There have been many attempts at adapting the iconic work of Edgar Allan Poe over the years ranging from the early 20^th century right up to the recent Netflix’s limited series which was a modernisation of The Fall of the House of Usher. It seems Poe has never gone out of style when it comes to adapting his work. Although the quality of the finished product ranges wildly from inspired (think The Simpsons’ version of The Raven) to absolute trite, there are honestly too many to name. IMDb has listed close to a whopping 500 adaptations of Poe’s work since the beginning of cinema. I’ll let you do the maths on how many of these are actually decent. 

King of the schlock, Roger Corman tried his hand at one of the many adaptations of The Fall of the House of Usher in 1960. While one may be a bit cautious thinking of a director like Corman directing some of Poe’s work, the camp elements Corman brings to the material actually work in favour of the film. Corman rose to fame as the director of much schlockier pictures than House of Usher with overly dramatic B-movies. Although here the marriage of camp and the gothic works perfectly. Philip Winthrop arrives at the Usher family home in hopes of seeing his fiancée, Madeline. This is met with instant opposition from Madeline’s brother, Roderick. Roderick is attempting to send Philip away from the manor as he believes the family line, and indeed the mansion, are cursed. Roderick claims the family line up until now has succumbed to the madness in the family line and the two remaining members are living in a dilapidated mansion in hopes of the curse ending with them. 

Roderick is played by the iconic Vincent Price in a performance difficult to overstate how camp it is. Price chews the scenery of every scene he’s in, the mix of the camp performance with gothic storyline blends perfectly showing Corman’s sensibilities are very well suited to the material. Price is best known for his many contributions to the horror genre, such as House of Wax and The Fly. Price’s name has long since become a mark of quality for the genre.

Is there any truth to what Roderick claims about the family? Are they as cursed as he says, or is it all in his head? Corman lets the viewer know early on that there are some ghostly goings on in the House of Usher, and it works all the better for the film. The eery remote setting for the house is everything you could imagine for a classic horror film. Roderick believes the family curse has even had an effect on the house, causing the land nearby to become a wasteland. The house is just old enough that any bumps in the night could be played off as just the house, but obviously the problem is more than just the house. The house in a horror film has become part of the iconography of horror and serves as some of the most memorable aspects of their respective films; think Amityville Horror, The Haunting or The Others. The house in Corman’s film joins the list of horror film houses that can make your blood run cold at first sight. 

As the film goes on, one realises that Roderick may, in fact, be right about the curse which has afflicted his family for generations. That also means that he has succumbed to a madness that is all consuming and one he intends to end the family line with. Corman’s film deals with interesting themes of sibling relationships but also generational trauma.. This is something that has gone from generation to generation without an attempt to stop it until now. Perfectly captured in the performances of Price as Roderick but also Myrna Fahey as Madeline. You can see he has so clearly given into this idea of the cursed family and has become demented by it, while Madeline is so clearly fearful of it and becoming just like what has come before her. 

Roger Corman’s The Fall of the House of Usher sits comfortably in the upper echelon of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. This is achieved by leaning into the b-movie tendencies Corman had in allowing Vincent Price’s towering campy performance while also allowing for some genuine scares, something most Poe adaptations fail to achieve. What Corman allows for that is often missing from the gothic subgenre of horror is fun. Corman’s film doesn’t take itself too seriously and is all the better for it. Often film adaptations of Poe’s work get bogged down with a self-seriousness that can get boring fast. What Corman has crafted is one of the finest horror films of the 1960s.