- Director: Roger Corman
- Writers: Richard Matheson
- Stars: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes
- Link: https://amzn.to/3xJMh5A
Synopsis
Phillip rides his horse to the huge, neglected old house on the moors. It’s all very gothic and dark, but he ties up his horse and knocks on the door. He asks the butler to see Miss Usher. The butler has orders from Roderick Usher not to allow anyone in but when Phillip says he’s Madeline Usher’s fiancée, he relents.
Before he can see Roderick, the butler instructs Phillip to take his boots off. The butler gives him slippers. Roderick’s not happy to see Phillip, but agrees to talk. Roderick’s senses are overloaded, especially his hearing, which is why Phillip had to remove his shoes. Roderick explains that Madeline is confined to her bed. As they argue, Madeline comes in and insists that Phillip be allowed to stay with them.
Roderick explains to Phillip that he can’t marry Madeline because “The Usher line is tainted. We’re dying, Mr. Winthrop.” There’s some genetic problem with the family, and Roderick is sure they are both dying. A large portion of his family has gone mad from the heightening of the senses. Roderick warns Phillip to leave, but Phillip refuses.
That night, there’s a small earthquake; or maybe it’s just the building itself. Phillip narrowly avoids getting crushed by a falling chandelier. The house has serious structural problems. Roderick seems very overprotective of his sister, but she doesn’t really seem that sickly.
Roderick tries to persuade Madeline to stay with him, while Phillip tries to convince her to run away with him back to Boston. That night, Phillip goes exploring in the rotting old house. He finds Madeline sleeping in the chapel; she walks in her sleep. Phillip gets some answers from Bristol the butler.
Madeline also tells Phillip that she’s going to die soon. She leads him into the family tombs down in the basement. She’s literally got a coffin down there with her name on it, right next to her brother’s coffin. “It waits for me,” explains Madeline. One of her dead relatives nearly falls on Phillip.
Roderick explains how the land nearby had become cursed and died. Nothing can grow here, and the house is dying as well. “A plague of evil,” he explains about the family history. He then shows some very cool paintings of all his depraved relatives.
Phillip thinks there’s nothing wrong that leaving the house won’t cure, and Madeline finally agrees to leave with him, today. They start to pack their things. Madeline and Roderick argue, and she winds up dead; her heart couldn’t stand the strain.
They have a simple funeral and carry her down to the family crypt. As they head upstairs, we hear Madeline breathing, and then she lets out a scream.
Bristol mentions that the Usher people have been prone to catalepsy, which sets off Phillip to go and re-examine the body. He goes down to the tomb and finds the biggest padlock ever made is sealing the coffin shut. He breaks it open to find her body is gone. Roderick says she’s in a secret place. “You buried her alive! I did, but she’s dead now,” Explains Roderick.
That night, Phillip has a dream about all the dead Usher family members, including Roderick and Madeline. Phillip confronts Roderick, and he starts to think that Madeline may still be alive in her coffin somewhere. He rushes back down to the crypt, and they find the place trashed. “She has the madness,” states Roderick. They all split up to find where she’s gone.
Phillip finds Madeline, and she attacks him. Bristol comes in and says the house is getting ready to collapse at any moment. Finally, Madeline confronts Roderick; she strangles him just as the house catches fire. Bristol drags Phillip outside as the whole building is engulfed in flames and the two Ushers burn. The next morning, we see what’s left of the house sink into the swamp…
Commentary
The cast is only four people, and they all do a good job with the limited action of the story. Bristol the butler was made-up to look older than the actor, and it wasn’t a great job.
They did make some changes to the original Poe story; Here, Phillip is Madeline’s friend, not Roderick’s as in the original story. This allows for a lot more conflict between the two men. Later on, Roderick buries Madeline on purpose here, unlike in the story.
The house set is perfect for the film. Huge, old, and creepy, but maybe a little too solid to really show how much the place is supposed to be falling down.
Unlike the later Roger Corman/Vincent Price collaborations, there’s really no humor here at all. They played the whole thing straight, and it’s all very melodramatic. It’s good, but not great.