Win 1/5 Edgar Allan Poe Collection box sets

[culturebird]

5 x Edgar Allan Poe Collection Boxsets, courtesy of Shock Entertainment

A must have collection for horror fans, this boxset contains four terrific films adapted from the stories of the legendary writer.

A great collection for movie buffs and horror fans, this terrific box set contains four films adapted from the stories of the legendary 19th century horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. In particular, Poe's stories were often adapted by famed director and producer Roger Corman (best known for the endless stream of low-budget exploitation films churned out during the sixties and seventies) who helmed three of the flicks in this collection: 1962's The Premature Burial, which follows a man obsessed with the thought that he will be buried alive; 1961's The Pit and the Pendulum, about a young man who finds himself in strife after visiting a forbidding castle to investigate his sister's death; and 1964's The Tomb of Ligeia, which told the story of a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife.  The other film contained in this collection is Gordon Hessler's 1971 Murders in the Rue Morgue, which revolves around a 19th century theatre troupe in Paris specialising in gory horror plays. 
 
To score yourself one of these box sets, let us know what your favourite film inspired by one of Edgar Allan Poe's stories is and why.  Please include your name and address to competitions@filmink.com.au

Comp closes 27 July.

[helga22]

Film Adaptations

    Perhaps most notable are the films directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price: House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), The Raven (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), and The Tomb of Ligeia (1965). One film, 1962's The Premature Burial, starred Ray Milland and Hazel Court, with Price notably absent. The Haunted Palace (1963) steals the title of Poe's poem, but is more closely derived from the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

    The educational film "The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays" directed by frank Capra in 1957 contains a brief scene in which Edgar Allan Poe, Fiodor Dostoyevsky and Charles Dickens apper as muppets.

    In 2005, Lurker Films released an Edgar Allan Poe film collection on DVD, including short film adaptations of "Annabel Lee" by director George Higham, "The Raven" by director Peter Bradley, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by director Alfonso S. Suarez.

    "The Black Cat" was translated to giallo film as Eye of the Black Cat (also known as Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key).

    The 2004 release of Hellboy on DVD contained a special 10-minute adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart" in the special features.

    Since 2004 New York animation producer Michael Sporn has been working on Poe, an animated feature about Poe's life and works.

    Czech Surrealist director and animator Jan Švankmajer has directed several Poe-related adaptations: The Fall of the House of Usher (1983), a short film based on the story of the same name, The Pit, the Pendulum and Hope (1983), another short film based on "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Poe and "A Torture by Hope" by Villiers de l'Isle Adam, and Lunacy (2005), a feature length film based partially on motifs from "The Premature Burial" and "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether," as well as the life and writings of the Marquis de Sade.

Inspiration and allusions

    In The Crow, Brandon Lee quotes an excerpt from "The Raven" while breaking into Gideon's Pawn Shop.

    In the 1966 "Batman (1966 film)" movie, Bruce Wayne (Adam West) quotes the last stanza from the poem, "To One in Paradise," but mistakes it as the first one.

    Poe's poem "A Dream Within a Dream" is frequently alluded to in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), directed by Peter Weir.

    In the 2003 horror film, I, Madman, insane novelist Malcolm Brand is the author of a novel called Much of Madness, More of Sin, a quote from Poe's poem "The Conqueror Worm"

    In the 1990 film The Krays, the schoolyard dominance of Ronnie and Reggie Kray as children is demonstrated in a scene featuring a reading of the poem "Alone".

    In the 2004 remake of The Ladykillers, the chief protagonist is a great admirer of Poe and frequently quotes from his poetry; a raven is also featured.

    In the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys, the two kid vampire hunters Edgar and Alan Frog, played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander respectively, have names that are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.

    The 1993 film The Mummy Lives, starring Tony Curtis with a screenplay by Nelson Gidding, was suggested by Poe's "Some Words with a Mummy" (1845).

    The concept of sealing someone alive behind a brick wall, "a la Poe" in The Cask of Amontillado, was used in the September 22, 1971, episode of Rod Serling's TV series Night Gallery, titled "The Merciful". [1] The episode included a short segment in which an old woman (Imogene Coca) is apparently sealing her husband (King Donavan), passively seated in an old chair, in the basement behind a brick wall she is building. She assures him it is "really much better this way," that she is "doing this for your own good." When she finishes the wall, the old man gets up and walks upstairs to the main floor of the house. His wife has sealed herself in.

    In the 2008 horror film Saw V, Seth Baxter is placed in a trap which references The Pit and the Pendulum.


Selected Poe-related films

    Edgar Allen Poe (sic) (1909)
    The Gold Bug (France, 1910)
    The Pit and the Pendulum (Italy, 1910)
    The Bells (1912)
    The Avenging Conscience or: 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' (1914)
    The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1914)
    The Raven (1915) - This film is more of a Poe biography; however, a brief segment of the film is indeed an abbreviated performance the namesake poem.
    The Tell Tale Heart (1928)
    The Fall of the House of Usher (US, 1928)
    La Chute de la maison Usher (France, 1928)
    Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
    The Black Cat (1934)
    Maniac (1934) - also adapts "The Black Cat"
    The Raven (1935)
    The Tell-Tale Heart (1941)
    The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942)
    Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
    The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)
    The Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1953)
    House of Usher (1960)
    The Tell-Tale Heart (1960)
    The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
    The Premature Burial (1962)
    Tales of Terror (1962) - Adapts "Morella," "The Black Cat," and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"
    The Raven (1963)
    The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
    Castle of Blood (1964)
    The Tomb of Ligeia (1965)
    Spirits of the Dead (Histoires extraordinaires), 3 segments: Metzengerstein by Roger Vadim, William Wilson by Louis Malle and Toby Dammit by Federico Fellini (France/Italy, 1968)
    The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
    The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe (1974) - Directed by Mohy Quandour. With Robert Walker Jr., Cesar Romero, Tom Drake.
    Vincent (1982), a short film by Tim Burton, about a boy who is obsessed with Poe and Vincent Price.
    Fool's Fire (1992) - a short film written and directed by Julie Taymor and starring Michael J. Anderson, an adaptation of "Hop-Frog"
    The Raven...Nevermore (1999)
    The Raven (short film - 2003)
    The Death of Poe (2006)
    Nightmares from the Mind of Poe (2006)
    The Light-house (2008)
    Eureka: The Mind Of Edgar Allan Poe (2008)
    Edgar Allan Poe's Ligeia (2008)
    House of Usher (2008), queer pastiche directed by David DeCoteau
    The Pit and the Pendulum (2009), contemporary riff directed by David DeCoteau
    The Raven (2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe_in_television_and_film