Product Description

As his beautiful young wife Madeleine dies slowly of some dread ailment, fevered artist Roderick Usher asks his old friend Allan to keep him company in these morbid times. Shortly after Allan arrives, Madeleine dies--or does she? As Roderick himself succumbs to the melancholy, noises from Madeleine's tomb cry out--Death is not the end! Working from several of Edgar Allen Poe's stories, French avant-garde visionary Jean Epstein crafted one of the most highly acclaimed and internationally renowned film adaptations of Poe. Co-directed with surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel and starring Abel Gance's wife as the undead Madeleine, this 1928 classic is a true feast for the eyes and proof positive that the German Expressionists did not have a corner on the Gothic horror market. Newly mastered from a 35mm preservation positive, with a soundtrack by acclaimed music historian Rolande de Cande adapted from medieval music.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78299 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-05-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Silent, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 66 minutes

Customer Reviews

Silent, sinister & solid version of Poe's tale
This silent film by French avant-guarde film director Jean Epstein is a unique, and dark take on the classic Poe tale of premature burial and internal decay of the soul. Combining the story "The Oval Portrait" with the Usher story, Epstein and his actors create a solid narrative. The camera work is very powerful, helping to convey the nightmare within the story. If you enjoy silent films and Poe's work, I would highly recommend this one.

Very nice!
A beautiful film with talented actors. Dreamy. Hypnotic. Highly surrealistic, artistic, and arresting.

I immediately recognised that this must have influenced Dario Argento's surreal Suspiria, and, after some research, found out that in fact, it did (to think that this film inspired Argento is something that I really enjoyed finding out!)

(The soundtrack to this film is also very appropriate, very unearthly, ethereal.)

Slow and Disturbing
I knew very little about this story when I saw the movie, but it turned out to be an excellent horror movie. Not a modern slasher film, but something slow and creepy that gets under your skin. It's frightening, but for no apparent reason. Unfortunately not a movie that would get made today.