The Tell-Tale Heart

1971
27m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

YOUR RATING

Drama Horror Short Thriller

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See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

YOUR RATING

2User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Featured reviews

9Hitchcoc

This is certainly one of the most recognizable short stories of all time. Poe was entranced with the idea of burying bodies hidden from view. The Black Cat had the wife within a wall. The Premature Burial goes without saying. The Cask of Amontillado has a man holed up behind a brick barrier. Here, we have a man who claims he is not mad. He is the caretaker of an old man, played by Sam Jaffe. The narrator bathes, feeds, assists him. He says he loves him. But the old fellow had an "evil" eye that distressed the young man. He felt he had to kill him. And he does. The film is stark and relies on no dialogue, only a narration. I've used this film for my English students and they are always captivated.

CHARLIE-89

Good adaptation of the Poe story

This is a good adaptation of the Poe story because it does not rely on big budget techniques. It is a short, black and white film, and the only performer of any name in the film is the excellent Sam Jaffe, best known for his roles in GUNGA DIN and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE. It is extremely suspenseful and is arguably the best film version of the story ever done. It also contains an excellent and appropriate musical score by the brilliant Elmer Bernstein, whose works range from comedies such as ANIMAL HOUSE, AIRPLANE! and WILD WILD WEST, to such incredible films as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and THE GREAT ESCAPE.

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Storyline

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Quotes
[first lines]
The Murderer: [narrating] I feel I must unburden my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly and without comment all the events. And their consequences have terrified, have tortured, have destroyed my whole being. My original soul seemed to take flight from my body. A sense of insufferable misery pervaded my soul. True, nervous - very dreadfully nervous I had been. But why will you say I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. I heard all things in the heaven and on the earth. I heard many things in hell. Why then am I mad? Observe how healthfully, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. I was never kinder to the old man then the whole week before I killed him.