So I just recently found out about this show, and my Polish heart just started beating a bit louder from excitement. Wow! A horror anthology series, made in Poland, based on famous stories by famous writers, with every episode introduced by Christopher Lee..? And it was made waaaay back in the 70's when Poland was under communist regime - and it somehow got made in cooperation with the "dirty Westerners"?? And it actually aired in UK but not in Poland, and was kinda forgotten for like 50 years..??? It sounded too good to be true!

And, well... it is TRUE, but is it GOOD..? That's debatable.

Like I said, it's an anthology of short stories, each episode being around 25-30 minutes long. It's based on solid, classic material. However... well, it was made in Poland in the 70's - and it shows. Especially in this here episode.

I checked out the other episodes quickly, but was eager to watch this one because it's one of my favorite E. A. Poe's stories. Other episodes seem to have some production values present, but this one is definitely a classic "bottle episode" in nature. It's partially by design - after all, the original story takes place basically in two rooms and a corridor. However the execution shows signs of cutting costs.

There is barely any camera movement in every scene. There are long takes that hold on seemingly just to get the running time to these obligatory 25 minutes. Lots of action is presented by narration - which is somewhat odd, as the events ARE simultaneously being shown on the screen. The set dressing and the set itself is REALLY weird: they found the most unusual of places, with a ceiling barely a few centimeters above everyone's heads. If anyone jumped they'd knock themselves out.

But the worst thing is the finale of the story. It should be ramping up the tension, lead to a dramatic conclusion - but it's so flat and... empty! You should all know the plot - I won't spoil the details for those who don't but let's just say that the whole finishing scene lasts for 5 minutes and is presented as one long take without a single cut or even moving the camera. Well, unless you count a few pans from left to right.

So, yeah. Sadly, a very disappointing episode. What made it worse was that I couldn't find the episode in the original language version, it's dubbed in English making it even more uncanny. So i can't really even judge the performances - except the dub, which sounds like it was made in Poland, too, and not by any actor speaking English natively.

Well, I hope the other episodes turn out better. Such a shame, as it is one of my favorite stories of all time...

You can totally skip it. There are far better versions of this story on YouTube, made in beautiful animated styles and telling the whole thing in 5 to 10 minutes.