WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema Rewind: House of Usher (1960) 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.560 Hey, you, welcome to Weird House Cinema. Rewind, this is 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.200 Rob Lamb. You've caught us on our fall Break week, 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.680 but since fall Break is in October, we have loaded 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:18.640 it up with October episodes from previous years. This episode 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.640 is going to be one that originally published ten twenty 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:26.239 five twenty twenty four. It is our discussion of nineteen 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.960 sixties House of Usher. So yes, another fabulous Corman Poe 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:36.200 feature starring a platinum blonde Vincent Price. Let's jump right in. 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:45.199 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:53.040 Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb. 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.000 And I am Joe McCormick. And October continues, so we 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:01.000 are still bringing you Halloween themed episodes of Weird House 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.480 Cinema and also core episodes of Stuff to Blow Your 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.600 Mind throughout this month. Today we are covering the nineteen 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:13.280 sixty Roger Corman adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:16.399 The Fall of the House of Usher, starring who else, 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.600 it's Vincent Price. This movie is sometimes billed with the 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.040 full name of the story as its title, The Fall 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:25.039 of the House of Usher, but sometimes you'll see it 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.679 shortened to just House of Usher. In fact, I've seen 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.160 it the latter format more times. I think it looks 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.039 like that in all the classic Posters. 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:35.399 Yeah, this is another one of those cases where there 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:39.200 have been enough adaptations of the original post story in 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:41.639 question that you should just go ahead and throw nineteen 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.720 sixty on there whenever you're looking it up anywhere, just 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:49.680 to be sure. Especially this is complicated since you don't 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:51.800 know how this film is actually going to be titled 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:52.600 in a given release. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.600 So this is one of a series of films from 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:00.600 the nineteen sixties that had three production elements in common. 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.280 The first element is a script adapted from the works 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.360 of Edgar Allan Poe, conveniently in the public domain by 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.480 this time. The second element is it was directed by 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.240 Drive in double feature god Roger Corman. And the third 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:19.440 feature is that the movie starred the peerless Vincent Price, 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.040 who I love the way Price fits into these Edgar 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.200 Allan Poe characters. He just gets in there so perfectly. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.880 I was trying to think of an analogy, and what 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.200 came to mind is it's like when you drop one 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.000 of the game pieces into a Connect four set, you know, 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.519 it just falls into place with this happy little click. 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.360 Yeah, yeah, well it certainly clicks, that's for sure. 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:44.040 So anyway, it was a three way collaboration, the Poe 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.600 Price Corman collaboration that was so nice. They did it 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:49.960 like seven or eight times, depending on how much of 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.240 a stickler you are for accurate story credits. And we'll 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.520 come back to the Corman post cycle later in the 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.560 Connections part of this episode. But I wanted to start 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.080 today by mentioning that we've cover one of these movies 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:05.200 on the show before for a previous Halloween season Weird House, 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.840 and that previous movie was The Mask of the Red 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:14.440 Death from nineteen sixty four, a lavish satanic plague tale 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:19.639 featuring Vincent Price as the wicked corruptor of innocence Prince Prospero. 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.480 And I love Mask of the Red Death. If you 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.639 go back and listen to that episode. I'm sure I'm 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.919 just running out of positive things to say about it, 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.000 but I still think about it all the time. I 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:35.040 love the atmosphere of good and evil as almost physically 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:39.320 embodied powers. I love the use of extravagant, brightly colored 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:43.240 masquerade costumes set against this gray world. It creates this 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:47.480 jewels on bone visual texture that I find so pleasing. 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.040 Of course, I love Vincent Price, and I also love 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:55.840 how Mask contrasts with Roger Corman's previous B movie work, 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.000 stuff like Attack of the Crab, Monsters, Not of This 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.640 Earth and It Conquered the World, all movies that I 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.600 love and we have talked about lovingly on the show 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.520 many times. But all of these previous movies I think 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:13.280 you could say are self consciously schlock, Like Corman sort 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.120 of knew he was making trash, but he was trying 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.679 to make like fun, scrappy, sort of intelligent trash. Mask 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:22.279 of the Red Death, on the other hand, I think 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.440 is not schlock in the same way. You can argue 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.039 that it has some subtle bits of self parody, but 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:33.479 ultimately I think Mask is a very successful classic Gothic 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:37.440 horror film when taken straightforwardly and it's made with real finesse, 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.400 and then sort of on top of that, once you 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:42.839 accept it at that level, you can unlock maybe second 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:44.960 and third levels of pleasure by watching it with a 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:46.080 more ironic lens. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.240 It is a very pleasurable film, and it is a 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:54.600 prestige Roger Corman picture, And I would say Ultimately, if 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.479 you're too good for Mask of the Red Death, then 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.040 we probably don't have much in common. We probably I 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:04.560 don't have even like a groundwork upon which to build 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:05.480 out this friendship. 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.200 Yeah, but so anyway, I love to Mask of the 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.120 Red Death so much. I wanted to come back to 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:15.000 one of the Corman Poe Price movies this October, and 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:17.840 I decided we should watch the one that started it all, 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.440 the first of these collaborations. So here we are with 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.920 House of Usher from nineteen sixty. So as a point 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:30.200 of comparison, I think it's interesting how scaled back this 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:35.080 movie feels compared to Mask. Mask has a big cast, 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:39.000 a lot of extras, lots of location changes, you know, 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:43.119 interior exterior. It has a lot of location changes within. 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:48.600 The main castle, has bright colors, interesting costumes, big sets, 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:52.120 and light effects that in some cases even border on psychedelic. 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:56.800 You could say. Usher, by contrast, I think feels like 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.880 a really good bottle episode of a TV show. The 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.159 cast is small, there are only four characters, really, three 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:09.520 principal characters in sort of a gruel boiling butler. The 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.680 setting is mostly confined to the interior of one house. 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.160 There's nothing too crazy visually, at least not until around 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:18.960 the climax. Then toward the end there are some sights 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:21.440 and sounds that get kind of weird. But in general, 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:25.480 I would just say that Usher contains less flambuoyant original 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.760 creativity than Mask, and it is a more disciplined attempt 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.919 to capture the tone and plot of the original Pose story. 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.400 But this is by no means a dig A lot 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.240 of people cite Usher as their favorite of the Corman 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.480 Price collaborations, and I think I can see why. Like 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.479 the wildness of Mask is a bit more my speed, 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.640 but Usher has a really good script and a chillingly 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:54.479 effective and ambiguous performance by Price, who has bleach blonde hair. 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.360 By the way, where else are you going to get that? 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.760 Yeah, that's right, We'll come back to the look of 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:02.839 the Price in this picture. That alone makes it stand out. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.279 But I agree this is a picture that in many 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:10.160 ways makes it a smaller picture, but a smaller picture 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:14.960 that's really allowed to breathe, you know, like the fewer 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.920 elements involved all managed to sort of build up their 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:20.800 own energy that by the end of the picture you 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.840 don't feel like you've been slided at all. That being said, 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:26.960 I think it is fair to say this is maybe 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.160 a movie in which not as much happens compared to 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.640 other pictures, and you've got to be on board with that. 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.760 Like I watched this film zonked Out on an airplane, 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.040 and it was the perfect perfect picture for that sort 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.640 of setting. You know. I like a nice slow film 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.240 like this. You can breathe in all the sights and sounds, 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.680 especially the sites more so than the sounds here. But 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:53.240 then also some strong performances in here as well. But 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.840 like I say, if you want something that's really snappy, 0:07:57.920 --> 0:07:59.760 this is maybe not yet you've got to be on 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.239 its wavelength. But if you're on its wavelength, a film 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:03.080 like this is perfect. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:11.040 Oh this is a gloomy, languid, classic gothic haunted mansion story. Yeah, well, 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.720 wait a minute now that I say haunted mansion. Actually 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.600 I think a great thing. Maybe we can discuss the 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:20.440 themes more when we get into the plot section, but 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.640 I think this movie is interesting in that you could 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:26.119 legitimately ask, at least for most of the runtime, whether 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:29.960 there's actually anything supernatural happening or not, or whether it's 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.760 all just kind of the the consequences of Vincent Price's 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.680 character Roderick and his delusional behavior. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.520 Yeah, if nothing out as else, it is a film 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:44.480 haunted by multi generational human evil. Yeah, and it definitely 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:45.480 ruminates on that. 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.040 All right, we usually do an elevator pitch. I'll try 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:53.080 to give a straightforward plot set up here. Philip Winthrop 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.319 travels to the desolate and decomposing Usher Estate to visit 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:01.280 his fiance, Madeleine, whom he courted and became engaged to 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.559 during their time together in Boston. So she's gone ahead 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.600 of him back to the Usher Estate and he's coming 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.959 to beat her. But when he arrives, Philip discovers that 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.160 Madeleine is in ill health and she is under the 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:19.559 constant control of her strange and morose brother, Roderick played 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:23.320 by Vincent Price. Over time, Philip begins to doubt what 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.400 he's being told by Roderick and the household butler. Is 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.880 Madeline really sick or is she having her will to 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:34.760 live sapped by Roderick's psychic manipulations? Or is there something 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.760 more sinister and ghostly operating underneath it all? 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.280 We'll find out, all right, Let's go ahead and listen 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.199 to a little trailer audio for House of Usher. 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:54.760 Go take her man, now let me go. 0:09:56.400 --> 0:10:00.480 Only the incomparable genius of Edgar Allan Poe could knit 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:07.000 them so closely together, the burning passions of the purest 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:13.480 of loves, the deadly passions of the madly blurian. 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.560 Hope when you're leaving this house with me tomorrow, Oh 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:22.080 I God. For hundreds of years, evil thoughts and evil deeds. 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:23.480 Have been committed within these walls. 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:26.520 The house itself is evil. 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:37.240 Now they all are ashes. This is monstrous. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.320 It waits for me because very soon I shall be dead. 0:10:41.840 --> 0:11:05.000 Oh, Madeline, come away with me. Now where is she? 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:07.520 You buried your own sister alive? 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.439 I did, but. 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:11.320 She's dead now. 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.439 The master hand of the maccab creates its masterpiece. 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.760 All right. If you want to watch House of USh, 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:29.439 or follow the House of USh, or whatever you want 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.480 to call this nineteen sixty film, there are a couple 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:33.760 of ways to do it. If you're in the UK, 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.600 I believe you have access to the Beautiful Arrow blu Ray. 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:38.920 If you're in the US, I think you can find 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.680 it in the Vincent Price Collection box set from Shout Factory. 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:44.760 Off the top of my head, I'm not sure about 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.600 the current production status of either of those, But that's 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.080 kind of the beauty of physical media is that even 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:53.480 if it's out of print, there's a good chance you'll 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:55.240 be able to find a copy out there. And if 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.360 you have a rental store in your neighborhood in your city, 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.080 like Atlanta's own Videodrome, for example, you can just go 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.440 and rent it. And that's so beautifully simple. 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.720 I have that Vincent Price box set from Shout Factory, 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.959 and that is how I watched this movie. It's also 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.600 how I watched Pitt in the Pendulum. It's got Mask 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:15.559 of the Red Death in there, and it's also got 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.839 some other fun stuff like Witchfinder General and The Abominable 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:23.560 Doctor Five. So highly recommend that collection. It's very solid. 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.360 Yeah, the witch Finder General film is said to be 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:27.839 another great Price performance. 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.400 That one I've only watched on mute while doing other things, 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.600 but it looked interesting, so maybe I'll have to go 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:37.360 back and turn the sound on sometime. It's by a 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:41.280 filmmaker who we watched another movie by him. It was 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.600 the guy who made that movie The Sorcerers, about the 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.000 people like the old people who can get into the 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:46.800 young guy's brain. 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:52.200 Yeah, short lived. Director died tragically young, but showed so 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:56.600 much promise. Anyway, again, I watched this film. No doubt 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:01.800 is Roger Corman intended on an iPhone in an airplane. 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.880 But you know there are fewer distractions in some ways 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.320 when watching a film in that format, so you know, 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:10.480 sometimes it's the right time for that sort of treatment. 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:13.960 Roger wouldn't hate on you for that. He don't love 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:15.560 it all right. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.760 Well, since we're already talking about him, Yeah, let's get 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.640 into the people behind this film, starting with Roger Corman, 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.560 the director of the producer who lived nineteen twenty six 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.560 through twenty twenty four. We've talked about him numerous times 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.320 on the show, so we're going to try not to 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.680 repeat too much of that instead sort of frame this 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:36.360 within his output and within the history of weird House 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.160 cinema shows. I believe this is our fifth Corman directed 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.440 motion picture, but he also served as producer on some 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:45.439 of the films we've covered. This, of course, is one 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:47.960 of the films loosely classified as being part of the 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.600 Pose cycle. In fact, again it is the film that 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.280 kicked off the entire cycle. Usher came on the heels 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:57.600 of nineteen fifty nine's Eye Moobster, The Wasp Woman, and 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.600 Bucket of Blood. Those all directed by Corman, and it 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.280 was one of four Corman directed films that came out 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.640 in nineteen sixty, along with Ski Troop Attack, The Little 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.200 Shop of Horrors, and Last Woman on Earth. 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.400 Well, I know Little Shop of Horrors. Now I'm curious 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:17.440 about Ski Troop Attack. Yeah, it's like real stands the 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.040 test of time, I bet, yeah. 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.000 I mean, that's the thing about Corman's output is, you know, 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.760 certain genre films have become a legendary of his, and 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:29.040 you know, you instantly think of them when you think 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.440 of Roger Corman. But for every one or two of those, 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.840 there are three or four more in other genres, often 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.320 that have just kind of fallen through the cracks. For many, 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.200 except for the Roger Corman completest, I suppose. Anyway, the 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.840 Corman post cycle is generally considered to run eight films. 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:46.960 You have Usher, then you have sixty ones, The Pit 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.760 in the Pendulum, sixty two's The Premature Burial and Tales 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.520 of Terror, sixty threes the Raven and the Haunted Palace, 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.200 and then sixty four is The Mask of the Red 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:02.480 Death and the Tomb of Like. Of course, we should 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:04.680 note that The Haunted Palace is actually based on a 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.320 Lovecraft story and not a post story. It's just the 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:11.280 title that ties into Poe's work. All of them Starvincent Price, 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.200 except for the premature Burial. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.680 Yeah, so I've seen three of these movies at this point. 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.200 I've seen Usher, the Pit and the Pendulum, and Mask 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.240 of the Red Death Mask is my favorite easily, though. 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:25.760 All three of them I think are quite good, And 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:27.120 maybe we'll have to come back to the Pit and 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:30.200 the Pendulum sometime. Price's performance in that movie is a 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.200 lot more unhinged and off the wall than in Usher. 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.960 But let's see the premature Burial and Tales of Terror. 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.400 I think, is that one movie or two movies? That's 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.200 two Tales of Terror is supposed to be anthology? 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.480 Yeah, I mean that's the thing. These are Corman films, 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:48.640 so sometimes there's two coming out a year, and those 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.280 are inevitably not the only pictures he directed. It certainly 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.000 not the only pictures he produced during a given year. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.480 Yeah, and then The Raven is interesting because that one 0:15:57.600 --> 0:15:59.920 is supposed to be a comedy. I have not seen it. 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.680 I'm a little curious how that works. I feel like 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.280 I would be less interested in an overt comedy with 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.240 Price and po themes, but who knows, maybe it's great. 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.760 Well, I mean, you have to acknowledge that that Vincent 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.800 Price is terrific in everything. Oh so his kind of 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.360 comedic timing is solid, so he may be able to 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.600 deliver there. And you know, you do have some really 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:26.160 good Roger Corman directed dark comedies such as Bucket of 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:30.000 Blood or Little Shop of Horrors and so forth. 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.960 Yeah, And frankly, I would say all of the movies 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.400 of his I've seen that I've liked have some sense 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.600 of humor about them. Probably House of Usher has the 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:41.760 least humor of any of them, but he's always got 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:43.920 a little bit of eye twinkling going on. 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.920 Yeah, we of course have to drive home that this 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.360 is an adaptation of the work of Edgar Allan Poe, 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:55.320 who lived eighteen oh nine through eighteen forty nine, American writer, poet, editor, 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.120 and literary critic, best remembered for his spooky poems and stories, 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.200 not only in the United State dates but internationally. 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.200 Oh yeah, well, so I guess Rob is referring to there. 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.320 There was an article that we were sharing off Mike 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.640 that I read by a writer named winn Bin from 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:14.440 I think it was just published a couple of days ago, 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.240 at least published October of this year, twenty twenty four, 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.439 about the popularity of Edgar Allan Poe among a lot 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.480 of the writers and poets of Vietnam in the first 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.320 half of the twentieth century. I think that's interesting, like 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:31.480 what authors really resonate in different language cultures around the world, 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:36.119 But apparently, like, yeah, a lot of Vietnamese writers in 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.879 I think it would be around the nineteen twenties and 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.000 thirties or so really really thought that Poe was just 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.080 like the best of the American writers. 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.560 Yeah. And of course that reminds me a bit of 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.919 a Japanese author that we've discussed in the show before, 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.280 because we've discussed adaptations of his work in cinema, Edugawa Rampo, 0:17:55.080 --> 0:18:00.800 whose name is an allusion to the name Edgar Allan Pope. 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.880 And he was a writer of detective stories. 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.240 Wasn't Yeah, yeah, a lot of detective stories and the 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.760 mysteries thriller is that sort of thing. Yeah, all right, 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.720 So that's the source material. But then the screenplay, the 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.000 adaptation comes to us via another name that we've talked 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.320 about on the show before the legendary Richard Matheson, who 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:23.480 lived nineteen twenty six through twenty thirteen. American writer who's 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.080 best remembered, I would say as the author of the 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.400 excellent nineteen fifty four novel I Am Legend, upon which 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.200 three films have been based. One even had Vincent Price 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:33.480 in it. 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:35.720 I've been thinking we should do that on the show. 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:37.840 By the way, Yeah, I think it's called Last Man 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:38.320 on Earth. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.800 Yes, yeah, and of course the others being I Am 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.320 Legend with Will Smith and then The Omega Man with 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:45.359 Chuck Huston. 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.200 The Vincent Price one is it's got some really good 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.639 things about it, and I really enjoyed. I sampled that 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:56.880 one in some music that I was working on. It 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:57.760 works out pretty good. 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.399 The episodes where we discussed Richard Matheson previously there was 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.440 the film The Devil Rides Out. He did the adaptation 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.160 on that as well, adapting a weekly novel, and then 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:14.360 we talked about the film adaptation The Incredible Shrinking Man. 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:18.399 That's an adaptation by Matheson of one of Matheson's own books. 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:19.879 If I remember correctly. 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.040 This guy snuck up on me. I didn't realize it 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.879 first but I think Matheson has written the scripts for 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:28.240 a lot of the best movies or the movies with 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.800 the best scripts that we've done from the mid twentieth century. 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.960 Yeah, I mean he was excellent, excellent writer, worked on 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:39.120 a lot of shows like the original Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.680 Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and had a big influence on an 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:47.000 entire generation of horror and terror scribes, especially including Stephen King. 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:50.760 Stephen King has frequently cited Richard Matheson as an influence. 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.080 The Incredible Shrinking Man I remember in particular, had a 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:55.040 really good script. 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.760 Yeah, that's a great picture. If you haven't seen that, 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:00.720 when you haven't listened to our episode on that, go 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.719 back to one or the other. Don't be afraid of 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.879 that kind of goofy title and perhaps you know comedic 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.480 idea of a tiny man inside a house being attacked 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:13.920 by his cat, because it's much more than that. It's 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:25.520 actually a pretty deep flip. Yeah, all right, onto the cast, 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:27.160 and this is going to be a pretty short cast. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:30.639 There are really only four people in this for the 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.200 most part. A few extras here and there, but really 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:37.040 only four people. The lead of course, again being Vincent 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:41.280 Price playing Roderick Usher Price lived nineteen eleven through nineteen 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.040 ninety three. We've talked about him plenty of times on 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.280 the show because we keep coming back to Vincent Price 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:49.800 films and you never know exactly what you're going to 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:51.760 get from him. He was active on screen from the 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:55.920 late thirties to the early nineties, and you know, there's 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:59.919 a certain vision, a certain version of Vincent Price that 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.680 I think is solidified in the horror canon that instantly 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:04.760 comes to mind when you think about him, and a 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.840 lot of it is defined by his look, Right, what 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:09.480 do you think of? You think of like that dark 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:13.679 or certainly in later life gray and even white, slicked 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:17.720 back hair. You think about that sharpened mustache, an optional 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:20.240 goatee add on, and then of course he's going to 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.840 be wearing some sort of a suit, maybe an optional 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:24.480 Dracula cape, that sort of thing. 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.119 If this makes any sense. He's somebody who really I 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:30.960 think has the face of a character actor, a kind 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.520 of interesting, memorable face you would see pop up playing 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:38.520 like second build characters with a little bit of personality 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.000 to them, but instead he more often ended up playing 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:46.280 leading male characters or leading villains, and it works pretty 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:49.200 well that way, because he can sort of manipulate his 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:53.560 interesting look with just sort of an inversion of the 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:58.000 slant of his eyebrows to look quite sympathetic or quite evil. 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.639 Absolutely, and as we were alluding to earlier, this film 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:06.760 also gives us a rather different looking Price because he's 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:10.960 clean shaven and he has bleached blonde hair. You might 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:15.040 want to call him Peroxide Price or platinum blonde Price, 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:20.000 you pick, but either way, a very distinctive look. It 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:22.679 reminds me a bit of in the movie The Ten Commandments. 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:25.120 He shows up in that, and he's clean shaven there 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:27.360 as well, which can throw you off if you're used 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:32.159 to Vincent Price with facial hair. But add in the 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:37.399 screaming blonde hair in this picture, and yeah, he looks 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:41.760 sufficiently different. It ends up influencing your entire reception of 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:42.320 the character. 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:45.320 I think I was thinking about Barbie's hair color, so 0:22:45.359 --> 0:22:47.119 I was thinking, like Malibu Price. 0:22:47.440 --> 0:22:51.600 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that's fair. At this point 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:54.560 in his career, Price had already taken on the mantle 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:57.960 of horror star. I think by having already done House 0:22:58.000 --> 0:22:59.600 of Wax, which we've talked about in the show, that's 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:03.280 one that really elevated him in the horror genre. But 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.080 then also he'd already done fifty eight's The Fly, fifty 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:08.440 nine's House on Haunted Hill, and Return of the Fly, 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:11.840 as well as The Tingler and The bat oh Man. 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:15.199 There's so many good Price roles in horror movies that 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:17.560 sometimes you can't hold them all in your head. I 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:19.760 was getting ready for this episode and I didn't even 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:21.840 think of The Tingler until you just said it. 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:25.360 Yeah, that's a fun film as well. Yeah, but this 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:30.160 is a really fun performance beyond just the different appearance 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:36.159 for Vincent Price, because he's this character is firm but 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:40.960 very fragile. You know. It's an interesting performance of emotional extremes, 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:44.119 as we'll get into, Like there's a really strong will, 0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:47.560 but not if you're raising your voice or touching his 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:50.560 garments or not taking your shoes off in the house 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:52.600 it is. It is worth stressing that the House of 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:55.200 Usher is a shoes off household, and you need to 0:23:55.240 --> 0:23:55.960 be prepared for that. 0:23:56.359 --> 0:23:59.560 Yeah, Roderick Usher is a character who I like how 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:02.400 you us. This character is like you. For a long 0:24:02.480 --> 0:24:05.320 time in the movie, you're not clear if he's friend 0:24:05.440 --> 0:24:09.200 or foe. How dangerous he is what's going on, and 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:11.719 even when it does become clear in some ways that 0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:14.480 he is dangerous and to be feared, at the same 0:24:14.520 --> 0:24:17.240 time he is so weak he could He's just easily 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:20.480 physically bested, and yet that doesn't solve the problem. 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:24.200 Yeah, he's almost like a living ghost in that regard. Yeah, 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:27.000 all right, so that's the that's the lead. But then 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:30.880 second billing, we have the personable Mark Damon as Philip Winthrop. 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:35.760 This is the the individual that is engaged to the 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:37.440 sister of Roderick Usher. 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:41.560 By normal accounting, this is the protagonist, right, He is 0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:44.040 the good guy of the movie. Though I think you 0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:47.120 could still say that the main character is Vincent Prices 0:24:47.280 --> 0:24:50.120 as Roderick Usher, but that's you know, villain first framing. 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:53.000 This is the supposed good guy. 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:57.440 Yeah, yeah, personable Mark Damon. We previously talked about him 0:24:57.440 --> 0:25:00.359 because he was in Mario Bava's Black Sabbath from nineteen 0:25:00.400 --> 0:25:03.679 sixty three, so that would be in the future of 0:25:03.720 --> 0:25:07.280 the Mark Damon that we're seeing here. This was apparently 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:10.359 a big, big film for him. He actually won a 0:25:10.400 --> 0:25:15.359 Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for this film, and 0:25:15.440 --> 0:25:17.840 it was a familiar face in motion pictures during the 0:25:17.840 --> 0:25:23.479 fifties and sixties, but he's probably best remembered for Usher 0:25:23.640 --> 0:25:26.240 and Sabbath, at least as far as acting goes. But then, 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:28.600 as we discussed previously, went on to be a really 0:25:28.840 --> 0:25:31.960 major producer in Hollywood and had his hands in some 0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:35.560 major pictures of note, including dust Boat or dust Boot 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:38.720 if you will, The never Ending Story, Clan of the 0:25:38.760 --> 0:25:41.480 Cave Bear nine and a half week short circuit Flight 0:25:41.480 --> 0:25:46.840 of the Navigator, The Lost Boys Beast Master two, as 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:50.800 well as a pair of Universal Soldier sequels, among other pictures. 0:25:51.359 --> 0:25:54.280 When we last talked about him, he was still alive, 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:57.960 but he actually passed away over the summer at the 0:25:58.000 --> 0:26:02.200 age of ninety one. He also, I have to mention again, 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:04.760 he has one writing credit, and it's The Devil's Wedding 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:09.440 Night from nineteen seventy three. This is essentially a Dracula 0:26:09.520 --> 0:26:15.480 movie despite the title. Oh and Joe Tomato apparently did 0:26:15.480 --> 0:26:18.600 some uncredited directing on it, but it's said to be 0:26:18.600 --> 0:26:20.200 pretty good. Actually I haven't. 0:26:19.960 --> 0:26:24.760 Seen it, okay, Yeah. Well, Also, in case you don't 0:26:24.800 --> 0:26:26.520 know what we're talking about when we keep calling him 0:26:26.560 --> 0:26:31.240 the personable, that's from the trailer for Mario Bava's Black Sabbath. 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:35.320 So the announcers like, ooh, the chilling Boris Karloff, the 0:26:35.400 --> 0:26:36.919 personable Mark Damon. 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:42.360 You know, maybe Mark Damon is fine in this. I'm 0:26:42.359 --> 0:26:44.720 not criticizing his work at all. It's more the sort 0:26:44.760 --> 0:26:48.639 of role this is. I guess I don't find it 0:26:48.680 --> 0:26:51.200 as personable as I would find like a Vincent Price 0:26:51.320 --> 0:26:55.639 character or you know, a Peter Lorie character and so forth. 0:26:56.880 --> 0:26:59.280 And then also I'm wondering, if you have to say 0:26:59.320 --> 0:27:02.480 the personable, an't name it, how personable is this performer? 0:27:02.880 --> 0:27:05.320 It makes it. It makes him seem less personable. It's 0:27:05.400 --> 0:27:09.800 like introducing somebody by calling them trustworthy. Immediately you start 0:27:09.800 --> 0:27:11.120 wondering should I trust them? 0:27:11.520 --> 0:27:14.560 Yeah, but he is good in this. I mean he's 0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:17.480 he is the straight man in this story where he's 0:27:17.600 --> 0:27:21.439 encountering like nothing but strange happenings and strange surroundings. So 0:27:21.520 --> 0:27:25.280 he's our grounding, our he's the point at the center 0:27:25.320 --> 0:27:27.720 of the dial, and so he's essential and it is 0:27:27.800 --> 0:27:31.760 essential that you have, you know, a square jowed, handsome 0:27:32.040 --> 0:27:35.479 young actor playing that role, really, especially during this time period. 0:27:35.680 --> 0:27:38.399 I agree, I think he does fine. I'm not trying 0:27:38.720 --> 0:27:40.760 to slam him at all. I think he's good in 0:27:40.760 --> 0:27:45.040 this role. He is somewhat upstaged by the more interesting performances, 0:27:45.119 --> 0:27:48.000 like especially of course by Vincent Price. But then I 0:27:48.040 --> 0:27:50.960 would say also later in the film, upstage somewhat by 0:27:50.960 --> 0:27:53.800 the performance of Murna Fay, he as Madeline Usher, who 0:27:53.960 --> 0:27:55.760 gets weirder as the movie goes on. 0:27:56.520 --> 0:27:59.560 Yeah. Yeah, mRNA Fay, who lived nineteen thirty three through 0:27:59.640 --> 0:28:04.199 nineteen seventy three, is the third build out of like 0:28:04.320 --> 0:28:07.920 four actors in this picture, and she is quite good. 0:28:07.960 --> 0:28:10.880 She's I think best remembered probably for this film role 0:28:10.920 --> 0:28:13.399 as well as various television works she did. She did 0:28:13.400 --> 0:28:15.479 a lot of TV work in addition to a handful 0:28:15.520 --> 0:28:18.959 of films like Disney Zoro. She was on that series. 0:28:19.080 --> 0:28:21.800 She was on Father of the Bride in the early sixties. 0:28:22.400 --> 0:28:25.280 But yeah, yeah, it's a good role that it first 0:28:25.320 --> 0:28:28.520 maybe seems like a little subdued, and you might think 0:28:28.520 --> 0:28:31.120 that she's not going to have much agency, but stick 0:28:31.200 --> 0:28:33.679 with it because she does get she does get to 0:28:33.680 --> 0:28:34.920 get some work in towards the end. 0:28:34.800 --> 0:28:37.480 Of the picture, it gets kind of wild. I was 0:28:37.520 --> 0:28:40.960 reading a biography of her somewhere online that mentioned she 0:28:41.040 --> 0:28:42.680 did an interview I think it was in the year 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:45.320 nineteen sixties, so the same year as House of Usher, 0:28:46.200 --> 0:28:48.880 where she was sort of complaining that she had been 0:28:48.920 --> 0:28:53.000 typecast in like moral upstanding roles. You know, she was always, oh, 0:28:53.120 --> 0:28:55.640 you know, tisk, tisk, I am very good, I am 0:28:55.760 --> 0:28:59.280 very low abiding, and she wanted to explore, you know, 0:28:59.480 --> 0:29:03.080 a more complicated, maybe darker roles, and well I think 0:29:03.120 --> 0:29:04.200 she got her wish. 0:29:04.560 --> 0:29:04.840 Yes. 0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.000 She also apparently went on to be in an episode 0:29:09.040 --> 0:29:13.040 of the TV anthology series Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff. 0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:16.360 The episode is called Girl with the Secret, which is 0:29:16.400 --> 0:29:19.000 about her, which is about a character who has to 0:29:19.560 --> 0:29:22.320 keep a secret about her husband and is being blackmailed 0:29:22.360 --> 0:29:24.720 by someone. I haven't seen this episode of the show, 0:29:24.720 --> 0:29:28.320 but I pulled up like the IMDb listing for the episode, 0:29:28.760 --> 0:29:31.880 and the screenshot from it is somebody driving a car 0:29:32.040 --> 0:29:36.200 making this incredibly creepy grinning face. So now I'm tempted 0:29:36.240 --> 0:29:36.840 to look it up. 0:29:37.520 --> 0:29:39.800 Yeah, yeah, I haven't watched a lot of Thriller, but 0:29:41.080 --> 0:29:43.760 it's said to be a very good horror anthology series. 0:29:44.280 --> 0:29:47.239 I've seen at least one episode of Thriller. It was 0:29:47.560 --> 0:29:51.760 an adaptation of the Roberty Howard story Pigeons from Hell, 0:29:51.880 --> 0:29:53.680 which is like a ghost horror story. 0:29:54.040 --> 0:29:57.160 Oh yeah, probably one of the rare non conan kin 0:29:57.720 --> 0:30:01.760 adaptations of his work. I pretty much The fourth and 0:30:01.880 --> 0:30:05.920 final human in this picture is the butler Bristol, played 0:30:05.960 --> 0:30:10.800 by American actor and Atlanta native Harry Ellerby, who lived 0:30:10.880 --> 0:30:14.720 nineteen oh one through nineteen ninety two. He worked extensively 0:30:14.720 --> 0:30:17.440 in stage, screen, and TV, with his screen and TV 0:30:17.520 --> 0:30:20.200 credits going from the early nineteen thirties through the early 0:30:20.280 --> 0:30:23.560 nineteen seventies, though I understand he remained active in theater 0:30:24.640 --> 0:30:28.120 longer than that, especially in like local Atlanta theater. His 0:30:28.200 --> 0:30:31.080 film credits include nineteen sixty threes The Haunted Palace, and 0:30:31.240 --> 0:30:35.440 nineteen sixty six's Chamber of Horrors. He appeared in an 0:30:35.480 --> 0:30:39.200 episode of the original Outer Limits as well. Okay, and 0:30:39.360 --> 0:30:41.720 you know he's good in this. He basically he's the middleman. 0:30:41.800 --> 0:30:45.720 Though he's the butler in a haunted mansion, so you 0:30:46.000 --> 0:30:46.960 kind of know what you're going to get. 0:30:47.160 --> 0:30:49.480 Yeah, it is his job to help carry the coffins 0:30:49.520 --> 0:30:50.520 and boil the gruel. 0:30:50.920 --> 0:30:55.240 Yes. Oh, but we have a very interesting credit to 0:30:55.280 --> 0:30:59.880 share regarding this picture Now. I mentioned Night Gallery earlier 0:31:00.120 --> 0:31:05.120 and passing, and it's appropriate because this movie features a 0:31:05.240 --> 0:31:09.600 number of very creepy paintings that would look perfectly at 0:31:09.600 --> 0:31:14.400 home on the walls of the Night Gallery. These paintings 0:31:14.480 --> 0:31:18.360 are credited to Bert Schoenberg, who lived nineteen thirty three 0:31:18.840 --> 0:31:24.400 through nineteen seventy seven, American painter whose work could be 0:31:24.440 --> 0:31:31.160 described as surrealist or psychedelic, and he was certainly celebrated 0:31:31.240 --> 0:31:33.920 during the nineteen sixties, though he was also exploring this 0:31:34.040 --> 0:31:37.080 style in the fifties and seventies as well. In fact, 0:31:37.120 --> 0:31:38.840 I've seen some people argue that he was one of 0:31:38.880 --> 0:31:42.400 those artists working in California at the time that was 0:31:42.480 --> 0:31:46.520 kind of a precursor to the psychedelic art scene in 0:31:46.800 --> 0:31:52.240 nineteen sixties California. So ultimately, when you get into like 0:31:52.360 --> 0:31:56.520 surrealism and strange art, there's plenty of stuff that seems 0:31:56.560 --> 0:31:59.240 ahead of its time and kind of informs that air. 0:31:59.360 --> 0:32:02.800 I suppose. So his work is, and you can look 0:32:02.840 --> 0:32:05.040 it up online. It's Schoenberg s H O N B 0:32:05.160 --> 0:32:11.040 E r G. His work is dreamy and weird at times, 0:32:11.120 --> 0:32:15.600 invoking occult imagery. Again, look it up because it's worth 0:32:15.680 --> 0:32:17.719 checking out, and certainly you get to see it a 0:32:17.760 --> 0:32:20.120 lot in this movie. It's not just it's not just 0:32:20.160 --> 0:32:25.280 an incidental detail. The paintings are important plot points and 0:32:25.360 --> 0:32:27.360 you really get to drink them in. I think they 0:32:27.440 --> 0:32:31.719 really contribute to the great vibe of this picture. 0:32:32.440 --> 0:32:35.440 Yeah, there's a this is never made explicit, but there 0:32:35.520 --> 0:32:38.760 is almost an implied picture of Dory and Gray kind 0:32:38.800 --> 0:32:41.640 of concept at work, where there are these paintings of 0:32:41.760 --> 0:32:44.920 the the you know, the patriarchs and matriarchs of the 0:32:45.840 --> 0:32:48.320 of the Usher household, and when we start to learn 0:32:48.360 --> 0:32:52.200 about their evils and their crimes, we see the paintings, 0:32:52.360 --> 0:32:55.320 and the paintings appear almost kind of warped or melted, 0:32:55.400 --> 0:32:58.200 as sort of altered in a way that reveals the 0:32:58.280 --> 0:32:59.959 evil of the character lying underneath. 0:33:01.040 --> 0:33:03.080 You know. It's interesting to think about the use of 0:33:03.200 --> 0:33:06.600 painted portraits in movies because it's often the case that 0:33:06.640 --> 0:33:09.320 you'll find either either a portrait actually does its job 0:33:09.400 --> 0:33:11.720 and you just buy it as being a portrait of 0:33:11.760 --> 0:33:13.760 a character. Generally it looks like one of the actors 0:33:13.760 --> 0:33:16.600 in the film, right, or it looks like the old 0:33:16.680 --> 0:33:19.560 count or the old baron that will inevitably come back 0:33:19.600 --> 0:33:21.800 to life. And is you know, played by Christopher Lee 0:33:21.880 --> 0:33:23.920 or something, so you know what they're supposed to look like. 0:33:25.480 --> 0:33:27.560 But then in other pictures you can tell, like the 0:33:27.600 --> 0:33:31.200 portrait just does not pass the sniff test. You know, 0:33:31.280 --> 0:33:34.040 you're like this, I'm not buying it. I'm not buying 0:33:34.080 --> 0:33:38.080 this as an historic work of art. Yes, this picture 0:33:39.080 --> 0:33:43.520 dodges those pitfalls and instead just goes for the utterly weird. 0:33:44.040 --> 0:33:46.880 These pictures feel like, you know, drawing on the door, 0:33:47.000 --> 0:33:50.880 the portrait drawing gray here. It's it's like they are 0:33:51.120 --> 0:33:54.720 like snapshots of the corrupted soul. They seem like they 0:33:54.720 --> 0:33:58.479 are dark, wrong, perhaps insane works. 0:33:59.000 --> 0:34:02.920 Yeah, absolutely, and they're not subtle, you know all It's 0:34:02.920 --> 0:34:05.480 not like they look a little bit creepy. It's they 0:34:05.560 --> 0:34:11.719 are oozing evil, demonic energy and just advertising the wickedness 0:34:11.719 --> 0:34:12.800 of the people portrayed. 0:34:13.200 --> 0:34:14.080 Yeah. 0:34:14.160 --> 0:34:16.040 I was reading a bit more about these on the 0:34:16.040 --> 0:34:20.520 excellent website Vincent Price Legacy dot uk, and the author 0:34:20.560 --> 0:34:23.799 there points out that Schoenberg provided five portraits and two 0:34:23.800 --> 0:34:28.040 additional paintings to this production, and again they certainly pulled 0:34:28.040 --> 0:34:31.360 their weight in delivering the film's vibe. Afterwards, two of 0:34:31.400 --> 0:34:34.279 these paintings apparently went to Roger Corman and then were 0:34:34.280 --> 0:34:38.799 subsequently stolen from his office. Another portrait was reportedly given 0:34:38.840 --> 0:34:42.680 to Vincent Price himself, who was an avid art collector, 0:34:43.120 --> 0:34:46.920 but according to the website Vincent Price Legacy, the whereabouts 0:34:46.920 --> 0:34:50.520 of this painting are unknown and it was never listed 0:34:50.560 --> 0:34:54.960 in the official estate documents concerning Price's extensive art collection, 0:34:55.080 --> 0:34:57.520 So it's unknown what happened to it, Like, did it 0:34:58.560 --> 0:35:02.640 you know, did he sell it? Is it lost? Is 0:35:02.680 --> 0:35:05.279 it I'm assuming at this point that all of these 0:35:05.320 --> 0:35:07.479 paintings are like on the Dark Side of the Moon, 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:11.680 somewhere transported there through dark arcade magic. 0:35:11.920 --> 0:35:15.399 Wow, that's a wild story. I'm almost tempted to doubt it, 0:35:15.440 --> 0:35:18.440 but no, it's got to be true, right, these paintings 0:35:18.440 --> 0:35:20.480 were made to disappear mysteriously. 0:35:20.800 --> 0:35:23.280 Yeah. Now, to be clear, I'm not sure if all 0:35:23.360 --> 0:35:27.160 of the Schoenberg paintings for this picture are missing, but 0:35:27.200 --> 0:35:30.280 at least some of them are, which adds to the mystique. 0:35:31.040 --> 0:35:35.759 But that website, Vincent Price Legacy also has some other 0:35:36.000 --> 0:35:40.560 additional details about Schoenberg that are obtained from out there. 0:35:40.760 --> 0:35:44.440 The Transcendent Life and Art of Bert Schoenberg by Spencer 0:35:44.640 --> 0:35:47.799 Kanza and This is a book from twenty seventeen. The 0:35:47.840 --> 0:35:50.520 author points out that Schoenberg was very much a part 0:35:50.560 --> 0:35:53.800 of the occult and counterculture scene in LA at the time. 0:35:54.239 --> 0:35:59.120 In the LA area, he partially owned the controversial weirdo 0:35:59.280 --> 0:36:01.799 hippie coffee shop in Orange County that was known as 0:36:01.880 --> 0:36:06.839 Cafe Frankenstein. Definitely look up a picture of Cafe Frankenstein. 0:36:07.360 --> 0:36:10.960 It has this signature glass window piece, like a stained 0:36:10.960 --> 0:36:14.719 glass picture of Frankenstein's Monster in the front, and this 0:36:14.880 --> 0:36:19.200 was created by Schoenberg. He also had murals inside of 0:36:19.239 --> 0:36:22.320 the establishment, and it was apparently kind of like a 0:36:22.360 --> 0:36:25.759 notorious hangout for dangerous hippies, you know, like there's some 0:36:25.960 --> 0:36:28.879 art going on there, there's some coffee drinking, maybe there's 0:36:28.880 --> 0:36:33.319 some other substances, who knows, And the local squares were 0:36:33.320 --> 0:36:37.360 not amused. I read one anecdote that they did not 0:36:37.640 --> 0:36:39.920 like that he had the Frankestein's monster art in the 0:36:39.920 --> 0:36:42.640 front of the establishment, and when they pressured him, he 0:36:42.680 --> 0:36:44.360 was like, well, maybe I should do one of of 0:36:44.360 --> 0:36:48.520 Frankenstein's monster crucified. Maybe that would make everyone happy. So 0:36:48.560 --> 0:36:50.680 he was kind of a provocateur as well. 0:36:51.440 --> 0:36:54.040 I'm so sad this place no longer exists. I would 0:36:54.080 --> 0:36:57.719 want to go to California just to go here this. 0:36:57.880 --> 0:37:00.719 I believe the stained glass piece still though, I think 0:37:00.760 --> 0:37:04.480 that is in someone's collection. But at any rate, Yeah, 0:37:04.480 --> 0:37:06.480 he was apparently quite a character. At one point he 0:37:06.520 --> 0:37:10.000 was in a relationship with artist, poet and occultist Marjorie Cameron, 0:37:10.160 --> 0:37:14.319 who had previously been married to Jack Parsons. Oh yeah, 0:37:14.360 --> 0:37:18.839 and Schoenberg also provided paintings for the nineteen sixty two 0:37:18.920 --> 0:37:21.760 film The Premature Burial, and he served as art director 0:37:21.840 --> 0:37:25.160 on fifty eight's The Brain Eaters in nineteen sixties Code 0:37:25.160 --> 0:37:25.720 of Silence. 0:37:26.120 --> 0:37:29.239 Oh, we covered The brain Eaters is Let's see what 0:37:29.239 --> 0:37:30.960 were all the weird things about that one? I think 0:37:30.960 --> 0:37:34.480 it had Leonard Nimoy in a minor role and he 0:37:34.520 --> 0:37:37.120 never got paid for it or something. And was it 0:37:38.040 --> 0:37:40.880 maybe or maybe not based on a Robert heinlend story. 0:37:41.960 --> 0:37:43.600 Yeah, it might have been. I remember, this is one 0:37:43.600 --> 0:37:46.759 that has a great poster that perhaps over sells the 0:37:46.800 --> 0:37:49.640 rest of the picture. But it was a still fun, 0:37:49.680 --> 0:37:51.439 fun one, still fun episode to check out. 0:37:51.840 --> 0:37:52.040 Oh. 0:37:52.120 --> 0:37:54.480 I was trying to think what was the hilarious character 0:37:54.560 --> 0:37:57.440 from it, and it was Senator Walter K. Powers you 0:37:57.480 --> 0:37:59.040 remember Walter k Powers. 0:37:59.280 --> 0:38:03.760 Yeah, yeah, So anyway, we'll come back to these paintings 0:38:03.760 --> 0:38:08.000 because again they are vital parts of the picture and 0:38:08.040 --> 0:38:11.640 they're great. Okay, two more credits, just to run through 0:38:11.760 --> 0:38:13.960 really quickly before we get to the main plot. But 0:38:14.160 --> 0:38:17.640 the cinematography is by Floyd Crosby, who I can't remember 0:38:17.640 --> 0:38:19.600 if we talked about him before, but he lived eighteen 0:38:19.680 --> 0:38:23.480 ninety nine through nineteen eighty five. Academy Award winning cinematographer 0:38:23.880 --> 0:38:26.880 and father of musician David Crosby. He worked on a 0:38:26.920 --> 0:38:29.560 number of Corman pictures, including Attack of the Crab Monsters 0:38:29.560 --> 0:38:30.560 in nineteen fifty seven. 0:38:30.960 --> 0:38:35.320 You know, I've never really analyzed the cinematography of Attack 0:38:35.360 --> 0:38:37.920 of the Crab Monsters, but you know I love the movie. 0:38:37.920 --> 0:38:39.040 That's got to be a part of it. 0:38:40.760 --> 0:38:44.279 And then finally, the music is by Les Baxter, who 0:38:44.280 --> 0:38:47.239 lived nineteen twenty two through nineteen ninety six. So he's 0:38:47.239 --> 0:38:50.520 popped up on the show before because we have considered 0:38:50.640 --> 0:38:54.239 other scores by the master of exotica music, and none 0:38:54.280 --> 0:38:57.400 of these scores have been examples of exotica. Like if 0:38:57.440 --> 0:39:00.480 you look, I do recommend if you're having a tropical 0:39:00.560 --> 0:39:04.000 drink and you want to have a nice like loungy vibe, 0:39:04.640 --> 0:39:06.880 you know. Pull up some Less Baxter play some of 0:39:06.920 --> 0:39:11.120 his exotica work. It's a great sound, but we don't 0:39:11.160 --> 0:39:13.719 really get that sound as far as I know, out 0:39:13.719 --> 0:39:15.719 of any of the scores he did. If you know 0:39:15.920 --> 0:39:19.880 of a Less Baxter score that is actually an exotica score, 0:39:20.520 --> 0:39:22.120 let me know about it, because I want to dig 0:39:22.160 --> 0:39:22.920 into that picture. 0:39:23.440 --> 0:39:28.080 Can you imagine if House of Usher had exoticas they 0:39:28.200 --> 0:39:31.080 go into Roderick Usher has got like a drink with 0:39:31.120 --> 0:39:33.759 a toothpick that's got three different kinds of fruit on it. 0:39:34.320 --> 0:39:36.160 I mean, on one hand, I want to say it 0:39:36.200 --> 0:39:38.759 would be completely inappropriate. But on the other hand, like 0:39:38.840 --> 0:39:42.600 a lot of Baxter's exotica work, it has this kind 0:39:42.640 --> 0:39:44.920 of like a dark undertone. There's a sense of like 0:39:45.080 --> 0:39:50.120 rumbling volcanoes, you know, and slow moving lava. So in 0:39:50.160 --> 0:39:52.040 a way it might it might have lined up with 0:39:52.080 --> 0:39:56.640 some of those sort of geologic sensibilities of House of Usher. 0:39:56.719 --> 0:39:59.359 So I'm not sure. But again, this is not an 0:39:59.360 --> 0:40:01.239 exotica score or this is more of just like a 0:40:01.360 --> 0:40:06.400 nineteen fifty style orchestral score. But there are other example 0:40:06.440 --> 0:40:08.560 like for instance, Frogs from nineteen seventy two, which we 0:40:08.600 --> 0:40:10.120 talked about in the show before. That one has a 0:40:10.160 --> 0:40:15.320 minimalist electronic score from Les Baxter, and I think maybe 0:40:15.400 --> 0:40:18.759 arguably it could have benefitted from an Exotica score as well. 0:40:18.800 --> 0:40:28.880 I don't know. All right, well, why don't we go 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:31.960 ahead and just jump right into the plot of House. 0:40:31.719 --> 0:40:35.560 Of Usher, As is often the case with Roger Korman movies. 0:40:35.600 --> 0:40:37.840 I like the effect of the credits, and there are 0:40:37.880 --> 0:40:39.560 not a whole lot of credits to get to in 0:40:39.560 --> 0:40:42.279 this movie, as we've already alluded to, I guess a 0:40:42.360 --> 0:40:45.879 shorter credit sequence than usual. But the effect behind them 0:40:46.000 --> 0:40:50.360 is this swirling mix mixing of clouds of colored mists. 0:40:50.400 --> 0:40:54.280 So you've got pink, green, violet, red, and blue, seemingly 0:40:54.360 --> 0:40:57.439 timed with the appearance of different actors' names. Like I'm 0:40:57.480 --> 0:41:00.600 not sure if there is any intended signific against that. 0:41:00.640 --> 0:41:04.000 There's suddenly a blast of sprite canned green across the 0:41:04.040 --> 0:41:07.480 picture when the name of the personable Mark Damon splashes up. 0:41:07.960 --> 0:41:09.359 But that is what we get. 0:41:09.640 --> 0:41:11.800 Yeah, it's very colorful. I mean it's a color picture. 0:41:11.840 --> 0:41:13.480 We might as well enjoy the color. 0:41:13.440 --> 0:41:15.840 That's right, And it is something that we should appreciate 0:41:15.880 --> 0:41:19.480 that at this time, making this kind of movie, it 0:41:19.520 --> 0:41:22.239 was still a question like would you pony up for 0:41:22.440 --> 0:41:25.480 the to make this movie in color or would you 0:41:25.560 --> 0:41:28.280 just shoot it in black and white? You know, today 0:41:28.480 --> 0:41:30.360 that's not really much of a I mean, some films 0:41:30.360 --> 0:41:32.040 are still made in black and white, but for the 0:41:32.040 --> 0:41:34.719 most part, it's just assumed, Yeah, you're making a movie, 0:41:34.719 --> 0:41:37.560 you will make it in color. In nineteen sixty, making 0:41:37.560 --> 0:41:39.920 a movie of this sword, it was like a toss up, 0:41:39.920 --> 0:41:41.600 you know, you could go either way. It was a 0:41:41.600 --> 0:41:42.880 different type of investment. 0:41:43.400 --> 0:41:46.239 Yeah, yeah, and you could have made a strong case. 0:41:46.280 --> 0:41:49.239 You know, got the car, gloomy setting, maybe that does 0:41:49.320 --> 0:41:50.800 need to be in black and white. So I don't know. 0:41:50.840 --> 0:41:53.120 Maybe they did feel like they needed to prove themselves 0:41:53.120 --> 0:41:54.719 a little bit with the title sequence. 0:41:55.440 --> 0:41:58.560 So after the credits, the action opens on a barren 0:41:58.680 --> 0:42:03.400 landscape of brown and gray swampland you've got mud, fog, 0:42:03.840 --> 0:42:07.759 matted tufts of dead grass, withered tree limbs without a 0:42:07.760 --> 0:42:11.040 single leaf. All of the dead plants are also wrapped 0:42:11.080 --> 0:42:14.719 in these brittle, dead vines. So the land is it 0:42:14.760 --> 0:42:19.319 appears totally strangled, just death upon death. And then a 0:42:19.400 --> 0:42:22.360 character enters the picture. It is Mark Damon playing the 0:42:22.440 --> 0:42:26.359 character of Philip Winthrop, and he is on horseback in 0:42:26.400 --> 0:42:29.680 a heavy purple riding cloak and a tall top hat. 0:42:30.320 --> 0:42:33.440 He makes his way through the swamp on horseback along 0:42:33.480 --> 0:42:37.400 a sodden dirt path to reach his ultimate destination, the 0:42:37.440 --> 0:42:40.960 titular House of Usher, which is shown to us as 0:42:41.000 --> 0:42:45.360 a dark, decrepit mansion with curtains drawn across the windows, 0:42:46.040 --> 0:42:49.960 no light emanating from it, and mist surrounding the foundation 0:42:50.160 --> 0:42:51.280 like a white blanket. 0:42:52.239 --> 0:42:55.640 Ah. And this just looks tremendous. I can't drive home 0:42:56.320 --> 0:43:00.040 enough just how incredible this house looks. It is like 0:43:01.280 --> 0:43:04.000 it is, Yes, it is a great, big, old Gothic 0:43:04.160 --> 0:43:07.239 hulk of a mansion, but it also looks kind of 0:43:07.280 --> 0:43:11.239 like just a decaying whale carcass, you know, just you know, 0:43:11.280 --> 0:43:14.120 a heap of excess in a ruin that is literally 0:43:14.160 --> 0:43:18.040 poisoning the surrounding landscape is on the verge of falling 0:43:18.120 --> 0:43:21.959 into hell itself. Like this is like wealth and over 0:43:22.040 --> 0:43:27.680 indulgence dragged across the centuries, you know, pulling souls down 0:43:27.760 --> 0:43:28.799 into darkness with it. 0:43:29.280 --> 0:43:33.840 Yeah, So Winthrop approaches this, this whale carcass, the mansion 0:43:34.120 --> 0:43:37.120 passing through a broken stone gate, and he goes in 0:43:37.160 --> 0:43:40.920 between these black, twisted, almost melted looking trees. And I 0:43:40.960 --> 0:43:44.080 actually read a production note that somewhere in here the 0:43:44.080 --> 0:43:47.520 designers used some trees that had partially burned in a 0:43:47.560 --> 0:43:50.719 recent California wildfire when the film was made. I don't 0:43:50.719 --> 0:43:52.759 know if it's in this shot, but if it were, 0:43:52.840 --> 0:43:53.680 that would make sense. 0:43:54.280 --> 0:43:57.239 Yeah, yeah, I know. I recently was in California. We 0:43:57.280 --> 0:43:59.719 did a lot of driving through the countryside. We saw 0:44:00.080 --> 0:44:03.440 a number of these sorts of trees, and this, well, 0:44:03.440 --> 0:44:05.440 not a landscape like the Fall of the House of Usher, 0:44:05.480 --> 0:44:09.319 but trees landscapes that had these sorts of trees in them, 0:44:09.320 --> 0:44:12.680 And yeah, you can certainly lean into a haunted interpretation 0:44:12.880 --> 0:44:13.560 and so forth. 0:44:14.040 --> 0:44:16.360 So Philip comes to the front door, which is wreathed 0:44:16.400 --> 0:44:20.000 in cobwebs, and he raps with the giant bronze knocker. 0:44:20.719 --> 0:44:23.440 The door is answered by a gray haired servant in 0:44:23.480 --> 0:44:26.920 a black coat, and he's got a sad, apprehensive face 0:44:27.040 --> 0:44:31.320 framed by these silver sideburns. Philip introduces himself to the 0:44:31.360 --> 0:44:35.919 servant as Madeline Usher's fiance and asks to see her. 0:44:36.040 --> 0:44:39.399 But the butler, whose name is Bristol tells him that 0:44:39.440 --> 0:44:42.359 she is confined to her bed because she is taken ill. 0:44:42.760 --> 0:44:46.279 So Bristol tries to deny Philip Entree, saying that Madeleine's 0:44:46.280 --> 0:44:50.680 brother Roderick, has forbidden any visitors, but Philip is very pushy. 0:44:50.719 --> 0:44:53.239 He won't take no for an answer, so Bristol leads 0:44:53.280 --> 0:44:54.440 him inside. 0:44:54.320 --> 0:44:57.640 And already we are seeing some red candles. This film 0:44:57.680 --> 0:45:00.680 is all about the red Candle's only red candles in 0:45:00.719 --> 0:45:02.359 the house of Usher, That's right. 0:45:02.400 --> 0:45:04.680 So yeah, the interior of the house is a little 0:45:04.719 --> 0:45:08.360 more inviting than the outside, but there's still some threatening energy. 0:45:10.040 --> 0:45:13.640 One thing that this is not really a complaint about 0:45:13.640 --> 0:45:16.200 the movie. It's rather just sort of a fact about 0:45:16.200 --> 0:45:19.480 how movies are made, especially at this time, based on 0:45:19.719 --> 0:45:23.560 things the characters say. I think we're supposed to understand 0:45:23.600 --> 0:45:27.720 that it is always kept very dark inside the Usher mansion. 0:45:27.800 --> 0:45:32.040 Even candlelight is weak and scarce, but it doesn't really 0:45:32.200 --> 0:45:35.080 look that way like for the audience looking at the sets, 0:45:35.160 --> 0:45:38.880 everything is usually quite brightly lit. There may just be 0:45:38.960 --> 0:45:41.279 no way around that. It's kind of like suspending your 0:45:41.320 --> 0:45:43.399 disbelief for a play. You know that this is really 0:45:43.400 --> 0:45:45.319 taking place in a room even though you're looking up 0:45:45.360 --> 0:45:48.920 at a stage. But this does raise an interesting ongoing 0:45:48.960 --> 0:45:52.799 problem even in movies today, with the art of visual storytelling, 0:45:53.120 --> 0:45:57.320 how do you convincingly show that a scene is dark 0:45:57.440 --> 0:46:00.600 but also allow the audience to see what's happening. It's 0:46:00.640 --> 0:46:04.000 kind of a oxymoron, but it's a thing different filmmakers 0:46:04.000 --> 0:46:08.320 have tried to tackle in different ways. Sometimes they just brightly, 0:46:08.480 --> 0:46:10.600 you know, they just brightly light it anyway and then 0:46:10.640 --> 0:46:13.840 ask you to suspend your disbelief. Other times the scene 0:46:14.000 --> 0:46:16.360 is actually dark and that contributes to a kind of 0:46:16.400 --> 0:46:20.839 emotional or atmospheric effect, but it can create frustrations when 0:46:20.880 --> 0:46:22.080 trying to follow the drama. 0:46:22.800 --> 0:46:24.720 Yeah, there was there was a time or two watching 0:46:24.719 --> 0:46:26.640 this film where they were talking about how dark the 0:46:26.680 --> 0:46:28.359 room was, and I was like, well, even I can 0:46:28.640 --> 0:46:32.200 really make out everything. Maybe the lighting is off on 0:46:32.239 --> 0:46:33.839 my phone or something. Yeah. 0:46:33.880 --> 0:46:35.920 I think this is still just a tension that visual 0:46:35.920 --> 0:46:39.760 storytellers struggle with eve until today. You know, I remember 0:46:39.840 --> 0:46:43.279 people talking about stuff in the last season of Game 0:46:43.280 --> 0:46:45.680 of Thrones, you know, apart from any like writing issues 0:46:45.680 --> 0:46:49.319 about that, but questions about certain scenes and episodes that 0:46:49.360 --> 0:46:52.880 were like very very dimly lit and dark scenes, and 0:46:53.640 --> 0:46:56.359 even that does highlight like, yeah, you can do that, 0:46:56.640 --> 0:46:58.640 and that can be good in some ways. It can 0:46:58.719 --> 0:47:01.239 create and intended at spheric effect. It can make you 0:47:01.280 --> 0:47:03.360 feel a certain way, But then you're going to have 0:47:03.400 --> 0:47:05.799 a lot of viewers complaining that they can't tell what's 0:47:05.840 --> 0:47:08.360 going on, or they can't follow what's what's supposed to 0:47:08.400 --> 0:47:09.440 be happening in a scene. 0:47:09.920 --> 0:47:13.560 I've also read I'm I can't one percent match my 0:47:14.000 --> 0:47:17.480 experience up with this, but I've I've observed some conversations 0:47:18.000 --> 0:47:22.920 about how really dark scenes in movies, especially modern movies, 0:47:23.840 --> 0:47:28.960 perhaps don't play as well on streaming platforms versus physical media, 0:47:29.040 --> 0:47:31.319 you know, And I'm not enough of a tech head 0:47:31.400 --> 0:47:33.640 on all of that to really weigh in, but if 0:47:33.680 --> 0:47:35.560 listeners out there have any feedback on that, I'd love 0:47:35.640 --> 0:47:37.640 to I'd love to hear from you. I mean, I'm 0:47:37.680 --> 0:47:40.440 kind of like all in on any argument for physical 0:47:40.480 --> 0:47:43.120 media over depending entirely on streamers, so when it comes 0:47:43.160 --> 0:47:44.040 to films. 0:47:44.000 --> 0:47:46.640 Or I would wonder also just about watching things on 0:47:46.840 --> 0:47:50.080 home video versus in the movie theater. The movie theater 0:47:50.160 --> 0:47:53.080 might be a case where more dimly lit scenes come 0:47:53.080 --> 0:47:53.800 across better. 0:47:53.840 --> 0:47:56.360 I don't know, Yeah, that's the in theater. Propaganda is 0:47:56.400 --> 0:47:58.960 really big on telling me that the darks are darker, 0:47:59.400 --> 0:48:02.680 and you know, having watched Son of Frankenstein on the 0:48:02.680 --> 0:48:05.600 big screen, I mean those those really those dark shadows 0:48:05.600 --> 0:48:07.840 are really luscious up there, so I got kind of 0:48:07.840 --> 0:48:08.360 buy into it. 0:48:08.760 --> 0:48:11.160 Anyway, that's not what's going on in House of Usher. 0:48:11.160 --> 0:48:15.319 Everything is very well lit here. But so we come 0:48:15.320 --> 0:48:18.000 inside and yes, we do have these these red candles everywhere, 0:48:18.080 --> 0:48:22.040 cherry red candles. And I like this little moment where 0:48:22.040 --> 0:48:24.960 Bristol the butler asks Philip to take off his boots 0:48:25.239 --> 0:48:28.160 and he's like, what for, and he just says, you know, 0:48:28.200 --> 0:48:32.719 mister Roderick will explain, and Bristol disappears mysteriously for a 0:48:32.760 --> 0:48:34.919 moment here, but then reappears with slippers for him. 0:48:35.080 --> 0:48:38.120 Yeah, some real culture shock being asked to take your 0:48:38.400 --> 0:48:42.319 shoes off in this shoes off household here, which which 0:48:42.360 --> 0:48:46.600 I really I really appreciated this because I prior to 0:48:46.600 --> 0:48:48.880 watching the film, I'd been meeting up with some family 0:48:49.160 --> 0:48:52.200 and it was clearly like a mix of shoes on 0:48:52.360 --> 0:48:55.040 households and shoes off households. Meeting in a rental home, 0:48:55.080 --> 0:48:57.120 you know, where you're like what why are people in 0:48:57.160 --> 0:48:59.680 the kitchen with their shoes on? What's happening? And you 0:48:59.719 --> 0:49:01.160 know their different approaches? 0:49:01.560 --> 0:49:03.680 Wait, if you're comfortable sharing, which way are you? I 0:49:03.719 --> 0:49:05.480 don't even know? Do you all take shoes off in 0:49:05.520 --> 0:49:05.839 the house? 0:49:05.960 --> 0:49:08.759 We're shoes off house? Okay? Cool? But you know, I 0:49:08.760 --> 0:49:12.000 mean if someone comes and I forget to say, hey, 0:49:12.040 --> 0:49:13.879 you can take your shoes off, and they're wearing their shoes, 0:49:13.920 --> 0:49:15.480 I'm not going to freak out. It's like that's on 0:49:15.600 --> 0:49:18.560 me because I didn't give you a heads up. Also, 0:49:18.840 --> 0:49:22.280 as comedian Shang Wang points out, there are certain circumstances 0:49:22.320 --> 0:49:25.160 where you may have to like run through the house 0:49:25.239 --> 0:49:27.480 with the shoes on to do something, you know, like 0:49:27.520 --> 0:49:29.440 turn the alarm system off or something. I don't know. 0:49:29.480 --> 0:49:34.840 There are circumstances that the demand you keep them on. 0:49:35.400 --> 0:49:38.360 Well, what is totally a commonplace in some cultures and 0:49:38.400 --> 0:49:40.760 some families is treated as quite strange. 0:49:40.760 --> 0:49:40.960 Here. 0:49:41.080 --> 0:49:43.279 This is not something that Philip Winthrop is used to. 0:49:43.400 --> 0:49:46.800 But yeah, we're told that Roderick will explain. So Philip 0:49:46.840 --> 0:49:49.600 is led up the grand staircase. So he goes along 0:49:49.640 --> 0:49:53.799 this carved banister and hand rail past these tapestries. Again, 0:49:53.880 --> 0:49:57.480 the cherry red candles to an upper hallway and eventually 0:49:57.480 --> 0:50:00.600 to Roderick's room. And ooh, there's a very good boo 0:50:00.680 --> 0:50:03.680 scare right at the first time we meet Vincent Price. 0:50:03.760 --> 0:50:06.840 So Bristol goes to knock on the bedroom door, but 0:50:07.040 --> 0:50:10.280 before his knuckles can touch the wood, the door swings 0:50:10.320 --> 0:50:13.799 inward and into the doorway bursts Roderick. It is a 0:50:14.080 --> 0:50:18.359 fierce looking, clean shaven Vincent Price with platinum blonde hair, 0:50:18.680 --> 0:50:21.960 wearing a red velvet jacket and a black tie. 0:50:22.760 --> 0:50:25.960 Yeah, seeming to tower over him as well. Here. 0:50:26.480 --> 0:50:30.880 Yes, Price does come off as very physically large in 0:50:30.920 --> 0:50:33.160 this movie, and I think that'll be interesting to talk 0:50:33.200 --> 0:50:36.520 about maybe later when we I don't talk about the 0:50:36.960 --> 0:50:42.320 weird contrasting aspects of his physical presence and whether or 0:50:42.400 --> 0:50:43.960 not he should be taken as threatening. 0:50:44.320 --> 0:50:47.560 Yeah, because he seems physically imposing that we learned that 0:50:47.840 --> 0:50:49.239 he's actually quite fragile. 0:50:50.600 --> 0:50:53.560 Yeah, we'll get to that soon. So Roderick is initially 0:50:53.600 --> 0:50:57.680 furious that Bristol has admitted a visitor. He's furious but 0:50:58.000 --> 0:51:01.480 soft spoken, so he's like, how dare you? But in 0:51:01.520 --> 0:51:06.080 a library voice, and Philip explains that he insisted he 0:51:06.120 --> 0:51:08.719 believed he had the right. So Roderick brings Philip into 0:51:08.719 --> 0:51:12.800 his room to discuss, and in here Philip starts talking, 0:51:12.880 --> 0:51:16.440 but before he can even finish a sentence, Roderick winces, 0:51:16.600 --> 0:51:19.960 covering his ears and saying, mister Winthrop, if you please, 0:51:20.200 --> 0:51:24.320 an affliction of the hearing. Sounds of any exaggerated degree 0:51:24.440 --> 0:51:28.360 cut into my brain like knives, So you have to 0:51:28.400 --> 0:51:30.960 be you have to use your inside voice when speaking 0:51:30.960 --> 0:51:34.520 to Roderick. He cannot stand a raised voice. It causes 0:51:34.600 --> 0:51:38.759 him such pain. So Roderick goes to rest in a 0:51:38.840 --> 0:51:41.799 high back chair and Philip begins to explain what's going on. 0:51:41.920 --> 0:51:44.640 He says that he must be allowed to see Madeline 0:51:44.680 --> 0:51:50.040 since they are engaged to be married. Roderick seems disturbed 0:51:50.080 --> 0:51:53.840 by this news and tells him that it's impossible. Madeleine 0:51:53.880 --> 0:51:57.000 is confined to her bed and their engagement has to 0:51:57.040 --> 0:51:59.040 be called off. It was He should think of it 0:51:59.160 --> 0:52:02.560 just as an unform fortunate mistake, and Philip must leave 0:52:02.600 --> 0:52:05.279 the estate at once. He says, it is not a 0:52:05.320 --> 0:52:09.120 healthy place for you to be. Philip, of course, does 0:52:09.160 --> 0:52:11.960 not accept this, and it would be a strange thing 0:52:12.000 --> 0:52:14.600 if he just conformed. He's like, no, I don't understand 0:52:14.600 --> 0:52:17.000 why you're saying this, and he says he's not going 0:52:17.040 --> 0:52:20.840 to leave without seeing Madeleine. Multiple times in this argument, 0:52:20.880 --> 0:52:24.040 again Philip raises his voice and whenever he gets louder, 0:52:24.120 --> 0:52:27.240 Price closes his eyes and grits his teeth in pain. 0:52:27.320 --> 0:52:30.560 So he reacts every time. But while they're going back 0:52:30.600 --> 0:52:33.960 and forth, their dispute is cut short when Madeleine herself 0:52:34.000 --> 0:52:37.799 appears in the doorway of Roderick's room, and again this 0:52:37.920 --> 0:52:41.759 is mRNA Fahe Now, she's obviously very happy to see 0:52:41.800 --> 0:52:44.640 Philip and flattered that he made the journey here to 0:52:45.040 --> 0:52:48.760 the mansion. But there is some kind of cloud hanging 0:52:48.800 --> 0:52:53.360 over their reunion, somewhat literally, in the form of Roderick himself, 0:52:53.400 --> 0:52:56.600 who cuts it short to escort Madeleine back to her room, 0:52:57.000 --> 0:52:59.399 explaining that she must go back to bed. 0:53:01.200 --> 0:53:04.040 Yes, this is another film where people are sent to 0:53:04.080 --> 0:53:06.200 bed a very strict bedtime schedule here in the House 0:53:06.239 --> 0:53:06.600 of Usher. 0:53:06.960 --> 0:53:09.680 Yeah, so they go, and Philip is left alone in 0:53:09.760 --> 0:53:13.840 Roderick's room, And here is where we see one of 0:53:13.880 --> 0:53:17.239 the first of the Bert Schoenberg paintings, not of a 0:53:17.600 --> 0:53:20.880 person in this case, but of the house itself. In 0:53:20.920 --> 0:53:24.840 a wild impressionistic style. I was trying to think of 0:53:24.880 --> 0:53:28.360 a way to describe this. It's this is a great painting. 0:53:28.520 --> 0:53:32.480 It looks so it's so colorful and almost happy in 0:53:32.560 --> 0:53:35.200 the way the colors are jumbled, but also does look 0:53:35.280 --> 0:53:39.080 quite evil. It's like a cross between a haunted mansion, 0:53:39.560 --> 0:53:42.920 a monet painting of a big pile of Halloween candies, 0:53:43.320 --> 0:53:46.160 and also sort of a boss from Legend of Zelda 0:53:46.239 --> 0:53:47.200 Ocarina of Time. 0:53:47.840 --> 0:53:51.440 Yeah, it's pretty fabulous. So again, very strong night Gallery vibes. 0:53:52.080 --> 0:53:55.040 You know, I can basically hear the theme music in 0:53:55.080 --> 0:53:59.040 my head. You know. It looks like a like a 0:53:59.480 --> 0:54:02.920 decaying anson made out of meat, with like an eye 0:54:02.960 --> 0:54:04.319 opening in the center of it. 0:54:04.320 --> 0:54:07.120 It's tremendous, the eye in the center. That's what I'm 0:54:07.120 --> 0:54:09.400 reacting to with the Zelda comparison. It looks like the 0:54:09.400 --> 0:54:11.960 first boss you fight in Okarina of Time, that thing 0:54:12.000 --> 0:54:15.719 in the tree. Anyway, While Philip is looking at the 0:54:15.719 --> 0:54:20.640 painting waiting for Roderick to return, the fireplace suddenly spits 0:54:20.640 --> 0:54:23.160 a bunch of cinders onto his legs, and this will 0:54:23.200 --> 0:54:25.239 be the first of many attempts by the house to 0:54:25.320 --> 0:54:28.520 murder the characters. But he just kind of brushes it off. 0:54:28.920 --> 0:54:32.600 Roderick comes back and asks with concern what happened, But 0:54:32.719 --> 0:54:34.880 Philip is not worried about it. He's just like, I 0:54:34.880 --> 0:54:38.680 think your fireplace needs a screen, and Price says, does it. 0:54:41.160 --> 0:54:43.439 After this, they pick up the conversation sort of where 0:54:43.440 --> 0:54:47.120 they left off. We learn that Roderick is a man 0:54:47.239 --> 0:54:50.319 of the arts. He paints. The painted work we were 0:54:50.360 --> 0:54:54.360 just talking about is his own, and Roderick also plays 0:54:54.400 --> 0:54:59.479 the lute. But here the conversation gets weirder. Roderick wants 0:54:59.520 --> 0:55:03.480 to know if Philip really intends to marry Madeleine. Philip says, 0:55:03.520 --> 0:55:06.360 of course he does, and Roderick says, do you intend 0:55:06.440 --> 0:55:10.280 to have children? And Philip says, god willing. Then Roderick 0:55:10.480 --> 0:55:14.480 gasps with despair and he says god willing. He explains 0:55:14.520 --> 0:55:19.080 that this would be a nightmare and it cannot happen. Why. Well, 0:55:19.080 --> 0:55:23.359 here we get one of Vincent Price's many lovely tortured monologues. 0:55:23.400 --> 0:55:25.120 So I just want to read from part of what 0:55:25.160 --> 0:55:29.080 he says here with some abridgments. Price says, because the 0:55:29.200 --> 0:55:33.400 usher line is tainted, you saw Madeleine and you see me. 0:55:34.080 --> 0:55:37.400 We are dying mister Winthrop, as you saw her today, 0:55:37.520 --> 0:55:40.880 she is and will remain. Which, by the way, again, 0:55:40.920 --> 0:55:45.160 in suspension of disbelief, I will say, nothing looked all 0:55:45.200 --> 0:55:48.520 that unhealthy about Madeleine. Like she looked fine. But by 0:55:48.600 --> 0:55:51.480 the way the characters talk, we're supposed to understand that 0:55:51.560 --> 0:55:54.120 when we saw her in the previous scene, she looks 0:55:54.160 --> 0:55:56.399 sickly and like like she is about to die. 0:55:56.560 --> 0:55:58.600 But really she just looks like she still has her 0:55:58.680 --> 0:56:02.200 night down on and it's had time to put on 0:56:02.280 --> 0:56:02.960 all her makeup. 0:56:03.200 --> 0:56:05.680 Yeah, so Madeleine is supposed to look sick in the 0:56:05.680 --> 0:56:08.239 same way that these brightly rooms are supposed to look dark. 0:56:08.320 --> 0:56:09.200 Yeah. 0:56:09.280 --> 0:56:12.960 But anyway, Price continues. Believe me, sir, I bear you 0:56:13.080 --> 0:56:16.439 no malice were things otherwise I should welcome you into 0:56:16.440 --> 0:56:21.280 our family joyously. But under the circumstances it is quite impossible. 0:56:22.080 --> 0:56:24.680 And then a little later he says, Madeline and I 0:56:24.800 --> 0:56:28.920 are like figures of fine glass. The slightest touch and 0:56:28.960 --> 0:56:31.920 we may shatter. Both of us suffer from a morbid 0:56:31.960 --> 0:56:35.920 acuteness of the senses. Mine is the worse for having 0:56:35.960 --> 0:56:39.239 existed the longer, but both of us are afflicted with it. 0:56:39.719 --> 0:56:42.920 Any sort of food more exotic than the most pallid 0:56:43.120 --> 0:56:47.160 mash is unendurable to my taste buds. Any sort of 0:56:47.239 --> 0:56:50.879 garment other than the softest is agony to my flesh. 0:56:51.360 --> 0:56:54.960 My eyes are tormented by all but the faintest illumination. 0:56:55.719 --> 0:56:59.400 Odors assail me constantly, and as I've said, sounds of 0:56:59.440 --> 0:57:05.120 any degree whatsoever inspire me with terror. And then Philip reasons, ah, 0:57:05.160 --> 0:57:07.720 that's why your servant asked me to remove my boots, 0:57:08.719 --> 0:57:11.640 and Roderick says yes. And even so, I could hear 0:57:11.680 --> 0:57:15.920 your coming, every footstep, every rustle of your clothes. I 0:57:15.960 --> 0:57:18.880 could hear your horse approaching, hear the clatter of its 0:57:18.920 --> 0:57:22.480 hoofs across the courtyard, Your knock, the grating of the 0:57:22.560 --> 0:57:25.400 door bolt was like a sword stroke to my ears. 0:57:25.840 --> 0:57:28.560 I can hear the scratch of rat claws within the 0:57:28.600 --> 0:57:32.480 stone wall. Mister Winthrop, three quarters of my family have 0:57:32.560 --> 0:57:36.080 fallen into madness, and in their madness have acquired a 0:57:36.240 --> 0:57:39.720 superhuman strength, so that it took the power of many 0:57:39.840 --> 0:57:43.360 to subdue them. Oh excellent, and I love this for 0:57:43.480 --> 0:57:46.080 many reasons. First of all, the evincent Price's delivery in 0:57:46.120 --> 0:57:49.000 the scene is great, but I also thought it was 0:57:49.040 --> 0:57:54.560 really interesting the relationship between the supposedly afflicted characters and 0:57:54.640 --> 0:57:58.480 the senses. I think a lot of times characters in 0:57:58.960 --> 0:58:01.440 horror stories like this seem to be suffering from some 0:58:01.560 --> 0:58:05.200 kind of vague affliction are presented in the opposite way. 0:58:05.240 --> 0:58:10.800 They're presented as insensate or unconscious, kind of detached from reality. 0:58:11.440 --> 0:58:17.439 The Ushers instead are hyper sensitive to all stimulize, sound, light, 0:58:17.600 --> 0:58:21.760 and taste, and they are thus more present and more 0:58:21.880 --> 0:58:27.040 vulnerable to every little bit of life. And there's also 0:58:27.040 --> 0:58:31.200 an interesting relationship of this to their cursed super strength. 0:58:31.760 --> 0:58:34.560 And warning there will be spoilers ahead, So if you 0:58:34.600 --> 0:58:37.320 want to see this movie without anything spoiled, you know, 0:58:37.400 --> 0:58:41.000 go ahead and watch it for yourself. But spoiler's incoming. 0:58:41.440 --> 0:58:44.000 Later in the film, when Madeline does finally succumb to 0:58:44.040 --> 0:58:46.640 the Usher madness, we see that she's able to break 0:58:46.720 --> 0:58:49.440 metal chains and she kind of becomes a goth hulk. 0:58:50.000 --> 0:58:53.280 Yeah, it is like there, the multi generational evil of 0:58:53.320 --> 0:58:57.200 the Usher family has reached terminal velocity, and you can 0:58:57.280 --> 0:59:00.880 tap into that velocity if you want to, if you 0:59:00.960 --> 0:59:02.280 have the willpower, I guess. 0:59:02.960 --> 0:59:05.200 Yeah. So it's like at the same time that they 0:59:05.240 --> 0:59:10.000 are dying and incredibly fragile. They're also becoming Superman. They're 0:59:10.040 --> 0:59:13.760 gain they're gaining all of Superman's sensory powers, like his 0:59:13.880 --> 0:59:17.040 superhering and everything, and they're gaining Superman's strength. 0:59:17.520 --> 0:59:18.240 Yeah. 0:59:18.320 --> 0:59:21.840 So Winthrop of course reacts to this with extreme skepticism. 0:59:22.440 --> 0:59:25.040 And then he's like, it is so dark in here, Roderick, 0:59:25.040 --> 0:59:27.880 can you light a candle? And so Roderick goes and 0:59:28.000 --> 0:59:31.160 lights two red candles on the mantle above the fireplace, 0:59:31.560 --> 0:59:35.000 and then he says, two pale drops of fire guttering 0:59:35.040 --> 0:59:39.800 in the vast, consuming darkness, my sister and myself. Shortly 0:59:39.840 --> 0:59:40.920 they will burn no more. 0:59:41.960 --> 0:59:43.760 I think this may have been the scene where I 0:59:43.800 --> 0:59:46.640 thought to myself, I can see every corner of this room. 0:59:47.520 --> 0:59:50.320 I think you're overreacting, Roderick, but you know, he kind 0:59:50.320 --> 0:59:51.280 of does a lot of the time. 0:59:51.880 --> 0:59:55.080 But so here the sort of the central dispute between 0:59:55.120 --> 0:59:59.320 the characters is established. Roderick says, hey, our family line 0:59:59.360 --> 1:00:02.480 is cursed. Madeleine and I are suffering from a physical 1:00:02.560 --> 1:00:05.880 and mental decomposition as a result of this curse. And 1:00:06.120 --> 1:00:09.600 Madeleine cannot be allowed to leave this house, cannot have children, 1:00:09.840 --> 1:00:11.920 or she will pass the curse along to them. And 1:00:11.960 --> 1:00:14.640 the evil will continue. Philip, on the other hand, does 1:00:14.680 --> 1:00:17.200 not believe in the idea of this curse. He's dismissive 1:00:17.280 --> 1:00:20.080 of the whole thing and says, if Madeleine still wishes 1:00:20.120 --> 1:00:22.240 to marry him and wishes to have children, they will 1:00:22.240 --> 1:00:26.040 do so and they will leave the house together. This 1:00:26.080 --> 1:00:28.760 is something that Philip does bring up. It is the 1:00:28.800 --> 1:00:32.680 fact that he does already know her. Yeah, it's you know, 1:00:33.320 --> 1:00:37.760 like they have a relationship already. They you know, It's like, 1:00:37.840 --> 1:00:41.800 it's just that now he is on Roderick's turf and 1:00:41.840 --> 1:00:45.520 he he has come to meet her family and is 1:00:45.600 --> 1:00:49.680 therefore encountering different dynamics. I do think that's actually very 1:00:49.680 --> 1:00:54.800 interesting because this is an exaggerated horror version of a 1:00:54.840 --> 1:00:58.040 real dynamic, which is that, you know, people often act 1:00:58.160 --> 1:01:00.800 different when they're around their family. Can meet a person 1:01:00.880 --> 1:01:03.120 in one setting, and then when you go to meet 1:01:03.160 --> 1:01:06.320 their family, they just changed a little bit. They act 1:01:06.320 --> 1:01:09.320 a little bit different. I think a lot of people 1:01:09.360 --> 1:01:12.120 have probably experienced this with like the family of a 1:01:12.160 --> 1:01:14.760 significant other, you know, with their in laws or whatever. 1:01:15.400 --> 1:01:19.120 Of course, this takes that too monstrous dimensions. 1:01:19.040 --> 1:01:22.440 Yes, but but yeah, it does plan some real dynamics 1:01:22.440 --> 1:01:24.680 I think, you know, like even in my own life, 1:01:24.680 --> 1:01:27.400 you know, I recognize that. Yeah, you know, I love 1:01:27.440 --> 1:01:30.560 my family, but if I'm visiting with them more than 1:01:30.560 --> 1:01:33.120 a couple of days, I feel myself falling back into 1:01:33.120 --> 1:01:35.760 a former self. You know. I feel like I can 1:01:35.760 --> 1:01:39.920 only maintain who I am outside of that dynamic for 1:01:40.000 --> 1:01:41.800 like a day or so, and then I begin to 1:01:41.880 --> 1:01:46.320 slip into this former self. And you know, I just 1:01:46.520 --> 1:01:51.640 observing the way that I change or regress when I 1:01:51.680 --> 1:01:52.640 am in this environment. 1:01:52.960 --> 1:01:56.200 Yeah, I think it's a really common experience. But so 1:01:56.480 --> 1:01:58.400 Philip here, he says, I'm going to stay at the 1:01:58.400 --> 1:02:02.120 house until Madeline is well enough to leave. And Roderick 1:02:02.280 --> 1:02:05.760 is like, you know, okay, but now now that you know, 1:02:05.880 --> 1:02:09.800 whatever consequences fall upon you here, that's not my responsibility. 1:02:09.840 --> 1:02:11.200 That's on you, you know. 1:02:11.280 --> 1:02:14.040 And he's gonna have some time to kill in the 1:02:14.280 --> 1:02:16.520 House of Usher here. He's going to start pointing out 1:02:16.560 --> 1:02:19.640 some problems with the foundation and so forth. And I 1:02:19.640 --> 1:02:22.200 couldn't help, but think, wouldn't it be an interesting read 1:02:22.280 --> 1:02:25.160 on this if Philip was a real fixer upper, you know, 1:02:25.240 --> 1:02:27.360 like a handyman type, and he was like, let me 1:02:27.400 --> 1:02:29.520 get it. Roderick let me go over to the home depot. 1:02:29.920 --> 1:02:31.480 I'm going to pick up a few things I can. 1:02:31.520 --> 1:02:33.760 I can spackle this crack up. We'll get sho up 1:02:33.760 --> 1:02:34.680 and running a noe time. 1:02:34.960 --> 1:02:37.520 Now pards to the lab and. 1:02:37.480 --> 1:02:41.040 Roderick would be like, you can try, but this home 1:02:41.120 --> 1:02:44.640 is beyond repair because of the curves. 1:02:44.960 --> 1:02:48.080 Oh you know what Roderick is. He's like Homer Simpson 1:02:48.120 --> 1:02:50.480 in that episode where he's like, you know, the problem 1:02:50.520 --> 1:02:55.760 was water damage. A simple five cent washer will get out. 1:02:56.760 --> 1:03:00.400 So anyway, one of the weird things. The first time 1:03:00.400 --> 1:03:02.400 I was watching this, I was confused about I thought 1:03:02.440 --> 1:03:05.440 Philip arrived late at night, but I think he's supposed 1:03:05.480 --> 1:03:07.600 to have arrived earlier in the day, because we see 1:03:07.600 --> 1:03:09.760 like time pass and then it's like later in the 1:03:09.840 --> 1:03:14.080 evening and Philip is alone in his guest room getting 1:03:14.120 --> 1:03:17.000 ready to go down for supper. And here we see 1:03:17.000 --> 1:03:19.640 the first of the Poultergeist. Ye stuff like he's got 1:03:19.840 --> 1:03:22.720 a chamber stick that's like a little candle holder with 1:03:22.760 --> 1:03:25.160 a dish on the bottom. You know, He's got that 1:03:25.280 --> 1:03:27.920 sitting on a table and it starts to scoot across 1:03:28.000 --> 1:03:31.360 the surface of the table by itself. Now, when I 1:03:31.400 --> 1:03:34.160 first saw this, I was like, ah, okay, so there 1:03:34.200 --> 1:03:38.440 are definitely ghosts here. But then Philip hears a rumbling 1:03:38.560 --> 1:03:40.880 sound and he goes to look out his window and 1:03:40.920 --> 1:03:43.520 sees there is a giant crack running up from the 1:03:43.560 --> 1:03:45.920 foundation up the side of the house. Part of the 1:03:45.920 --> 1:03:48.920 frame of the house seems to be shifting, so maybe 1:03:49.760 --> 1:03:52.280 that's what made the candle inside move. Maybe it wasn't 1:03:52.280 --> 1:03:54.880 a ghost. And we get some nice creepy close ups 1:03:55.000 --> 1:03:57.960 of the crack running along the length of the exterior wall. 1:03:58.280 --> 1:04:00.720 It's just drooling cobweb and dust. 1:04:01.080 --> 1:04:03.760 Yeah, this house is not up to cut. We're we're 1:04:03.880 --> 1:04:04.520 we're learning. 1:04:04.800 --> 1:04:14.040 Yeah. 1:04:14.080 --> 1:04:14.280 Oh. 1:04:14.320 --> 1:04:16.800 As Philip is coming down for supper, he nearly gets 1:04:16.840 --> 1:04:20.640 squashed by a falling chandelier, you know, just misses him. 1:04:20.640 --> 1:04:23.720 He dodges out of the way, and Madeline comes out 1:04:23.760 --> 1:04:26.160 and sees this, and she begs him to leave the 1:04:26.200 --> 1:04:28.920 house for his own safety, but he's like, no, it's fine. 1:04:28.960 --> 1:04:33.320 It's just an old creaky chandelier. Everything's okay. So they 1:04:33.320 --> 1:04:36.000 have dinner and they're sitting at the strange dinner table. 1:04:36.040 --> 1:04:39.640 Apparently again the Ushers can only eat unseasoned mash and 1:04:39.720 --> 1:04:43.560 white bread, but Roderick does appear to have a taste 1:04:43.560 --> 1:04:48.160 for wine served in nearly opaque blood red goblets. I 1:04:48.160 --> 1:04:50.640 guess maybe wine is not too exotic a flavor. 1:04:51.200 --> 1:04:53.880 No, no, you know, especially if you're just having potatoes 1:04:53.880 --> 1:04:56.560 and molasses for dinner and you can you can handle 1:04:57.280 --> 1:04:58.520 slightly spicy wine. 1:04:58.840 --> 1:05:02.200 Yeah. Philip notices that Madeleine is not eating at all. 1:05:02.440 --> 1:05:04.640 He's also like, hey, Roderick, are you going to get 1:05:04.680 --> 1:05:06.920 that crack in the wall fixed? What you're talking about? 1:05:06.920 --> 1:05:09.400 And I do not think Roderick is planning on it. 1:05:10.880 --> 1:05:14.800 Other topics of conversation at dinner are that the soil 1:05:14.840 --> 1:05:17.400 around the mansion is turned sour, no plants will grow 1:05:17.440 --> 1:05:21.040 in the usherlands, and then also that friends in Boston 1:05:21.200 --> 1:05:25.000 keep asking about Madeline, and she seems encouraged by this, 1:05:25.120 --> 1:05:28.520 but Roderick looks irritated at the delivery of this news. 1:05:29.040 --> 1:05:31.840 So after supper, Philip and Madeleine they go up to 1:05:31.880 --> 1:05:34.000 the sitting room, I guess with Roderick, and they listen 1:05:34.080 --> 1:05:36.360 to him giving a little concert. He plays his lute, 1:05:36.400 --> 1:05:40.080 Remember the lute from earlier. Roderick says, yes, I play 1:05:40.120 --> 1:05:42.360 the lute, but I don't know listening in this scene 1:05:42.680 --> 1:05:46.480 does he play it either sounds like he is just 1:05:46.640 --> 1:05:50.640 now learning and kind of improvising, or he is so 1:05:50.920 --> 1:05:54.000 advanced as a lute player that now he is only 1:05:54.040 --> 1:05:57.680 interested in non rhythmic twelve tone compositions. 1:05:58.920 --> 1:06:01.880 At the very least. It's it's you know, he can 1:06:01.920 --> 1:06:06.640 only handle these very soft sounds. He gentle music, So yeah, 1:06:06.680 --> 1:06:09.120 maybe he's into some sort of like weird or deep 1:06:09.120 --> 1:06:12.200 ambient kind of a thing, or or yeah, it's like 1:06:12.840 --> 1:06:14.760 I don't need to learn to play this lute all 1:06:14.760 --> 1:06:17.360 that much because this is about all I can handle anyway. 1:06:17.680 --> 1:06:20.520 Yeah, I am cursed. It is forbidden for me to 1:06:20.520 --> 1:06:24.120 play in a key, so I shall only pluck the 1:06:24.160 --> 1:06:28.280 notes at random. And then Philip says, remarkable, you composed 1:06:28.280 --> 1:06:33.240 it yourself. But Philip kind of like he can't get 1:06:33.360 --> 1:06:35.840 enough of the twelve tone lude. He's like, give me another, 1:06:36.000 --> 1:06:39.480 let's hear another song, but Roderick insists with a severe 1:06:39.560 --> 1:06:42.680 expression that now Madeleine must go to sleep. In fact, 1:06:42.800 --> 1:06:44.720 all three of them must go to sleep. 1:06:45.160 --> 1:06:49.840 It is nice seven thirty p m. All too bad. 1:06:50.720 --> 1:06:54.600 So there's another scene later that night where Philip sneaks 1:06:54.640 --> 1:06:57.760 into Madeleine's room to talk with her in secret. He 1:06:57.800 --> 1:06:59.720 tells her that in the morning he wants to take 1:06:59.720 --> 1:07:02.360 her away from the house if she'll let him. What 1:07:02.560 --> 1:07:05.520 is Madeleine's state of mind again, She seems conflicted, like 1:07:05.600 --> 1:07:10.160 she does buy into the idea that she is sick 1:07:10.200 --> 1:07:13.160 from a curse and terrible things could befall them if 1:07:13.200 --> 1:07:15.960 she were to leave, but also you can tell that 1:07:16.080 --> 1:07:19.320 she wants to leave. She's excited by the idea and 1:07:19.360 --> 1:07:22.360 something kind of comes alive within her at the idea 1:07:22.360 --> 1:07:25.640 of escaping with the man she loves. So she's sort 1:07:25.680 --> 1:07:28.280 of in the middle position between the two other characters. 1:07:28.360 --> 1:07:32.240 Roderick is fully convinced of the usher curse, Philip doesn't 1:07:32.240 --> 1:07:35.200 believe it at all, and Madeleine is torn in between 1:07:35.240 --> 1:07:39.120 the two ideas. But this scene takes an interesting turn 1:07:39.240 --> 1:07:43.800 because Roderick suddenly appears at the door. Remember, he's got 1:07:43.840 --> 1:07:46.520 super sensitive hearing, so he hears any time someone is 1:07:46.560 --> 1:07:50.280 talking in the house. He's stern and angry at first 1:07:50.320 --> 1:07:54.040 and tries to send Philip to bed, but after Madeleine 1:07:54.120 --> 1:07:56.840 shows a bit of defiance, shows that maybe the spell 1:07:56.960 --> 1:07:59.240 is breaking and she might want to leave the house 1:07:59.280 --> 1:08:04.520 with Philip. Roderick then changes tack and he sort of 1:08:04.560 --> 1:08:09.120 turns and becomes pathetic and pitiable, which I think you 1:08:09.120 --> 1:08:12.560 could interpret multiple ways. As I've said, this movie and 1:08:12.880 --> 1:08:16.360 Price's performance and contain a lot of ambiguities that you 1:08:16.360 --> 1:08:19.160 could read in different directions. But I think you could 1:08:19.160 --> 1:08:23.000 certainly interpret this as a kind of emotional manipulation. If 1:08:23.000 --> 1:08:26.680 he can't convince her that she has to stay for 1:08:26.760 --> 1:08:29.400 her own well being, you know, something bad will happen 1:08:29.400 --> 1:08:32.160 to her if she leaves. I guess something bad is 1:08:32.160 --> 1:08:35.120 going to happen to her anyway, maybe he can at 1:08:35.200 --> 1:08:38.680 least recruit her to stay on behalf of his feelings 1:08:38.720 --> 1:08:39.679 and his well being. 1:08:40.280 --> 1:08:43.280 Yeah, yeah, I think it's important to note that this 1:08:43.720 --> 1:08:44.880 is a film where have you just had it on 1:08:44.960 --> 1:08:46.880 the background. You could think of it as just like, okay, 1:08:46.880 --> 1:08:49.519 here's Vincent Price and Vincent Price role. But there are 1:08:49.560 --> 1:08:51.919 a lot of little nuances to the way he plays 1:08:52.000 --> 1:08:55.639 all of these decisions and all of these actions from 1:08:55.640 --> 1:09:00.240 his character. I feel like any prime Vincent Price perform 1:09:00.640 --> 1:09:04.599 is going to be, you know, a masterclass in its 1:09:04.600 --> 1:09:06.720 own way. You know, sometimes he's more hamming it up, 1:09:06.760 --> 1:09:09.960 sometimes there are more subtleties, but he's never just going 1:09:10.000 --> 1:09:13.840 through the motions, so certainly at this period in his career. Yeah, 1:09:14.160 --> 1:09:16.240 by the time we get to the Muppet Show, you know, maybe, 1:09:16.280 --> 1:09:18.160 but but not not here. 1:09:19.160 --> 1:09:22.240 So later that night and yes, still the same twenty 1:09:22.240 --> 1:09:25.120 four hour period, the scenes just keep piling up. Before daybreak, 1:09:25.800 --> 1:09:27.760 Philip is lying in bed and then he hears a 1:09:27.760 --> 1:09:31.400 bunch of weird sounds echoing through the house. So he 1:09:31.479 --> 1:09:34.720 runs around, investigating the sounds and looking for Madeline. He 1:09:34.760 --> 1:09:37.880 sees some creepy sights along the way, like wind blowing 1:09:37.920 --> 1:09:41.479 in through the windows. There's a staircase railing that gives 1:09:41.520 --> 1:09:44.599 way under his hand. There's a heavy door creaking open 1:09:44.640 --> 1:09:49.040 and shut over and over. And Philip eventually follows the 1:09:49.120 --> 1:09:53.240 sounds into the mansion's chapel. There's a chapel inside the house, 1:09:53.840 --> 1:09:56.920 where he finds Madeline sprawled out I believe on the 1:09:56.960 --> 1:10:01.639 altar asleep, and Bristol the comes in to tell him 1:10:01.680 --> 1:10:04.439 that Madeleine often sleep walks and ends up here in 1:10:04.479 --> 1:10:07.960 the chapel. Bristol says that she is obsessed by thoughts 1:10:08.000 --> 1:10:11.280 of death and has been ever since her return from Boston. 1:10:12.240 --> 1:10:15.640 So Bristol takes Madeline back to her bed and Then 1:10:15.680 --> 1:10:18.599 the next morning, there's a scene where Philip comes into 1:10:18.640 --> 1:10:22.400 the kitchen. Bristol is here again, and now he's boiling 1:10:22.439 --> 1:10:26.640 a huge cauldron of gruel over an open fire, and 1:10:26.720 --> 1:10:29.120 I'm looking at that. I'm thinking, I don't know how 1:10:29.120 --> 1:10:32.080 many gallons of ruel that is, But who is going 1:10:32.120 --> 1:10:35.000 to eat all that gruel? There are four people in 1:10:35.040 --> 1:10:35.599 this house. 1:10:35.880 --> 1:10:38.360 Well, you know you can free some for later, you know, 1:10:39.560 --> 1:10:41.120 you give me want leftovers. 1:10:42.640 --> 1:10:45.400 So Philip says he's gonna take breakfast up up to 1:10:45.439 --> 1:10:48.400 Madeline in bed. He's like, hey, how about some eggs 1:10:48.439 --> 1:10:51.800 for my Madeline? And Bristol is like, oh no, no, no, sir, 1:10:52.000 --> 1:10:55.120 not eggs much too threatening to the taste buds. She 1:10:55.200 --> 1:10:58.160 will only want gruel. Eggs are one of the exotic flavors. 1:10:58.320 --> 1:11:00.799 Eggs are too spicy for the ushers. 1:11:00.880 --> 1:11:05.160 Yes, so gruel it is. We also get more like 1:11:05.840 --> 1:11:09.240 more of the crumbling house attacks, Like at one point, 1:11:10.240 --> 1:11:13.639 Philip is standing by the gruel cauldron talking to Bristol, 1:11:13.680 --> 1:11:16.120 and the cauldron like the wall is sort of shaking 1:11:16.160 --> 1:11:18.600 and the cauldron swings toward him. But Bristol is like, 1:11:18.640 --> 1:11:19.759 oh careful, sir. 1:11:20.040 --> 1:11:22.120 Well, I mean if your gruel is pretty thick. You're 1:11:22.160 --> 1:11:24.920 gonna get some bubbles and you could get splattered. I mean, 1:11:24.920 --> 1:11:26.519 that's just that's just gruel one on one. 1:11:26.880 --> 1:11:30.400 Yeah. So after this, there's a very funny scene where 1:11:30.400 --> 1:11:33.800 Winthrop awkwardly tries to feed Madeline gruel in bed. He's like, 1:11:33.840 --> 1:11:37.240 come on, eat up, honey. She's not hungry, not even 1:11:37.240 --> 1:11:40.400 for gruel, and he tries to cheer her up by 1:11:40.400 --> 1:11:43.719 opening the windows and letting sunshine in. Tries to convince 1:11:43.720 --> 1:11:45.920 her once again to come back to Boston with him, 1:11:46.360 --> 1:11:49.479 but in this scene, she seems to have regressed to 1:11:49.600 --> 1:11:53.240 her original state of hopelessness. She tells him soon I 1:11:53.280 --> 1:11:57.040 shall be dead, and he obviously does not like hearing this. 1:11:57.120 --> 1:11:59.439 He tries to remind her of how happy and full 1:11:59.479 --> 1:12:03.439 of life she was in Boston, but she says, maybe 1:12:03.439 --> 1:12:07.439 you'll understand once you see see what. Well, it's time 1:12:07.479 --> 1:12:11.000 to go investigate the family crypt. Here we're going to 1:12:11.080 --> 1:12:14.559 get another kind of partial explanation of what is going on. 1:12:14.760 --> 1:12:18.800 So underneath the mansion there is a subterranean crypt full 1:12:18.840 --> 1:12:23.160 of bones of all of Madeline and Roderick Usher's ancestors. 1:12:23.960 --> 1:12:27.400 She shows Philip the coffins one by one, going down 1:12:27.439 --> 1:12:30.280 the line and listing their names and saying their relationship 1:12:30.320 --> 1:12:33.360 to her, until finally she gets to the spot of 1:12:33.400 --> 1:12:36.639 her own coffin, which is empty and waiting for her. 1:12:37.080 --> 1:12:40.080 And Philip hates this. He's like, there's a coffin here 1:12:40.120 --> 1:12:43.320 with your name on it. This is monstrous. She says, 1:12:43.360 --> 1:12:46.360 it waits for me. And as a side note, I 1:12:46.360 --> 1:12:48.400 think the crypt set here is nice by the way 1:12:48.439 --> 1:12:51.080 the characters talk about how there's something wrong with the 1:12:51.120 --> 1:12:53.920 air in the crypt. They never fully explain that, but 1:12:54.760 --> 1:12:56.640 I like that just as a little like detail that 1:12:56.720 --> 1:12:58.600 kind of excites the mind, like, Oh, could there be 1:12:58.640 --> 1:13:00.920 something in the air that's causing a problem or are 1:13:00.920 --> 1:13:02.920 they just saying like it is evil in here? 1:13:03.360 --> 1:13:07.000 Mmm? Yeah, yeah, who knows what's like leaking up through 1:13:07.040 --> 1:13:11.360 the earth into this mansion. No, it also also seems 1:13:11.400 --> 1:13:13.120 like there's a lot of evil leaking out of this 1:13:13.200 --> 1:13:14.240 mansion into the earth. 1:13:14.560 --> 1:13:18.760 Yeah, exactly. So once again, Madeleine says to Philip that 1:13:18.800 --> 1:13:22.760 he just doesn't understand, and there is something I think 1:13:23.000 --> 1:13:26.840 very effectively unsettling about this repeated theme that multiple times 1:13:26.920 --> 1:13:30.880 characters tell Philip that there's something wrong but he doesn't understand, 1:13:30.960 --> 1:13:34.040 and then they don't explain it immediately, like, you know, 1:13:34.120 --> 1:13:36.519 I'm soon to die. This coffin waits for me, and 1:13:36.520 --> 1:13:38.479 he's like, why would you say that you can live? 1:13:38.720 --> 1:13:41.439 And she can't explain. All she can do is tell 1:13:41.479 --> 1:13:45.640 him that he doesn't understand. I think the idea that 1:13:45.720 --> 1:13:48.599 there is some understanding that would make sense of this 1:13:48.680 --> 1:13:50.840 all but it can't be explained to him or can't 1:13:50.880 --> 1:13:52.559 be explained yet, is very creepy. 1:13:53.080 --> 1:13:55.759 Yeah. Yeah, And I feel like Matheson in the script 1:13:55.800 --> 1:13:59.599 here is really, you know, touching on the actual gap 1:13:59.800 --> 1:14:05.120 that often exists between my experience and your experience, between 1:14:05.479 --> 1:14:08.240 my mental state and your mental state, and it can 1:14:08.280 --> 1:14:12.080 feel like there's something that can't be bridged there, you know, 1:14:12.320 --> 1:14:15.080 at least not with the tools that one has immediately 1:14:15.120 --> 1:14:16.719 at their disposal. Yeah. 1:14:16.800 --> 1:14:19.880 Yeah. Oh. In the scene we get another house attack, 1:14:19.960 --> 1:14:23.200 there's a coffin scare, like a coffin falls out of 1:14:23.240 --> 1:14:26.280 the wall nearly crushes the two of them, but they 1:14:26.320 --> 1:14:29.040 dodge out of the way, and then Madeline faints once 1:14:29.080 --> 1:14:32.760 again and Roderick arrives and carries her away. So in 1:14:32.800 --> 1:14:36.240 the next scene we finally are going to get some explanation. 1:14:37.000 --> 1:14:40.920 Roderick says it is time for Philip to understand. So 1:14:40.960 --> 1:14:44.599 they go out on the balcony overlooking the twisted marsh below, 1:14:45.080 --> 1:14:48.280 and Roderick says, the tarn is very deep. One of 1:14:48.280 --> 1:14:51.679 the Usher women drowned herself in it. She was never found. 1:14:52.240 --> 1:14:55.519 I dare say it's deep enough to swallow this house entire. 1:14:56.520 --> 1:14:59.000 And then there's another little exchange, but Usher goes on 1:14:59.000 --> 1:15:01.479 to I again want to quote his monologue here, because 1:15:01.640 --> 1:15:05.799 I think it's great. Roderick says, once this land was fertile, 1:15:06.280 --> 1:15:10.439 Farms abounded, earth yielded her riches at harvest time, there 1:15:10.479 --> 1:15:14.559 were trees and plant life, flowers, fields of grain. There 1:15:14.640 --> 1:15:17.640 was great beauty here. At that time. This water was 1:15:17.720 --> 1:15:22.959 clear and fresh. Swans glided upon its crystal surface. Animals 1:15:23.000 --> 1:15:26.720 came to its bank trustingly to drink. But this was 1:15:26.760 --> 1:15:30.640 long before my time. And then something crept across the 1:15:30.760 --> 1:15:34.840 land and blighted it. The trees lost their foliage, the 1:15:34.920 --> 1:15:39.439 flowers languished and died. Shrubs grew brown and shriveled. The 1:15:39.479 --> 1:15:44.040 grain fields perished. The lakes and ponds became black and stagnant, 1:15:44.240 --> 1:15:47.960 and the land withered as before a plague, a plague 1:15:48.040 --> 1:15:52.519 of evil, and here Roderick takes Philip inside to show 1:15:52.600 --> 1:15:55.639 him the paintings, the paintings that we alluded to earlier, 1:15:55.800 --> 1:16:00.000 of the portraits of his ancestors. So we go through 1:16:00.160 --> 1:16:02.760 them one by one and we see each painting, and 1:16:02.800 --> 1:16:06.519 then Roderick names his relative and then begins to list 1:16:06.640 --> 1:16:10.320 sort of the high points of each relative's biography, which 1:16:10.320 --> 1:16:14.600 are mostly negative epithets and lists of crimes. So it 1:16:14.640 --> 1:16:19.599 turns out all of the Usher ancestors were horrible. They 1:16:19.600 --> 1:16:28.240 were thieves, swindlers, betrayers, blackmailers, liars, exploiters, slave traders, murderers, 1:16:28.240 --> 1:16:29.200 and assassins. 1:16:29.960 --> 1:16:33.160 Yeah. This this rundown reminds me a lot of the 1:16:33.439 --> 1:16:35.920 card game Gloom. I don't know if you're familiar with 1:16:35.560 --> 1:16:37.320 with with this one, Joe, it has kind of like 1:16:37.400 --> 1:16:40.680 an Edward Gory kind of vibe to it, where you're 1:16:40.720 --> 1:16:44.200 trying to like play the most cursed upper crust family. 1:16:45.000 --> 1:16:47.040 I've always about it, but I've never played it. 1:16:47.040 --> 1:16:49.160 It's pretty fun, as Zarich, it's been a number of years, 1:16:49.160 --> 1:16:51.040 but it has this kind of vibe like who can 1:16:51.080 --> 1:16:53.240 out usher the other player. 1:16:53.720 --> 1:16:55.600 Who has the most evil ancestry. 1:16:57.120 --> 1:16:59.960 But oh yeah, this is this tour of the world. 1:17:00.000 --> 1:17:02.760 First of the worst in the Ashuer family is tremendous, 1:17:03.080 --> 1:17:06.599 and we have illustrations. Of course, we have those wonderful, dark, 1:17:06.680 --> 1:17:10.160 grotesque portraits of each individual, each one not as much 1:17:10.200 --> 1:17:14.160 a photorealistic image of the individual, but like a psychic 1:17:14.280 --> 1:17:15.360 portrait of their soul. 1:17:15.880 --> 1:17:20.080 Yeah. So I included some screenshots of these paintings here 1:17:20.080 --> 1:17:21.640 in the outline for you to look at. Robie, do 1:17:21.680 --> 1:17:24.120 you want to comment on any individually. I think this 1:17:24.240 --> 1:17:28.360 first one, mentioned Anthony Usher, is interesting because it is 1:17:29.800 --> 1:17:31.880 this is supposed to be like an evil old man, 1:17:32.000 --> 1:17:35.759 but this face looks almost childlike in a way, except 1:17:35.800 --> 1:17:39.000 the face is rendered with these sort of jigsaw puzzle 1:17:39.160 --> 1:17:41.519 lines running through it. But it's, you know, pictured with 1:17:41.560 --> 1:17:46.360 these like large eyes with large dilated pupils, cannoting a 1:17:46.479 --> 1:17:48.639 kind of I don't even know how to explain it. 1:17:48.640 --> 1:17:51.520 It's it looks like a kind of evil innocence. 1:17:52.280 --> 1:17:57.080 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so, It's hard to really 1:17:57.080 --> 1:17:59.479 put it in words. Yeah, but those eyes are wide 1:17:59.520 --> 1:18:02.880 and curious, same kind of innocent. But the rest is 1:18:03.920 --> 1:18:05.520 almost decade and patchwork. 1:18:06.280 --> 1:18:09.880 There's another one that shows a man whose eyes are 1:18:10.000 --> 1:18:13.599 hidden in shadow, but it's like his outline is sort 1:18:13.600 --> 1:18:17.800 of sort of shifting through the air so that he 1:18:18.120 --> 1:18:21.960 actually does not have a fixed outline at the back 1:18:22.000 --> 1:18:24.160 of his neck and his head. Instead, there are like 1:18:24.200 --> 1:18:27.559 these multiple lines that just blur out into this cloud 1:18:27.640 --> 1:18:30.840 of red, as if he is taking form out of 1:18:30.880 --> 1:18:32.040 a mist of blood. 1:18:32.840 --> 1:18:35.920 Yeah, this one has has strong vampiric elements to it, 1:18:36.160 --> 1:18:40.960 like get a sense of like biological disorder, like inner 1:18:41.000 --> 1:18:44.599 disease or disease of the soul. And you know, virtually 1:18:44.640 --> 1:18:47.959 no eyes, just dark pits as well, so less innocence 1:18:48.000 --> 1:18:49.200 with this particular character. 1:18:49.560 --> 1:18:52.800 Yeah. And then we also see probably the most infernal 1:18:52.840 --> 1:18:55.519 looking boat captain picture I've ever seen. 1:18:56.120 --> 1:18:58.920 Oh yes, oh my goodness. The boat Captain was like 1:18:59.000 --> 1:19:03.840 just the burning eyes. Yeah, like this is the guy 1:19:03.880 --> 1:19:07.360 who volunteers to bring Dragula to England. Like this is 1:19:07.520 --> 1:19:09.200 he's like, yeah, bloaded him up. 1:19:09.640 --> 1:19:11.719 But so the point is that going back through time 1:19:12.040 --> 1:19:16.000 before Rohderick and Madeline, everyone in the Usher line seems 1:19:16.040 --> 1:19:18.400 to have been, in one way or another, the worst 1:19:18.479 --> 1:19:23.560 kind of person imaginable, someone who becomes rich by destroying 1:19:23.600 --> 1:19:27.080 the lives of others and then, at least in terms 1:19:27.120 --> 1:19:30.800 of the external world gets away with it. But do 1:19:30.840 --> 1:19:32.640 they really get away with it because a lot of 1:19:32.680 --> 1:19:37.040 these people were told end ups. It's something bad does 1:19:37.120 --> 1:19:39.559 happen to them. But it's not like they face justice 1:19:39.640 --> 1:19:43.479 from outside. It's like they go mad or they're taken 1:19:43.520 --> 1:19:44.479 ill or something. 1:19:45.040 --> 1:19:45.280 Yeah. 1:19:45.439 --> 1:19:47.799 Yeah, like they don't. They don't get their come upance 1:19:47.840 --> 1:19:50.800 in a real firm manner like they in the sense 1:19:50.800 --> 1:19:53.880 that they they stay rich, they stay highly successful in 1:19:53.920 --> 1:19:58.040 their own deplorable fields, and then the rest of our world, 1:19:58.120 --> 1:19:59.840 the world just kind of looks on is like, well, yeah, 1:20:00.000 --> 1:20:02.360 of course the Ushers got away with it. Again, that's 1:20:02.439 --> 1:20:04.680 what they do. And here we are. 1:20:05.400 --> 1:20:10.040 So Philip protests. He is like, but sir, you cannot 1:20:10.040 --> 1:20:12.639 believe that the sins of the father should be visited 1:20:12.720 --> 1:20:16.000 upon the children. And Roderick says, you do not, sir. 1:20:16.360 --> 1:20:19.800 Then the House of Usher seems to you normal, And 1:20:19.800 --> 1:20:22.800 then Philip says it is neither normal nor abnormal. It 1:20:22.880 --> 1:20:26.080 is only a house. And I think this plays on 1:20:26.080 --> 1:20:29.280 another interesting theme in the movie, that the duality the 1:20:29.280 --> 1:20:33.200 different meanings of the word house in English. So it 1:20:33.280 --> 1:20:36.000 is the house of Usher that we're told is evil 1:20:36.080 --> 1:20:40.000 and cursed, and house can mean the literal building an 1:20:40.040 --> 1:20:44.439 ancestral family dwelling which seems infused with wickedness and crumbles 1:20:44.520 --> 1:20:47.680 kind of pointedly with the intent to cause harm. But 1:20:47.760 --> 1:20:50.080 also the word house is used to refer to a 1:20:50.120 --> 1:20:54.519 lineage a family, usually an aristocratic or royal one, as 1:20:54.520 --> 1:20:56.960 in the House of Windsor. Is kind of interesting that 1:20:57.960 --> 1:20:59.800 you only use the word house to refer to a 1:20:59.800 --> 1:21:03.719 family if it's like a prominent, rich family. And adding 1:21:03.720 --> 1:21:06.000 to that, there's this kind of overlap with the idea 1:21:06.200 --> 1:21:08.240 of the curse here in the two meanings of house, 1:21:08.360 --> 1:21:11.920 because if the idea is that the ancestors of the 1:21:12.000 --> 1:21:16.280 Usher line became rich by way of their sins, it 1:21:16.400 --> 1:21:20.040 is their wickedness that generated the money to buy the 1:21:20.160 --> 1:21:23.280 land and build the physical house, which are the physical 1:21:23.320 --> 1:21:26.160 things that are now cursed. So the reason they have 1:21:26.320 --> 1:21:29.880 a mansion and a vast estate is because of the 1:21:29.920 --> 1:21:31.800 evil crimes of the past. 1:21:31.960 --> 1:21:36.160 Yeah, all of these things that were purchased and acquired 1:21:36.560 --> 1:21:40.160 via that wealth is tainted by the acts that generated it. 1:21:41.040 --> 1:21:44.519 So Roderick explains his theory that evil is not just 1:21:44.560 --> 1:21:48.280 a word, it is a substance, a living reality, and 1:21:48.400 --> 1:21:51.400 like any living thing, it can be created and was 1:21:51.520 --> 1:21:55.679 created by his ancestors, and now the evil they created 1:21:55.760 --> 1:21:59.280 lives on within the house. Again the ambiguity, he says, 1:21:59.400 --> 1:22:02.479 house that the building or the living descendants, or both, 1:22:03.280 --> 1:22:05.920 and it will live on as long as the house 1:22:06.120 --> 1:22:09.960 still exists, which is why Roderick insists that neither he 1:22:10.120 --> 1:22:12.720 nor Madeleine should ever have children. It would be to 1:22:12.800 --> 1:22:16.479 allow the evil to live on for another generation. So 1:22:16.720 --> 1:22:20.680 Roderick says explicitly that all of the near fatal accidents 1:22:20.720 --> 1:22:24.040 that have occurred since Philip arrived were not accidents. It 1:22:24.120 --> 1:22:27.040 is the evil of the house lashing out trying to 1:22:27.120 --> 1:22:32.200 kill Philip, and Philip violently rejects this. He says, no, Roderick, 1:22:32.400 --> 1:22:35.519 the evil in this house is you. I will not 1:22:35.720 --> 1:22:39.640 let your sickened fantasies destroy Madeleine's life. She leaves with 1:22:39.680 --> 1:22:42.599 me today. And when he yells price again, he shows 1:22:42.600 --> 1:22:45.759 the fragility. He clutches his ears and he shrinks in pain. 1:22:46.600 --> 1:22:49.760 You know, just a common response in films when there's 1:22:49.760 --> 1:22:52.719 a new theory regarding the nature of evil. It reminds 1:22:52.720 --> 1:22:54.679 me a little bit of the nineteen seventy three British 1:22:54.720 --> 1:22:57.240 horror film The Creeping Flesh, which is not one of 1:22:57.240 --> 1:23:02.679 my favorites. It's a little I don't know, I don't 1:23:02.720 --> 1:23:05.639 like the mouthfeel of this particular one. But it has 1:23:05.720 --> 1:23:07.680 Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in it, and one of 1:23:07.680 --> 1:23:09.559 the characters at one point, it's like I have made 1:23:09.600 --> 1:23:11.960 a breakthrough in the nature of evil. Evil is real 1:23:12.280 --> 1:23:14.640 and we can put it under a microscope and study it. 1:23:14.680 --> 1:23:17.320 Look look at the evil, and you know it's always 1:23:17.320 --> 1:23:24.320 a controversial hye bosis. 1:23:28.080 --> 1:23:31.799 Now regarding the evil is you interpretation of the story 1:23:31.840 --> 1:23:35.479 referring to Roderick here, one thing I think worth mentioning 1:23:35.560 --> 1:23:37.920 is that it is never made explicit in the movie, 1:23:38.040 --> 1:23:40.640 but there is sort of an unspoken theme that a 1:23:40.720 --> 1:23:44.040 lot of viewers have picked up on in like film 1:23:44.040 --> 1:23:47.839 critics literary critics talking about the story over the years. 1:23:47.920 --> 1:23:51.600 It could be implied that Roderick is acting in a 1:23:51.640 --> 1:23:55.680 way out of jealousy, that in fact, he has desire 1:23:55.800 --> 1:23:58.720 for his own sister and he wants to control her 1:23:58.880 --> 1:24:01.200 and keep her at the house because he can't stand 1:24:01.240 --> 1:24:05.000 the thought of her going away and marrying Philip. I 1:24:05.040 --> 1:24:07.760 think that's a plausible reading of the evil as you 1:24:07.960 --> 1:24:11.120 interpretation of the story. Though the evil as you could 1:24:11.160 --> 1:24:14.240 also be true about Roderick and simply be that he's 1:24:14.240 --> 1:24:17.480 so wrapped up in his delusions about the physical manifestation 1:24:17.560 --> 1:24:20.800 of evil, you know, caused by the horrible ancestors, that 1:24:20.880 --> 1:24:25.439 he unknowingly projects this delusion onto Madeline and unnecessarily warps 1:24:25.439 --> 1:24:28.240 her mind and ruins her life as well. But then 1:24:28.320 --> 1:24:31.920 another interpretation is that the external evil is real and 1:24:32.040 --> 1:24:35.320 Roderick is correct. And I think the interesting thing is 1:24:35.360 --> 1:24:39.599 that it's possible to take the movie on any of 1:24:39.640 --> 1:24:40.880 these interpretations. 1:24:41.680 --> 1:24:45.639 Yeah, though I think the middle is the more It's 1:24:45.640 --> 1:24:47.439 the one I lean more towards. I think it's the 1:24:47.479 --> 1:24:50.559 more interesting of the concepts, you know, because if it's 1:24:50.680 --> 1:24:55.000 just him, you know, creeping on her and having designs 1:24:55.000 --> 1:24:57.360 for her, I don't know, that's you know, that's gross 1:24:57.360 --> 1:24:59.320 and all, but it's not matter. It only gives me 1:24:59.360 --> 1:25:02.880 so far. And then like the actual physical reality of 1:25:02.920 --> 1:25:05.559 evil too, I mean that, you know, definitely gets into 1:25:05.600 --> 1:25:08.479 a nice supernatural zone. But it's that that middle area, 1:25:08.560 --> 1:25:13.040 that idea that it's just like sheer projection of paranoia 1:25:13.720 --> 1:25:18.919 and and and shame and and so forth from Roderick, 1:25:19.040 --> 1:25:23.479 Like just this is the sheer power of his dark thoughts, 1:25:23.600 --> 1:25:26.680 you know, uh, in a non supernatural way, Like I 1:25:26.680 --> 1:25:27.879 feel like that's very compelling. 1:25:28.160 --> 1:25:31.439 I agree that is also my preferred interpretation. But I 1:25:31.439 --> 1:25:34.120 thought it was worth mentioning the three different ways because 1:25:34.120 --> 1:25:37.439 I've seen sort of, you know, people writing about this 1:25:37.479 --> 1:25:38.639 movie that take it all three. 1:25:38.960 --> 1:25:41.759 Yeah, And I do like that ambiguity in a film, 1:25:41.800 --> 1:25:44.280 you know, where you're open to your own interpretation. 1:25:45.240 --> 1:25:49.000 Anyway, after this confrontation between Philip and Roderick, Philip goes 1:25:49.040 --> 1:25:51.760 to Madeleine's room and makes one last bid to convince her. 1:25:51.760 --> 1:25:54.800 Remember she's been vacillating. She'll say like, yeah, okay, let's go, 1:25:54.880 --> 1:25:57.000 and then like no, no, I'm cursed. I have to stay. 1:25:58.240 --> 1:26:00.000 So he's like, you've got to leave with me. There 1:26:00.000 --> 1:26:02.280 there is nothing wrong with you that leaving this house 1:26:02.280 --> 1:26:05.160 won't cure. And hope kind of gathers in her mind 1:26:05.200 --> 1:26:07.479 again and she says, yes, I will go, and they kiss. 1:26:07.840 --> 1:26:11.280 She seems afraid but also excited. So they got to 1:26:11.320 --> 1:26:14.360 pack their things and get ready to go. But while 1:26:14.400 --> 1:26:16.639 they are packing their things and they're in their separate rooms, 1:26:17.120 --> 1:26:20.360 Roderick goes into Madeleine's room and begins to argue with her. 1:26:20.680 --> 1:26:23.240 Reminding her of all the evils and calamities that he 1:26:23.280 --> 1:26:26.840 says will occur if she leaves the house. And tensions rise, 1:26:27.040 --> 1:26:29.720 and you can hear Philip hears through the wall that 1:26:29.760 --> 1:26:32.799 they begin to yell, which is, you know, that's not normal. 1:26:32.920 --> 1:26:36.120 Normally everybody keeps the library voice in this house. And 1:26:36.240 --> 1:26:39.559 Philip finally hears Madeleine's scream, and when he comes into 1:26:39.600 --> 1:26:42.840 the room, Roderick is standing at the window and Madeleine 1:26:42.920 --> 1:26:47.280 is lying on her sheets, apparently dead. Now Philip yells 1:26:47.320 --> 1:26:50.320 at Roderick, you killed her, but Roderick says, no, there 1:26:50.360 --> 1:26:52.760 is no mark on her. You are the one who 1:26:52.840 --> 1:26:56.040 killed her. He's like, I warned you, and I warned you. 1:26:56.080 --> 1:26:59.479 Her heart could not withstand the strain of leaving, the 1:26:59.520 --> 1:27:02.559 strain put upon her. At least she's now been spared 1:27:02.600 --> 1:27:05.920 the agony of trying to escape. One candle left to 1:27:05.960 --> 1:27:08.360 burn now before the darkness. 1:27:07.880 --> 1:27:10.479 Comes way to go, Philip, you killed her. 1:27:10.880 --> 1:27:13.519 And the interesting thing is that Philip and Roderick have 1:27:13.560 --> 1:27:15.960 been at opposite ends of this, and Madeleine's been in 1:27:15.960 --> 1:27:18.880 the middle. Roderick's like, there's a curse. Madeline is sick. 1:27:19.120 --> 1:27:21.320 Philip is like there's not a curse, she's not sick, 1:27:21.400 --> 1:27:25.439 she's fine, And they're both sort of trying to convince Madeleine. 1:27:25.760 --> 1:27:28.720 But now that Madeleine is apparently dead, you start to 1:27:28.720 --> 1:27:33.840 see Philip succumbing to Roderick's interpretation. So they're like in 1:27:33.880 --> 1:27:36.720 the family chapel praying over Madeleine's body, and you can 1:27:36.720 --> 1:27:40.360 see Philip is filled with guilt, and he even asks 1:27:40.360 --> 1:27:43.200 in a subsequent scene he's talking to Bristol later and 1:27:43.240 --> 1:27:45.960 he's like, could it be that I that I did this, 1:27:46.160 --> 1:27:49.160 that I, you know, excited her illness and I killed her? 1:27:49.880 --> 1:27:52.760 Like he is starting to buy into the curse theory now. 1:27:52.760 --> 1:27:55.840 M hm, he's been there too long. He's becoming a 1:27:55.840 --> 1:27:57.000 part of the House of Usher. 1:27:57.240 --> 1:27:59.960 Yeah. Oh, and then there's a part that did make 1:28:00.080 --> 1:28:02.600 you laugh out loud when they're there. The two of 1:28:02.640 --> 1:28:05.639 them are in the chapel praying over Madeleine's dead body 1:28:05.960 --> 1:28:09.120 with the open casket, and Roderic is like, oh, by 1:28:09.160 --> 1:28:11.599 the way, she's not at peace now she's in hell. 1:28:13.040 --> 1:28:14.120 All ushers go to hell. 1:28:14.320 --> 1:28:15.960 It is deliciously awful, isn't it. 1:28:16.280 --> 1:28:21.479 Yeah, And Philip's just like, shut up. But so they 1:28:21.520 --> 1:28:26.519 start this vigorous bickering. But one thing we the audience see, 1:28:26.560 --> 1:28:30.080 and Roderick sees, but Philip does not see, is that 1:28:30.120 --> 1:28:32.919 Madeline's fingers begin to flex and stretch. 1:28:33.960 --> 1:28:34.559 Uh oh. 1:28:34.600 --> 1:28:37.160 So Roderick catches a glimpse of this, and he quickly 1:28:37.200 --> 1:28:40.439 snaps the coffin lid shut. And it's like, okay, quickly, 1:28:40.520 --> 1:28:42.840 let's carry her coffin down to the crypt. Hurry up now, 1:28:43.600 --> 1:28:47.240 And so the mourners leave the chapel, they shut the crypt, 1:28:47.240 --> 1:28:50.240 and we zoom slowly on the coffin until finally we 1:28:50.320 --> 1:28:54.080 hear Madeline scream and and we have arrived at the 1:28:54.080 --> 1:28:59.320 most classic of Edgar Allan Poe theme's premature burial. That's right, 1:28:59.840 --> 1:29:02.360 So now everything is building up to the climax. The 1:29:02.360 --> 1:29:05.120 next morning, Philip is getting ready to leave. He again 1:29:05.280 --> 1:29:08.839 is buying into the Roderick theory. He's distraught. The ideas 1:29:08.840 --> 1:29:10.679 have gotten to him, and he's worried that he really 1:29:10.720 --> 1:29:13.599 did kill Madeleine by putting these ideas in her head 1:29:13.600 --> 1:29:17.120 about leaving the house. But Bristol, the butler, is trying 1:29:17.160 --> 1:29:20.920 to console Philip, and he lets slip that you know, Madeleine, 1:29:21.200 --> 1:29:24.120 she suffered from many health conditions, and there were many 1:29:24.160 --> 1:29:26.760 health conditions that run in the family. He starts to 1:29:26.840 --> 1:29:30.920 list them, you know, nervous conditions, something you know, a 1:29:30.960 --> 1:29:33.559 failure of the heart, and then he starts to say 1:29:33.560 --> 1:29:37.599 but catches himself catalepsy, which is a condition where people 1:29:37.680 --> 1:29:41.639 fall into a kind of unconscious trance or spontaneous coma 1:29:41.880 --> 1:29:44.800 where they are immobile and can appear to be dead, 1:29:44.920 --> 1:29:48.599 but they're not. Philip hears this, and he realizes what 1:29:48.640 --> 1:29:52.000 it means. What if Madeleine was still alive and only 1:29:52.040 --> 1:29:54.639 appeared to have died. What if she has been buried 1:29:54.640 --> 1:29:58.040 alive in the crypt? So Philip he freaks out. He 1:29:58.120 --> 1:30:00.920 runs down under the house into the chamber. He finds 1:30:00.960 --> 1:30:05.640 Madeleine's coffin strangely wrapped shut with a padlocked chain, and 1:30:05.640 --> 1:30:08.320 then he goes and finds an axe, breaks the chain open, 1:30:08.640 --> 1:30:12.920 only to discover that the coffin is empty. That's not good, 1:30:13.640 --> 1:30:16.840 so Philip goes and confronts Roderick, wanting to know where 1:30:16.880 --> 1:30:20.479 Madeline is and Roderick he doesn't try to deny it. 1:30:20.560 --> 1:30:23.439 He says she's in a secret place and he won't tell. 1:30:24.280 --> 1:30:27.240 And Philip threatens Roderick with the axe, but Roderick is 1:30:27.320 --> 1:30:29.880 not moved. He does not back down. He says, go on, 1:30:30.120 --> 1:30:33.439 you would be doing me a great favor. And so 1:30:33.880 --> 1:30:39.080 again it's interesting here how physically unthreatening Roderick is in 1:30:39.160 --> 1:30:41.320 this scene. He has all the power, but he's so 1:30:41.479 --> 1:30:45.760 physically weak, so fragile. He cringes and cowers in pain 1:30:45.840 --> 1:30:48.760 when Philip yells at him, and when Philip threatens him 1:30:48.800 --> 1:30:51.320 with an axe with violence, He's just like, go ahead 1:30:51.320 --> 1:30:55.080 and do it. So it's a very unusual and fascinating 1:30:55.240 --> 1:30:57.480 power dynamic in the drama. 1:30:57.520 --> 1:30:59.400 It's like, you can kill me and you know, and 1:30:59.439 --> 1:31:02.360 I'll go to hell where I belong, but just don't 1:31:02.400 --> 1:31:05.760 raise your voice or touch my garments. And because I 1:31:05.920 --> 1:31:06.679 just can't take. 1:31:06.520 --> 1:31:09.320 That right, so Philip is he's searching all over the 1:31:09.320 --> 1:31:12.799 house looking for Madeline. He eventually he just becomes totally 1:31:12.800 --> 1:31:15.280 exhausted and passes out. And here we get a great 1:31:15.400 --> 1:31:19.240 dream sequence where Philip wanders through an altered version of 1:31:19.240 --> 1:31:22.479 the House of Usher, filled with blue fog, and eventually 1:31:22.479 --> 1:31:25.320 makes his way into the chapel, which has all of 1:31:25.360 --> 1:31:28.960 the horrible Usher ancestors moaning at him and reaching out 1:31:29.000 --> 1:31:31.559 to grab his flesh and When Philip goes to the 1:31:31.560 --> 1:31:34.760 head of the chapel, he finds Madeleine's coffin occupied only 1:31:34.800 --> 1:31:38.000 by a skeleton, and then he searches further and further 1:31:38.120 --> 1:31:41.080 deeper into the dream, and somewhere in the dream he 1:31:41.120 --> 1:31:44.920 can't find her, but he imagines Madeleine alive, still covered 1:31:44.920 --> 1:31:48.280 in flesh, trapped in her coffin and screaming wide eyed 1:31:48.320 --> 1:31:50.920 in terror. I love the dream. 1:31:50.640 --> 1:31:52.920 Sequence, absolutely wonderful. Yeah. 1:31:53.000 --> 1:31:56.120 Yeah, So anyway, when Philip wakes up, he goes to 1:31:56.240 --> 1:31:59.679 Roderick's room, where Roderick is just sitting there plucking his lute, 1:32:00.600 --> 1:32:03.680 and Philip's like, you murdered your sister, mister usher, and 1:32:03.720 --> 1:32:06.080 I intend to see that you hang for it, and 1:32:06.160 --> 1:32:09.320 Roderick says, arrange it quickly. Then the old house crumbles 1:32:10.200 --> 1:32:14.040 the time window is closing, but Roderick goes on. He 1:32:14.040 --> 1:32:16.439 starts another monologue where he's like, if you only knew 1:32:16.439 --> 1:32:18.880 the agonies I have spared you in this world that 1:32:19.160 --> 1:32:22.760 I have endured on your behalf. Did you know I 1:32:22.800 --> 1:32:26.320 could hear the scratching of her fingernails on the casket lid? 1:32:26.800 --> 1:32:28.880 Did you know I could hear her screaming my name? 1:32:29.000 --> 1:32:32.960 For help, and then Roderick seems he suddenly like it's 1:32:33.000 --> 1:32:36.240 like something seizes him and he calls out, be done, 1:32:36.520 --> 1:32:40.800 be done, and Philip realizes what this means. Madeline is 1:32:40.880 --> 1:32:44.599 still alive and Roderick can hear her screaming for help now, 1:32:45.240 --> 1:32:48.240 so Roderick rants and raves in agony. He can hear 1:32:48.280 --> 1:32:51.320 her scratching and all that, but Philip doesn't know where 1:32:51.360 --> 1:32:53.840 to find her, and we cut away. We see a 1:32:53.920 --> 1:32:57.919 chained coffin, a different chained coffin with Madeline's bloody fingers 1:32:58.000 --> 1:33:01.559 reaching out through the crack. Ooh, a killing image. And 1:33:01.600 --> 1:33:06.160 then finally Philip, Roderick and Bristol they run around, you know, 1:33:06.160 --> 1:33:08.120 Philip is trying to find her. He makes his way 1:33:08.160 --> 1:33:10.760 into another part of the crypt where the coffins of 1:33:10.800 --> 1:33:13.479 the Ushers have all been pulled out of their places, 1:33:13.520 --> 1:33:16.479 and the skeletons the bones are scattered across the floor, 1:33:16.960 --> 1:33:21.799 and they find Madeleine's secret coffin thrown open. The chain's broken. 1:33:22.240 --> 1:33:24.400 So here's the payoff of the monologue we got in 1:33:24.479 --> 1:33:28.640 Act one where Roderick says, oh, she has the madness, 1:33:28.880 --> 1:33:31.800 Remember the madness he mentioned earlier where his relatives all 1:33:31.840 --> 1:33:34.680 go mad and gain the strength of many men. So 1:33:34.840 --> 1:33:37.120 Philip at this point is running through the house, finding 1:33:37.120 --> 1:33:41.599 and unlocking secret passageways to locate Madeleine. Roderick arms himself 1:33:41.600 --> 1:33:44.320 with a pistol, but is that going to do any good? 1:33:44.400 --> 1:33:47.360 Could you possibly imagine it? Would? We finally get the 1:33:47.560 --> 1:33:50.840 the ultimate climax of the film, where I don't want 1:33:50.840 --> 1:33:53.720 to spoil too much, but for a movie that is 1:33:53.800 --> 1:33:57.320 mostly kind of visually subdued apart from like the paintings 1:33:57.360 --> 1:34:01.400 and the dream dream sequence, when we finally see Madeleine 1:34:01.439 --> 1:34:05.400 in her madness, in her glorious madness, with her hands 1:34:05.479 --> 1:34:08.519 covered in rivulets of blood from where she has scratched 1:34:08.520 --> 1:34:11.280 her fingernails away on the inside of the coffin. Her 1:34:11.280 --> 1:34:16.200 eyes are just wide with absolute terror and insanity. Her 1:34:16.240 --> 1:34:19.720 hair is thrown back and they cast these like these 1:34:19.760 --> 1:34:24.120 amazing blue lights over her face. She is awesome to behold. 1:34:24.280 --> 1:34:27.240 Yeah, She's like a bansheet or a wraith, you know. 1:34:27.320 --> 1:34:29.880 She has that kind of energy to her avengeful spirit. 1:34:30.280 --> 1:34:33.640 And of course we get avengeful final confrontation, whereas the 1:34:33.680 --> 1:34:37.639 house is fully crumbling, everything's on fire. Now the House 1:34:37.680 --> 1:34:42.520 of Usher is meeting its ultimate physical demise. Also, Madelene 1:34:42.560 --> 1:34:45.280 confronts her brother and she takes him by the neck 1:34:45.360 --> 1:34:48.799 and strangles Roderic amidst all the fire and the smoke 1:34:48.880 --> 1:34:54.560 and the falling rubble. And it's a tremendous and terrifying climax. 1:34:55.160 --> 1:34:59.439 Absolutely yeah, oh my goodness, Like the mansion looked amazing 1:35:00.240 --> 1:35:03.720 in the picture, and as a fiery husk consumed in 1:35:03.760 --> 1:35:08.400 this cataclysm, it also looks amazing. The curse comes to 1:35:08.479 --> 1:35:11.800 full fruition here, just absolutely apocalyptic. 1:35:12.479 --> 1:35:14.800 Yeah. And so Philip is the only one who survives. 1:35:14.840 --> 1:35:18.320 The house burns and collapses, and then as he walks away, 1:35:18.600 --> 1:35:21.640 comes out of the gate, wanders into the swamp, with 1:35:22.080 --> 1:35:25.880 everything he loved destroyed. We see the final quote from 1:35:25.960 --> 1:35:29.479 the original post story. The words appear on the screen, 1:35:29.800 --> 1:35:33.080 and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed 1:35:33.160 --> 1:35:36.840 sullenly and silently over the fragments of the house of Usher. 1:35:37.439 --> 1:35:41.040 Fabulous, fabulous. And of course the moral of the story 1:35:41.280 --> 1:35:44.960 is never meet your significant other's family. Don't do it. 1:35:46.240 --> 1:35:49.400 So again, a different, a different kind of film, a 1:35:49.400 --> 1:35:51.880 different kind of proposition than Mask of the Red Death, 1:35:51.960 --> 1:35:56.400 which is wilder and more visually extravagant and you know, 1:35:56.479 --> 1:35:59.040 has more kind of variety in it and all that, 1:35:59.160 --> 1:36:01.639 but I think or what it is as a tighter, 1:36:02.120 --> 1:36:05.920 cozier tale of the macabre, House of Usher is really strong. 1:36:06.520 --> 1:36:10.559 Yeah, this is a film that vibes hard. Again, It's 1:36:10.600 --> 1:36:12.680 maybe not the ideal viewing experience for you, if you 1:36:13.160 --> 1:36:16.000 if you want something a little more action based or 1:36:16.080 --> 1:36:18.080 something that's gonna hit you a lot of jump scares. 1:36:18.400 --> 1:36:23.040 But in terms of like just pure gothic horror po vibes, 1:36:23.960 --> 1:36:25.599 it's hard to beat House of Usher. 1:36:27.080 --> 1:36:28.640 So happy Halloween, everybody. 1:36:29.040 --> 1:36:31.720 Yeah, yeah, this is a fun one. I enjoyed watching it. 1:36:31.720 --> 1:36:35.280 I had never seen it before, and I originally enjoyed 1:36:35.280 --> 1:36:38.120 the experience. It's a good film to really focus on. 1:36:38.200 --> 1:36:39.280 But I mean, you could have it on in the 1:36:39.280 --> 1:36:41.559 background and it would still be very visually pleasing. But 1:36:41.640 --> 1:36:46.760 it's also a good one to really dive into. All Right, well, 1:36:46.760 --> 1:36:48.760 we're gonna go ahead and close it out here, but 1:36:49.439 --> 1:36:51.479 just a reminder that while Stuffed About Your Mind is 1:36:51.479 --> 1:36:54.640 primarily a science podcast with core episodes on Tuesdays and 1:36:54.640 --> 1:36:57.840 Thursday science and culture podcast on Fridays. You know, we 1:36:57.880 --> 1:37:00.200 have to we have to release a little steam. We've 1:37:00.240 --> 1:37:02.439 we've got to dive into some weird films and talk 1:37:02.479 --> 1:37:07.040 about those. So, hey, you know, get stressful weeks ahead, 1:37:07.040 --> 1:37:09.280 don't worry, Weird House Cinema, we'll be here for you. 1:37:09.920 --> 1:37:11.920 In fact, next week's is going to be a nice 1:37:11.960 --> 1:37:16.800 Halloween selection as well. I can't promise anything, but I'm 1:37:16.880 --> 1:37:19.400 hoping we can maybe even get it out like just 1:37:19.479 --> 1:37:22.880 a little after midnight on Halloween Eve, you know, so 1:37:22.960 --> 1:37:26.519 it's technically on Friday, but it's but it's actually Thursday, 1:37:26.520 --> 1:37:28.559 you know, that sort of thing. We'll see what we 1:37:28.600 --> 1:37:28.960 can do. 1:37:29.120 --> 1:37:29.960 We'll do our best. 1:37:30.200 --> 1:37:34.120 Yeah, And if you want a full list of all 1:37:34.160 --> 1:37:36.240 the movies we've covered on Weird House over the years, 1:37:36.240 --> 1:37:38.439 where you can go to letterbox dot com. That's l 1:37:38.479 --> 1:37:40.400 E T T E R b o xd dot com. 1:37:40.439 --> 1:37:42.720 Our username is weird House. We have a nice list there. 1:37:42.840 --> 1:37:45.920 You can explore that. If you're on Instagram, st b 1:37:46.120 --> 1:37:49.240 ym podcast and that's where we also update you on 1:37:49.280 --> 1:37:51.519 what's happening on Weird House. And if you go to 1:37:51.560 --> 1:37:53.719 stuff to Bow Yourmind dot com or the link tree 1:37:53.760 --> 1:37:57.400 on Instagram, you can eventually get to our tea public store. 1:37:57.880 --> 1:38:00.200 We have some new Halloween designs in there that we've 1:38:00.240 --> 1:38:02.160 been asked to promote, and I think they're pretty cool. 1:38:02.160 --> 1:38:04.920 If you need a shirt, you need a sticker, it's fun. 1:38:05.000 --> 1:38:07.160 It's there for fun. We don't need you to buy 1:38:07.160 --> 1:38:09.439 a shirt or a sticker, but if you would like to, 1:38:09.960 --> 1:38:10.640 it's there for you. 1:38:11.040 --> 1:38:14.799 Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 1:38:15.040 --> 1:38:16.639 If you would like to get in touch with us 1:38:16.640 --> 1:38:19.120 with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 1:38:19.120 --> 1:38:21.200 a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 1:38:21.320 --> 1:38:23.920 you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 1:38:23.960 --> 1:38:31.680 your Mind dot com. 1:38:31.800 --> 1:38:34.760 Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 1:38:34.840 --> 1:38:37.639 more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 1:38:37.800 --> 1:38:41.080 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.