Cult Movie Challenge 2018 | 25/52 | Horror Anthology
The anthology is a collection of animated adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories. Each story involves a famous dude, usually as a narrator or as the lead in The Masque of the Red Death. The stories do not deviate from the source material, and the narrators often simply read the story to accompany the animation.
While each story has a visual style, none of them feels especially inspired but simply chosen from a list of possible textures/aesthetics. Part of this is likely due to the small team that worked on the film, but this also means the animation itself isn’t particularly expressive or dynamic. The most glaring issues in each story are the facial expressions. Not just how they form, but how the filmmakers try to translate static art forms into digital animation.
The sound design is solid, with plenty of atmosphere to help set the mood.
By not straying from the original stories, we get to hear them read by (a couple) great narrators. I’m also an avid Poe fan, so any adaptation is going to have some charm.
Framing Narrative **
The opening credits are in a paper cutout style. They lead into the first story, in which a Crow lands in a graveyard, where each grave has a statue of the person who died, and each woman is from an Edgar Allan Poe story. Somewhere, a voice calls the Crow “The Poet” and quotes lines of Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry with the Crow. The voice calls itself the Crow’s “greatest fascination.” Their conversation acts as the lead-in to the various stories.
The Fall of the House of Usher **.5
This story features a woodcarving-style digital animation. Christopher Lee is the narrator/guest at the house of Usher. The short has a couple of nice images, but doesn’t do much with the story.
The Tell-Tale Heart ***
This story is done in an Alberto Breccia-influenced style (think comic book with dark black). The result is pretty trippy, thanks to very fluid animation. The short uses a recording of Bela Lugosi reading the story. The audio quality makes it a little tricky to understand, but it also adds to the creepy vibes.
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdermar ***
The story has that classic EC Comics style. Unlike The Tell-Tale Heart, which also has a comic style, this one makes the animation less fluid, giving it a more organic feel. It also has the creepiest moments. Julian Sands narrates. This story has received fewer adaptations over the years, so it feels a bit fresher. I like the idea of hypnotising someone as they die.
The Pit and the Pendulum **.5
This short has the least style in its animation — it reminds me of 90s PC game cutscenes. It attempts to make up for it by laying out multiple moving frames, like comic panels. Guillermo del Toro narrates.
The Masque of the Red Death ***.5
This short has a sort of watercolor/gouache animation style. It’s definitely the prettiest of the shorts. The abstraction in the backgrounds really helps the vibes—definitely the best one of the bunch. Roger Corman voices the Masque. I genuinely have no clue why they chose him other than he’s a name.