An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe

I'm not just a fan of Vincent Price's films, I really love him! In my humble opinion Vincent Price must have been one of the most fascinating people who ever walked the earth and one of my biggest wishes would be to have known him in person. When I was ten years old I first saw him on the big screen in "Edward Scissorhands" but I was too young to realize who he was. A few years later I watched "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" – arguably his most iconic role and performance – for the first time and I got hooked on his persona forevermore. The horror genre brought forward many legendary actors (Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing…) but there's only ONE Vincent Price! His bravura, his charisma, his grimaces and most of all – of course – his voice… This man was unique and I treasure each and every single one of his horror movies. He's also the only person in cinematic history that actually could have made the concept of "An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe" work! One and the same person narrating four (gothic) horror stories in front of a camera? Even with other acclaimed narrators/actors, like for example Morgan Freeman or Leonard Nimoy or James Earl Jones, this inevitably would have become tedious and monotonous. But not with Price. He is single-handedly responsible for making this movie almost as captivating and intense as a real action/horror movie. Two of the stories are very familiar to probably all fans of horror literature, namely "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Pit and the Pendulum". But although familiar and previously seen in other films, they still remain my favorite segments and particularly "The Tell-Tale Heart" because it provides our narrator with the ideal opportunity to go 100% mentally berserk during its climax! "The Sphinx" is only a very short interlude, but definitely sweet. The third tale is called "The Cask of Amontillado" and turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. It's a beautifully sinister and atmospheric tale thriving on vintage E. A. Poe themes like vengeance and immurement (being walled in alive). Highlight of this segment is a fierce dialog between two rivaling friends, brought by Vincent Price all alone. Magnificent decors and costumes too, by the way.

Vincent Price and American International does it again! This is wonderful! Absolutely wonderful. Thank God MGM has released all of these great old films on DVD. I got this one on a double feature DVD with the Tomb of Ligeia.I was engrossed. Vincent Price is mesmerising. He really shows off his chops here. This man was amazing. I wish there were more actors like him. What a great man. What a great performance. If this had been released in theaters, he would have won an Oscar. American International films may be laughable now, but they sure did revive the careers of some of the greats, and gave careers to truly talented youngsters. They had a niche in both markets! Thank God for Vincent, AI, and Independent Cinema!

Vincent Price reads Edgar Allan Poe. Sounds very boring right - you may imagine Price dressed nicely in a chair, maybe with a fireplace at his side, reading a book to us in his acting voice - that is what I imagined anyway. Well rest assured that it's not at all what you would think nor exactly what I thought it would be.

Basically Price is dressed for and sorta acts out each part/role while he tells us (not reads to us) each tell. Since the tales are written in first person (you know "I") it's a if you asked the character "tell me in detail what exactly happened" and each of the characters (played by Price) tells us what we wanted to know - what happened?!

What I am saying is: This is NOT Price giving us a sit and read - this is Price acting out each role. In all honesty - I think Poe himself would have really enjoyed this "reading" of his tales.

8.5/10

I just saw this tonight on AMC (American Movie Classics) Vincent Price, I just couldn't take my eyes off him. He really is a GREAT actor. Edgar Allen Poe's stories that are used here are such cliff-hangers!! I've never read anything of his in print. There are other films with Price doing Poe's works, I've seen one or two of those and they are fine. But this has to be the best of those.

Kenneth Johnson(Creator of "The Incredible Hulk" & "V") directed this verbal adaptation of four Edgar Allan Poe stories. Vincent Price reads all four tales and plays out the roles in dramatic and professional fashion, making the viewer forget that he is on a stage, and pulling you into the skill and terror of the original stories, told in their entirety.

'The Sphinx', 'The Cask Of Amontillado', 'The Tell-Tale Heart' & "Pit and the Pendulum' are all good choices, and Price had previously played in Roger Corman directed versions of two of them.

At about an hour, this is a fun view/listen any time of year, but especially at Halloween, or a rainy day!