''Tales of Terror'' is a 1962

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

horror film in colour and

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

, produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, and

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

, who also directed. The screenplay was written by

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...

, and the film stars

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

, and Basil Rathbone. It is the fourth in the so-called Corman-Poe cycle of eight films largely featuring adaptations of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

stories and directed by Corman for AIP. The film was released in 1962 as a double feature with ''

Panic in Year Zero! ''Panic in Year Zero!'' (a.k.a. ''End of the World'') is a 1962 American black-and-white survival science fiction film from American International Pictures. It was produced by Arnold Houghland and Lou Rusoff, directed by Ray Milland, who also ...

''.

Plot

Three short sequences, based on the following Poe tales, are told: " Morella", " The Black Cat" (which is combined with another Poe tale, "

The Cask of Amontillado "The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado" ) is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of ''Godey's Lady's Book''. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at ca ...

"), and "

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also to a c ...

". Each sequence is introduced via voiceover narration by

, who also appears in all three narratives.

"Morella"

When Lenora Locke travels from Boston to be reunited with her father in his decrepit and cobwebbed mansion, she finds him drunk, disordered, and depressed. He refuses her company, insisting that she killed her mother Morella in childbirth. Lenora then discovers her mother's body decomposing on a bed in the house. Lenora cannot return to Boston and remains in the house to care for her father. His feelings soften towards her when he learns she has a terminal illness. One night Morella's spirit rises, and kills Lenora in revenge for her childbed death. Morella's body is then resurrected, becoming as whole and as beautiful as she was in life. This is in exchange for Lenora's, which is now decomposing where Morella lay. Morella strangles her horrified husband as a fire breaks out in the house. Then Morella and Lenora return to their original bodies, Lenora smiling as she lies on her dead father, rotten Morella cackling as the flames consume the house.

"The Black Cat"

Montresor Herringbone hates his wife Annabelle and her black cat. One night on a ramble about town, he happens upon a

wine tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

event and challenges the world's foremost wine taster, Fortunato Luchresi, to a contest. Herringbone becomes drunk. Luchresi escorts him home and meets his wife. Time passes, and Annabelle and Luchresi become intimate. The cuckolded Herringbone then entombs them alive in an alcove in the basement. However he cannot escape "seeing" and "hearing" both the Black cat and the murdered couple taunting him. The authorities become suspicious and two policemen visit the house to investigate. Hearing screeching behind a basement wall, they knock the wall down to discover the dead lovers — and Annabelle's black cat. The sequence ends with Poe's words in red on screen: "I had walled the black monster up within the tomb!".

"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"

Dying from a painful disease, M. Ernest Valdemar employs a hypnotist, Mr. Carmichael, to alleviate his suffering by putting him under various trances. He then remains between the worlds of the living and the dead. In a trance, Valdemar begs Carmichael to release his soul so he can die, but Carmichael cruelly refuses. Months pass and Valdemar's putrefying body remains in his bed under the complete control of Carmichael. The hypnotist tries to force Valdemar's wife, Helene, to marry him. When she refuses, he attacks her. Valdemar's putrid body rises from the bed and kills Carmichael. Helene is rescued by Valdemar's physician, Dr. Elliot James, and carried from the scene of horror.

Cast

;''Morella'' *

as Locke * Maggie Pierce as Lenora Locke *

Leona Gage Mary Leona Gage (April 8, 1939 – October 5, 2010) was an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 1957, the first from Maryland to capture the Miss USA crown. She was stripped of her title when it was reve ...

as Morella Locke *

Ed Cobb Edward C. "Ed" Cobb (February 25, 1938 – September 19, 1999) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for writing the song " Tainted Love" for Gloria Jones, which lat ...

as Coach Driver ;''The Black Cat'' *Vincent Price as Fortunato Luchresi *

as Montresor Herringbone *

Joyce Jameson Joyce Jameson (born Joyce Beverly Kingsley; September 26, 1932 – January 16, 1987) was an American actress, known for many television roles, including recurring guest appearances as Skippy, one of the "fun girls" in the 1960s television seri ...

as Annabel Herringbone *

Lennie Weinrib Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 – June 28, 2006) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show '' H.R. Pufnstuf'', Grimace in McDonaldland commercials, the title role in ...

as Policeman *Wally Campo as Barman Wilkins *John Hackett as Policeman *Alan DeWitt as Wine Society Chairman ;''The Case of M. Valdemar'' *Vincent Price as Ernest Valdemar * Basil Rathbone as Mr. Carmichael * Debra Paget as Helene Valdemar * David Frankham as Dr. Elliot James *Scott Brown as Servant

Production

The film was announced in September 1961. It was shot on November 28. Corman commented on how ''Tales of Terror'' differed from his earlier film adaptations released by AIP: :With ''Tales of Terror'', we tried to do something a little different. The screenplay was actually a series of very frightening, dramatic sequences inspired by several of the Poe stories. To break things up, we tried introducing humor into one of them..." The three stories in the film took a total of three weeks to film. For the conclusion of "Morella", Corman reused some sets and event footage from the fiery climax of '' House of Usher''. The story '' Morella'' was remade in the 1990s as ''The Haunting of Morella''. Price explained how the effect of slow decomposition was achieved in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar": "We settled for an old-fashioned mud pack – it dries and draws the skin up and then cracks open." To give the impression of Vincent Price's face melting away, a mixture of glue, glycerin, corn starch and make-up paint was heated and then poured over his head. The substance was so hot that Price could only stand it for a few seconds. Richard Matheson's favorite of the stories was the final one, ''M. Valdemar''. He thought it was "pretty well done. It was pretty straight, except I added the doctor and Valdemar's wife to the story... They acted it pretty well for a change."Lawrence French, "The Making of ''The Raven''", ''The Raven'' novelization by Eunice Sudak, based on script by Richard Matheson, Bear Manor Media 2012

Reception

Howard Thompson of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called the film a "dull, absurd and trashy adaptation", and recommended that viewers only watch the accompanying picture on the double bill, '' Burn, Witch, Burn''. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "Whether audiences will have been rendered limp by the Poe cycle is anybody's guess. Producer Corman, though, plays his latest entry for all it's worth and has assembled some tasty ghoulish acting talent which have marquee strength." The review named "Morella" as the best of the three stories. Margaret Harford of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' wrote, "Poe admirers will almost certainly find 'Tales of Terror' no substitute for the master's original work but entertaining as another seance with spooks." '' Harrison's Reports'' graded the film as "Poor", opining that it "fails to deliver its promise of spine-tingling entertainment. In fact, it's on the dullish side of movie-making." ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' declared, "By and large, Roger Corman's Poe adaptations maintain the highest standard in their field since

Val Lewton Val Lewton (May 7, 1904 – March 14, 1951) was a Russian-American novelist, film producer and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a pain ...

's low-budget horror films of the Forties", and noted that the anthology format provided "the added advantage that for once there is no sense of the material being stretched too thin." At the film

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film received a score of 71% based on reviews from 14 respondents. '' Time Out'' said the film was "elegant and funny, but the short-story format deprives Corman of the majestic, melancholic rhythm which characterizes his best work of this type."

Merchandise

The film has been twice released by MGM on Region 1 DVD: As part of a Midnight Movie Double Feature (with ''

Twice-Told Tales ''Twice-Told Tales'' is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first volume was published in the spring of 1837 and the second in 1842. The stories had all been previously published in magazines and annuals, hence th ...

'') on Sept. 20, 2005, then again as part of the "Vincent Price Scream Legends Collection" on Sept. 11, 2007.

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

published a comic book adaptation of the film. A novelization of the film was written in 1962 by Eunice Sudak, adapted from Richard Matheson's screenplay, which was published by

Lancer Books Lancer Books was a publisher of paperback books founded by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius that operated from 1961 through 1973. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularl ...

in a

mass market paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

. In 2011 La-La Land Records released on CD

Les Baxter Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica a ...

's music score from the "Morella" segment of ''Tales of Terror''. It also features selections from his score used over the end credits for '' X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tales Of Terror 1962 films 1962 horror films American comedy horror films American International Pictures films American mystery films 1960s English-language films Films about cats Films based on multiple works Films based on short fiction Films based on The Black Cat Films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe Films directed by Roger Corman Films produced by Roger Corman Films scored by Les Baxter Gothic horror films American horror anthology films Films with screenplays by Richard Matheson Films adapted into comics 1960s American films