AS HIS COFFIN WAS LAID TO REST, HIS BRAIN SCREAMED – “I AM NOT DEAD!”
ROGER CORMAN meets EDGAR ALLAN POE PART TWO
BY JOE KANE
Last issue, our prolific pounder of the pulpy typewriters (our typing machine keys are made from fingertips of dead children, you know) Joe Kane covered HOUSE ol USHER and PIT & THE PENDULUM. Now he lovingly vivisects Poe-interpreter Roger Corman’s next three films; PREMATURE BURIAL, TALES OF TERROR & THE RAVEN.
So we now witness witless degeneration of the series before our very eyes, our claim supported by photographic evidence. We begin with PREMATURE BURIAL, which, as Poe-ish Joe once cryptically quipped; “Contrarily, PREMATURE BURIAL couldn’t be buried fast enough”. Let us see why…
PREMATURE BURIAL had the fatal feel of programmed horror to it; and programmed horror is something that only works when it fails completely, when it is so bad that it becomes funny, descends to the level of Camp; a dubious kind of success at best. PREMATURE BURIAL is not even funny. Instead it is usually painful to watch and, worse than that, boring.
The slick programmed feel of PREMATURE BURIAL serves as a distancing effect, an effect that turns our attention away from the film and towards God knows what – that’s up to the individual viewer (I, for one, lapsed into a depressing fantasy in which I was being buried alive in an old movie house where I was forced to watch PREMATURE BURIAL through the endless hours of eternity).
With PREMATURE BURIAL, as with others of the Poe-Corman efforts, you are all too aware that you are watching a movie and with horror films particularly. it is essential to forget that fact, and “willingly suspend disbelief.” The only way you could possibly forget that fact in this case would be to walk out of the theater, into a world far more interesting and terrifying than the one Corman is showing you
Part of the failure of PREMATURE BURIAL can be attributed to some limp, uninspired performances, especially the one turned in by star Ray Milland. Throughout the seemingly interminable duration of the film, Milland grimaces! with an expression of annoyance instead of torment on his face, as if he were more concerned about getting a head cold rather than being haunted by the shattering prospect of being buried alive. Also, since it is a surface film, it fails to give any indication that there might be something behind that surface. Corman’s attempts to instill a few moody effects into the film are as trite and transparent as any trick ever pulled from his well-worn sleeve. For all the frantio pumping of the perennial AIP fog! machine, the whistling of “Molly Malone” by the scuzzy scavengers of the grave who Turk about the screen throughout, and the cobwebbed descents into the family crypt, the film is so mechanical in its approach that all the audience can do is nod their collective head in acknowledgment as each pre-fab piece of horror film cliche is meticulously! fitted into place and to try to keep said head from falling into their collective lap from sheer ennui (boredom).
On the plus side (there’s usually something on the plus side in every Corman film) is Floyd Crosby’s vivid color photography and one extended sequence where Milland has a nightmare fantasy of being buried alive in his specially constructed tomb, one equipped with elaborate escape devices designed with that possibility in mind. Even this scene, however, as one by one Milland’s means of escape fail him and even the eup of poison entombed with him to shorten his suffering is overrun with graveyard worms, does not exploit fully the terrifying potential of such a prospect, Only the cup of worms detail succeeds in adding a touch of genuine horror to the proceedings.
“THE PREMATURE BURIAL” (the story)
In the 1860’s in London, in a neglected public graveyard, Dr. Gideon Gault (ALAN NAPIER) and medical students, Guy Carrell (RAY MILLAND) and Miles Archer (RICHARD NEY) are engrossed in the labors of two grave diggers, Sweeney (JOHN DIERKES) and Mole (RICHARD MILLER), who are busy uncovering a coffin in the grave,
Sweeney passes up the coffin lid and on the underside are seen a series of long bloody trails, the frantic efforts of an imprisoned person to gain freedom. The corpse itself offers complete evidence that the person had been buried alive. The sight overcomes Guy and he shuts himself away from the world.
His bride-to-be, Emily Gault (HAZEL COURT), daughter of Dr. Gault, visits Guy to discover why he has called off the wedding plans and gone into seclusion. She is greeted at the door by his sister Kate Carrell (HEATHER ANGEL). Guy explains the strange circumstances under which each of his ancestors met their untimely demise. This, and the fear of being buried alive, is his reason for the wedding postponement. Emily dissuades him and, despite the objections of Kate, Guy and Emily decide to marry.
Miles soon visits the Carrell household and finds Guy is acting strangely, Since the marriage, Guy’s obsession about being buried alive has resulted in his building a tomb. Within, he has built every possible escape device so that should he ever be mistaken for dead, he would be able to free himself.
Miles insists that Guy can never be free of his fears until he opens the family crypt and sees for himself that his father was not buried alive, but the corpse is found as if it had been. It falls against Guy and he collapses as though dead, He is declared dead and buried alive, unbeknownst to his family,
After the interment, Sweeney and Mole open the grave to steal Guy’s body, When they lift off the lid, Guy is freed and destroys them. He goes to Dr. Gault who had intended using his body for scientific experimentation, kills him and goes on to Emily. He binds her and throws her alive into the grave, Miles discovers Dr. Gault’s body and the disappearance of Emily and heads for the graveyard where he and Guy engage in a fierce battle. A shot rings out and Guy slumps to the ground, killed by a bullet from Kate’s gun. She had known all along that it was Emily who was using various devices to bring on Guy’s attack through his fear of premature burial.
ROGER CORMAN MEETS EDGAR ALLAN POE
TALES OF TERROR Roger’s next foray into the oft-trod turf of Edgar Allan Poe’s grave, fared a bit better. Comprised of three short episodes of roughly 30 minutes duration, the film had a unity and a much tighter construction (partially due to the brevity of the individual segments) than PREMATURE BURIAL. Of course, Poe’s material gets mangled again after being run through the AIP movie machine, but TALES OF TERROR manages to work pretty well on its own terms, if you are willing to forgive Corman’s exercise of his only semi-poetic license. With a cast headed by Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre, and Vincent Price, it would seem pretty tough NOT to make an entertaining movie, although we all know only too well that such a feat has been accomplished time and again (witness Rathbone in THE BLACK SLEEP and Price in the Poe-Corman PIT AND THE PENDULUM).
The three episodes were based on a trio of Poe tales – “Morella,” “The Black Cat” (previously butchered by Universal in the Karloff-Lugosi vehicle of 1934 which, beyond the purloined title, then bore no resemblance to Poe), and “The Strange Case of M. Valdemar.” Corman incorporated a feeling of circus-like horror into the proceedings reminiscent of a tamer and less ambitious version of Fellini. Juicy scenes of Price’s face disintegrating before your very eyes, of Price playing with Peter Lorre’s severed head, and of Price being entombed behind a brick wall enlivened the film and added to the overall fun. The brick wall scene was included as part of the Black Cat episode but was actually lifted from Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” But Corman and screenwriter Richard Matheson had performed similar juggling feats before and this time they took elements from both “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” blending them into a single story which, for all its infidelity, was still entertaining. A tighter framework and a more generous allowance from AIP mini-moguls also contributed to the film’s success.
Most impressive of Corman’s Poe adaptations are the sets, designed by Daniel Haller. In an interview appearing! in Canadian film magazine TAKE ONE Corman spoke at length about Haller’s uncanny talent for creating extravagant-looking sets on a minuscule budget:
“We would discuss the sets and Dan would kind of sketch them out on a napkin at lunch, and that would be it. When I went to 20th Century Fox it was really a surprise: all these draftsmen, and these guys are drawing things out and the sketch artists and everything else. Dan used to walk out on the set and he’d take a piece of chalk, make a mark, and say, ‘Start it about here.’ Then he’d walk out about 15 feet and say, “Well that looks reasonable, bring it out to here.’ And I think he was totally correct, because they got themselves so wound up in the studio in such needless detail on sets. You know: This wall is going to be 35 feet, 14 inches.’ It means nothing whatsoever in a motion picture. The set will change with every lens you use anyway.”
“TALES OF TERROR” (the story)
“MORELLA”
Locke (VINCENT PRICE) has lived as a hermit for 26 years, mourning the death of his wife, Morella (LEONA GAGE) soon after the birth of their only child. Blamed for her death, the child, Lenora (MAGGIE PIERCE) was sent away. Aged 26, she returns to her decay-ridden home hoping her father will explain her rejection. Dismayed at her reappearance, however, he refuses a reconciliation.
Forced to stay overnight at the deserted house, Lenora explores the rooms and discovers her mother’s bedroom with Morella’s body still on the bed, mummified. Locke enters and orders Lenora out, then reveals that he and her mother thought the girl responsible for her death. This revelation breaks the barrier between father and daughter.
That night, Morella’s tortured spirit rises from its corpse and possesses Lenora. Her screams rouse Locke who finds her dead. As he mourns her, the covered body shows signs of life. Under the sheet, however, lies Morella-back from the dead. Locke rushes to his wife’s bedroom and sees to his horror that Lenora’s body is there, apparently dead for 26 years. When Morella follows him and announces that she has returned to avenge herself, the terrified Locke drops his candle and as Morella strangles him, flames consume the bodies, living and dead.
“THE BLACK CAT”
Montresor (PETER LORRE), who drinks to excess and has a foul temper, prefers alcohol to his long-suffering wife, Annabel (JOYCE JAMESON), a woman of simple tastes and a simple mind. Given no love or attention by her spouse, she transfers her affections to her black cat, Pluto.
On one of his drunken excursions, Montresor is befriended by Fortunato (VINCENT PRICE), a wine-taster who carries him home when he falls into a stupor. Fortunato and Annabel are mutually attracted and enter into a love affair. When Montresor finds out, the effrontery to his pride leads him to plot the murder of the two lovers.
He uses Fortunato’s love of Amontillado wine to drug him and entombs him and Annabel alive behind the cellar wall. Believing that he has committed the perfect crime, Montresor lets the police inspect the cellar, only to be discovered when the black cat, accidentally trapped in the tomb starts wailing.
“THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR”
An old man, M. Valdemar (VINCENT PRICE) is torn by the pain of a fatal ailment. He asks M. Carmichael (BASIL RATHBONE), an unscrupulous mesmerist, to ease his pain, despite the opposition of Dr. Elliot James (DAVID FRANKHAM). Through this difficult period, M. Valdemar’s young wife Helene (DEBRA PAGET), sticks to her husband faithfully, though in love with the young doctor. Carmichael has designs upon Helene, however, and when Valdemar is dying, the mesmerist strikes a strange bargain with him. He agrees to put him under his spell at the end to see if mesmerism can forestall death itself.
Over the protests of Dr. James, Carmichael succeeds in holding Valdemar in a tortured nether-life. When this trance continues for months and the old man starts to speak in agony from nether world, Carmichael exhorts Valdemar to command Helene to give up Dr. James and marry him. To end her husband’s torture and give him the peace of death, Helene agrees. However, Valdemar stirs and rises from his deathbed to envelop the evil Carmichael, who dies from fright. The hypnotic spell lifted, all that remains of Valdemar is a liquid putrescence enveloping the mesmerist’s body.
Like the Karloff-Lugosi quickie of 1935, Corman’s THE RAVEN had nothing at all to do with Poe’s poem of the same name, outside of the ironically-intended incidental presence of a raven perched on Karloff’s shoulders. Teaming veteran horror superstars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Vincent Price as a trio of black magicians locked in an elaborate duel, trying to outdo each other (not only as wizards, but as actors as well) and generally hamming it up in a spirit of pure fun, no seriousness intended, the film works primarily because it allows the three horror film titans an opportunity to kid themselves, each other, and the type of film that made them famous. Refreshingly unpretentious, and sprinkled with several clever bits and imaginative special effects, THE RAVEN gives the trio free reign to camp it up and they do look like they were having a fine old time of it all.
Unfortunately, Corman’s flair for obvious jokes, strained sight gags, and tired low-key attempts at humor show through too often and flaw what might have been a much smoother film. But there are just too many broad swipes of his heavy hand that prevent the film’s moving at a steadier pace.
A typical AIP history surrounds the making of this film. When Corman managed to bring the film in ahead of schedule and discovered that he had Karloff under contract for three more days, he hastily rearranged the RAVEN set, had a script knocked out literally overnight, and another quickie rose from the ashes of THE RAVEN. The offspring was a dull programmer called THE TERROR. Years later Corman turned over several minutes of footage from that film over to Peter Bogdanovich (in his pre-LAST PICTURE SHOW days), who incorporated it into his first film, TARGETS, starring Boris Karloff as elderly horror star Byron Orlock (like Corman before him, Bogdonavich also had Boris only for a couple of days). Scenes from THE TERROR, a film fashioned from the remains of THE RAVEN remember, appears on a drive-in movie screen in TARGETS!
Editor’s Note:
The moral from all this which we can glean, horror hipsters and menacing mites, is that we can always trust American International Pictures to turn a bad penny into a fast buck. When THE RAVEN was made, Boris Karloff was very aged, and beyond his last legs.
Literally. His legs had just about given out on him, and he frequently collapsed in his wheelchair after every take. He was in very ill health, yet he was such a “pro” … a trouper … that the film came in three days ahead of schedule. And he was such a “pro” (and a gentleman) that, even in his very fragile health, he consented to do THE TERROR in three days, respecting the contract with Corman and the other AIP greedy-guts, obviously more than they respected Boris Karloff, or his ill-health. No doubt this incident probably prompted Karloff, the King of Horror, to say of Roger Corman’s Poe-films; “Poor Poe; the things they did to him when he wasn’t around to defend himself!”
“THE RAVEN” (the story)
“The Raven” tells of three sorcerers in Fifteenth-Century England-a primitive time ruled by magic, fear and superstition. One sorcerer, Dr. Erasmus Craven (VINCENT PRICE), has been inactive since the apparent death of his wife, Lenore (HAZEL COURT) and with his daughter Estelle (OLIVE STURGESS) still mourns her loss. One night he is startled by the appearance of a talking raven at his window and learns that it is a fellow magician, Dr. Bedlo (PETER LORRE) who has been made into the bird for daring to challenge the power of Master Sorcerer, Dr. Scarabus (BORIS KARLOFF).
When Dr. Bedlo regains his human form, he tells of seeing a woman resembling Lenore at Scarabus’ castle and enlists Craven’s aid in gaining revenge. Bedlo and Craven, together with Estelle and Rexford, Bedlo’s son (JACK NICHOLSON), journey to Scarabus’ castle and arrive safely despite mysterious interruptions which peril the entire party. Dr. Scarabus greets them as a disarmingly charming host and at a lavish dinner banquet pays tribute to Craven’s magic and allays suspicion about Lenore. However, we soon learn that Scarabus is really scheming to learn the secrets of Craven’s special and long inactive magical powers.
The mystery further unravels when Craven’s late wife Lenore appears on the scene-very much alive. She had tricked Craven into believing her dead so she could desert her husband and daughter for the comforts of Scarabus’ wealth and power. It was Lenore who tried to prevent the party from coming to Scarabus’ castle in an effort to protect her scheme. Now Scarabus admits his evil designs and imprisons Craven, Bedlo, Estelle and Rexford, threatening to torture the girl unless her father reveals the secrets of his magical powers.
When Scarabus, in a rage, once more changes Berlo into a bird, the Raven cuts Craven’s bonds, enabling him to engage Scarabus in a fantastic duel of magic, each pitting the full extent of his power against the other in a fight to the finish.