Having admitted to not having seen the entire Roger Corman Poe cycle, I figured I’d better get to work. I had two movies left to watch and I found Tales of Terror for free on a commercial television streaming service. As the title indicates, it is an anthology film, bringing together four of Poe’s stories in a three-featurette format. At the same time, I am trying to catch up on Poe tales that I’ve never read. More on that to come. Tales of Terror begins with “Morella,” one of those stories I’ve not read. There is a danger, of course, in watching a movie first since Corman loved to sensationalize. I’ll need to wait until I find the time to read “Morella” to know just how much invention there is. The movie version is an undeserved revenge from beyond the grave story. Of course it stars Vincent Price.
Although “The Black Cat” gives Price top billing, the story focuses on Peter Lorre’s character, Montresor, borrowed from “The Cask of Amontillado,” with which it’s interlaced (The Cat of Amontillado?). Montresor is an alcoholic who hates both his wife and cat. Taking his wife’s money to buy alcohol (something I personally witnessed as a child), he eventually stumbles into a wine tasting convention where he meets Fortunato (Price). When Fortunato begins an affair with Montresor’s wife it becomes an excuse to wall them both up in the basement. Lorre plays his Poe characters funny and that makes this segment more a comedy. Also, there’s a black cat. The last featurette, “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” also stars Basil Rathbone. I haven’t read this story either, so I’m not sure of its fidelity to Poe. Yet.
The “Poe Cycle” was part of American International Pictures (AIP’s) collaboration with Corman. Most of the movies were produced quickly and cheaply, although Richard Matheson did write the script for this anthology. Of course, I hope I haven’t spoiled the two Poe stories I hadn’t read. I do own an anthology of all of Poe’s fiction, and sometimes it takes movies to make me remove the ponderous tome from my shelf. (Yes, I’m aware that Poe’s tales are also available for free online, but Poe deserves to be read from an actual book.) As I’ve mentioned before, I never kept a record of the movies I saw, particularly on television, as a child. Since the Poe Cycle was still being shown in theaters for part of my youth, I likely missed most (but not all of them) when they were aired on television. I do remember seeing The Raven decades ago. At least the internet does allow for a strange kind of resurrection since most of the cycle can be found for free online.