was shot quite well.

Don't understand the low ratings

[diane_berger · 7/10 · 15 September 2021]

I have seen way worse movies with better scores, so I really don't understand the extremely low score of this one that, to me, is a pretty solid independent movie, with a twist of originality and creativity that needs to be taken into consideration. It may not be Oscar material (anyway it's not a high budget superproduction to be taken into account there), but it's not as bad as its score, definitely. Try to give it a chance and watch it, without prejudice.

Fun Surprise

[Ed_GS · 10/10 · 1 October 2021]

I've read the other reviews and I think people are taking this movie too seriously. The synopsis says "based" on the Poe short, and it's got a female twist so right away, I knew not to expect a true adaptation of the famous Poe short.

Any low budget indie film has some flaws, but these filmmakers do a decent job with some twists. It isn't a horror or a thriller, there's no gore or even any jump scares but it was suspenseful and weird.

I think this was a tongue-in-cheek nod to budget or genre filmmaking. The costumes are over the top and there's a goat head on the dinner table. I read the trivia, there's no mention of David Lynch or Elephant Man, but the brother is eating creamed corn (Twin Peaks) at the dinner table and wears a mask with one eye opening. If the director reads this, please let me know if this is a nod to David Lynch cuz he looks like the Elephant Man drinking from a sippy cup. My wife and I laughed when I pointed it out.

There are some movie references throughout and if you follow the clues, the end isn't a surprise. Frankly the filmmakers point you in that direction so I don't think it was supposed to be some huge reveal. There's definitely a "holy crap, is he going to do it?" moment and the director (or editor) took it right to the edge.

The lead actor who plays Lady Usher was given some accolades in some of the critical reviews online and I think she does deliver. She's cold and downright mean. Not a mother I'd want to subject my wife to. The others are decent enough in their roles. And if you read the credits, one of the actors played two parts. The camera emphasized his eyes in both roles. Another indicator to me that the filmmakers were having some fun making the movie.

The movie won some awards, so obviously judges at film festivals liked it. I'm giving this a ten. We had fun watching it and even though it may have been a slow burn, it works for this genre.