“But, Gabriel, you handsome fool,” you’re muttering, “Why didn’t you rank the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe in October? Halloween. The month in which Poe himself died under mysterious, possibly nefarious circumstances?”
It’s true. That would have worked fine, but I also think the melancholy and atmosphere of dread and fear soaked into various forms of claustrophobia that is inherent in Poe’s work is also a nice fit for the dreary month of November that many of us find distraction from by pretending to give a single shit about Thanksgiving.
There’s something about the later weeks and days of autumn that lends itself very well to Poe, and by extension the remarkable, enduring cycle of films Roger Corman began in 1960 for an astonishing four-year creative period. It was here that Corman would do his very best work as a director, collaborating often with Vincent Price to bring and sometimes very loosely interpret the works of Edgar Allan Poe for movie audiences. Known as the Corman Poe Cycle, the films feature relatively high budgets for Corman productions, beautiful sets with lavish production design and costuming, and some of the absolute kings of the horror genre. Every last one of the 8 movies that are considered part of the Corman Poe Cycle has some measure of entertainment. There isn’t a truly bad one in the bunch.
However, there are definitely films in this collection that are markedly better than others. So, just in case you want to extend your spooky vibes past October, let’s rank the entire Poe Corman Cycle with the assumption that you’ve seen them. That way, we won’t be here forever, because it’s very easy to start babbling about these beautiful films and never, ever stop.
8. Tomb of Ligeia
Director: Roger Corman
With a script by the recently-departed Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne, and a cast that includes Vincent Price and the fantastic Elizabeth Shepherd, I want Tomb of Ligeia to work better than it ultimately does. Most of the elements that make up this adaptation of a Poe short story that can be found throughout the Poe Cycle are in The Tomb of Ligeia. So, what’s the problem, man?
There really isn’t one. The worst you can say about this story of a guy whose dead wife may or may not be haunting his new marriage is that the casting of Vincent Price doesn’t quite work, and the pacing suffers from a story that feels stretched too thin. These qualities don’t make Tomb of Ligeia unwatchable by any means, but when we compare these flaws to the rest of the Poe Cycle, they become a little more glaring. Price is simply too old for a character who needs to be in his early-to-mid 20s. It’s impossible to completely ignore, and it’s a difficult character for someone of Price’s unique style to pull off at noticeable times. The story can’t help but spin its wheels for long stretches where very little seems to be actually happening. Ligeia is not a long short story, and the script at times struggles to fill that space with anything interesting.
Tomb of Ligeia is still well worth watching. You still have engaging performances, great sets and costumes, and a very strong ending. However, unless you feel a particular draw to the story, maybe set this one aside until you’ve seen some of the others.
In the meantime, here’s a video of Elizabeth Shepherd, still alive at time of writing, and reading the entire Poe short story at a convention in 2021.
7. The Haunted Palace (1963)
Director: Roger Corman
I don’t particularly give a shit that one of the movies in Corman’s Poe Cycle is in fact based on a short story by genre architect and noted enthusiastic racist H.P. Lovecraft. What I do find deeply funny for whatever reason is the fact that Corman’s justification for making this movie part of his Poe films exists in the form a snippet of the Edgar Allan Poe poem from which the film draws its name.
Yeah, that’s literally it. And you know what? That’s fine. From the director who made an entire movie out of some leftover sets from The Raven and a tiny window of time in which he still had Boris Karloff under contract, The Haunted Palace makes perfect sense. It’s also a fairly enjoyable, if somewhat muted, adaptation of that Lovecraft short story. Vincent Price is a lot of fun here, nailing not only the 18th century warlock whose ghost haunts the halls of his sprawling mansion home, but the great-great grandson who inherits the place.
Watching Vincent Price shift back and forth between two very different characters is what makes The Haunted Palace special on its own terms. The potent atmosphere of mystery and horror also doesn’t hurt this movie’s ability to be a good time.
6. Tales of Terror (1962)
Director: Roger Corman
If you enjoyed Vincent Price playing multiple characters in The Haunted Palace, I have some great news for you in the form of Tales of Terror. You can see Corman absolutely tearing through the library of Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration, and while that was most certainly driven by a fondness for sweet, sweet cash, there’s also a genuine enthusiasm and appreciation for the works that inspired Tales of Terror and the others.
Three segments make up this anthology horror movie, and it’s that old problem of most anthology horror movies having at least one noticeably weaker segment that keeps this wildly entertaining array of fever dreams from ranking a bit higher. “Morella” might be the strongest of the lot, with a fast-paced, hellish descent into ghosts and mayhem. “The Black Cat” captures the extremely anxiety and tension of the original short story, and nicely combines elements of that short story with “The Cask of Amontillado.” Only “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” feels a little incomplete, and as the movie’s final story, it drags everything down just a little bit.
Price also narrates the entire movie, and it’s kind of amazing that this guy never overstays his welcome. His presence as our storyteller, combined with appearing in all three stories, makes Tales of Terror if nothing else an amazing tour of Price’s genre talents, alongside equally legendary names like Basil Rathbone and Peter Lorre.
5. The Premature Burial (1962)
Director: Roger Corman
The only film in the Poe Cycle to not feature Vincent Price, Premature Burial often suffers in reviews for that fact alone. While I do agree that Price missing from the proceedings is a shame, and a noticeable one at that, I also think this is a very well-acted, disconcerting adaptation of one of Edgar Allan Poe’s longer short stories.
Oscar winner Ray Milland may not be Vincent Price, but in this story of a British aristocrat whose fear of being buried alive begins to seriously impact his life and mental state, Milland is as good as it gets for playing Guy Carrell as man being pushed helplessly and ever closer to the edge. His performance may not have the theatricality of a Vincent Price, but his work here is nevertheless as empathizing as it is frightening, particularly when The Premature Burial hits a spectacular conclusion.
The Premature Burial also benefits from the great Hazel Court, who we’ll be seeing again soon in the Poe Cycle, and who is perhaps best remembered for being a vital part of Hammer Studios’ success. Good casting and tension make The Premature Burial for me a much better movie than it often gets credit for being.
4. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Director: Roger Corman
We’ve now hit the point in which every movie is from start to finish and top to bottom an absolute genre masterpiece. These four films represent not only Roger Corman’s very best work as a director, but also some of the best performances in the careers of not only Vincent Price, but names like Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff. That’s a hell of a set up for this extraordinary adaptation of Poe’s short story of the same name, and it’s really not enough.
From its beautiful, striking set designs, to a masterful and frightening performance by Vincent Price, everything in this story of a prince who tries to hide away from the world during the plague with a lavish, nonstop party is an example of how to adapt a classic of horror literature for the big screen.
I think those lessons can still be found today in the remarkable economy of The Masque of the Red Death using every trick and camera angle in the book to create something that even today maintains a sense of grandeur. And when you combine that grandeur with the abject horror awaiting Prince Prospero and his guests, you have a legitimate horror movie masterpiece.
3. The Raven (1963)
Director: Roger Corman
The Raven generally doesn’t seem to rank this high among fans of the Poe Cycle. I’m a sucker for goofy comedies when the casting is absolutely perfect, along with a good script, and that’s very much the case for me with The Raven. Having very, very, very little to do with Poe’s most famous poem doesn’t bother me. I just can’t imagine caring about that part.
Nor does it bother me that this movie mostly exists as a vehicle for its cast to be as silly as possible. There’s not much of a plot here, with feuding magicians, a dead wife who may not be dead after all (Hazel Court, wonderful as always), and Peter Lorre’s highly unique comedic delivery. As good as he was at playing the creep, The Raven shows a side of him that I wish we had seen more often.
It’s also a high mark for Boris Karloff near the end of a long, singular career spent mostly in horror. His timing and delivery hadn’t lost much by this point, and it’s a thrill entirely on its own to simply see him bantering with Peter Loree and a ridiculously likable, unusual performance from Vincent Price. There’s also something to be said for watching this, seeing Jack Nicholson in an early role, and realizing a career that began with Boris Karloff and ended with Paul Rudd covers an extraordinary expanse of film history.
It also happens that the script itself by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson is clever and character driven. There’s an infectious sense of fun here that’s too powerful and satisfying for me to ignore. This has always been something of a sentimental favorite, but I also sincerely believe The Raven is a good comedy.
2. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Director: Roger Corman
One of the best horror movies ever made, The Pit and the Pendulum is a great place to start someone on the Poe Cycle. It has about as much to do with Edgar Allan Poe’s short story as Gone with the Wind. Which is to say this is a very loose interpretation of the source material. You should at least expect the titular pit with matching pendulum, but don’t ask for too much more than that.
Once again, it’s fine that this movie effectively writes an original story that retains just enough of The Pit and the Pendulum to justify the title. Some would say it doesn’t, but even those people will tell you that Vincent Price’s performance as the doomed Nicholas Medina is one of the man’s best. Moving effortlessly from sympathetic to pure malevolent madness, Price creates a character who drives a surprisingly powerful emotional element through this straightforward gothic horror movie. Some people appreciate Price for his campiness, and that’s fair, but The Pit and the Pendulum is among the many performances where he also proved he could give a rounded, affecting performance.
The Pit and the Pendulum is soaked in atmosphere, delivers a truly tense conclusion with the pit and the pendulum itself, and also makes the most of Barbara Steele in one of her best. With ample production design by longtime Corman collaborator Daniel Haller, and cinematography by the underrated Floyd Crosby, The Pit and the Pendulum is everything you could ever want from a gothic horror movie.
1. House of Usher (1960)
Director: Roger Corman
House of Usher was the first and for many still the best of the Poe Cycle. It’s hard to argue with that when you line them all up as we’ve done, with Roger Corman’s definitive masterpiece as a director being the best of a group of movies that are all at least good. At least have of them can rank with any horror films anywhere. For this Edgar Allan Poe story of mortality and the fear of the unknown to be my favorite of the entire cycle says a lot about how much I love watching this film at least once a year.
House of Usher tells the story of a young man named Phillip Winthrop (Mark Damon) and his desperate bid to rescue his fiancé Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey) from the grip of her unhinged, haunted brother Roderick (Vincent Price), aided only by a lone butler Bristol (Harry Ellerbe). Roderick believes the family bloodline is cursed, and that this even extends to the house itself. How the movie brings this to fruition is nothing short of breathtaking and made all the more impressive by the fact that House of Usher was made for around $300,000.
A decent budget for its time, and an astronomical amount from a director who also made Little Shop of Horrors. Every penny seems to be up on the screen, with a reported $100,000 of that budget going to Price directly. He was worth every dollar, delivering another stunning horror movie performance that anchors a sweeping gothic supernatural drama with beautiful attention paid to the grim details. The house itself is a particularly fascinating force of evil, and the way House of Usher works that into the rest of this nightmare is nothing short of perfection. This is a must-watch for gothic horror fans, or anyone who wants to see one of horror’s best at the height of his once-in-a-lifetime powers.
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