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| The Fall of the House of Usher /The Pit and the Pendulum | 
 enlarge | Director: Roger Corman
Actors: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey, Harry Ellerbe, Eleanor Lefaber
Studio: American International Pictures (AIP)
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.70
You Save: $5.28 (53%)
New (34) Used (13) Collectible (2) from $4.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 329
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 160
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1006946
ISBN: 0792861280
UPC: 027616910875
EAN: 9780792861287
ASIN: B0007R4T12
Theatrical Release Date: June 22, 1960
Release Date: February 15, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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Product Description
The Fall of the House of UsherLegendary scare-masters Vincent Price and Roger Corman serve up a diabolical nightmare from screenwriter Richard Matheson that drips with "brooding evil and sinister suspense" (The Film Daily)! Based on Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale about a family driven to savage bloodlust by a power beyond their wildest fears this terrifying story of "murder madness and necrophilia" (Cue) proves that there's no place like home for horror!Running Time 70 MinThe Pit and the PendulumHappily-ever-after goes under the knife in this "eerie [and] excellent" (The Hollywood Reporter) saga of murder madness and forbidden desire. Starring Vincent Price as a man teetering on the brink of insanity (while his wife plots to push him over it) this "spine-tingling thriller" (Redbook) is a "lush elegant and bloody" (Cue) tale of razor-sharp terror!Running Time 70 MinSystem Requirements: Running Time 140 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 027616910875 Manufacturer No: 1006946
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 When AIP went color December 14, 2005
26 out of 30 found this review helpful
These two films revolutionized AIP. No longer were they pumping out black and white Academy aspect ratio films that became double features. Now they were making color cinemascope features. Both of these films feature Poe stories with Vincent Price in the lead and Roger Corman behind the lens. And they truly remind us that Corman made some great movies during his time at AIP. The Pendulum is truly a scary set.
These are essentials for your DVD collection if you have a Psychotronic shelf.
Pendulumn and the Pit August 7, 2006
12 out of 26 found this review helpful
Although Fall of House Usher adhears pretty closely to the original Poe story, Pit and the Pendulumn is not even close(except for the swinging battle axe of a ticker). Peter Thomas(Nova) did a narration/acting on audio that adheared exactly and was quite creapy.(why doesn't anyone release his wonderful radio shows). Pit and the Pendulumn on screen didn't relate to the Poe telling, but how could it? A single prisoner in a dingy dark dungeon is not a story for a moviescreen. Dianne Steele is not Myrna Fahey and yet it has been so long since I watched Pit and the Pendulumn that I thought Fahey was in both as generally they both look(and act) like Liz Taylor. The House of Usher is better, more frighting and very intriguing as far as the "fall from grace" type romance tale. P&P(don't pun I am tired!) is entertaining enough, if not a bit watered and the B&W scene is just what really happened to this woman(Steele). The masqued skull of a human face with a look of horror was quite wicked, if not a bit campy but effective at getting the morbid message to us.
I'd definitely get this double feature over the individual movies as they are both quite sinsiter and chilling on a dark night.
Dream sequences are a wonderfully "evil" part of HoU too. I liked the paintings and then seeing the ghostly vistages of these people the way they really were. I'd try to get the soundtrack too if availible.
Side B May 14, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I love the Pit and the Pendulum, and the set is a good bargain as well as a good match. I can never get my 10 year old son to watch older movies with me. I had also tried to engage him in Poe stories in book form. But when his teacher read them in class, he finally became interested enough to see these, and he really likes Poe now.
On the DVD they place one movie on one side of the disc, and the the second movie "the Pit and the Pendulum" on the reverse side, side B. I have other movies like this and it seems to work OK. Make sure you at least "test" the DVD when it arrives, I failed to do so until too late, only to learn that the side B of my copy did not work. It was a good enough story for me to bite the bullet and buy another copy.
 2 stories, Vincent Price and Edgar Allan Poe for under $10.00 January 19, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you like old horror films these are great. The price makes them a bargain. Renting these seperately would cost about as much as buying them. I like old horror films but I can't quite give these more than 3 stars. They are good movies but just not quite 4 stars. Of course, the price easily makes up for that. I especially like Edgar Allan Poe stories. If you like to read, Amazon has the Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe in one book.
Great Corman double bill February 16, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first two American International-Roger Corman Poe features on one dvd -- great idea, and fine execution. Corman's commentary is very nice to have as well. Pit and Pendulum I first saw at a drive in when I was quite young, and the movie scared the hell out of me. These films have high, for AIP, production values, and look great here. My only question is the odd "theatrical prologue" for Pit and Pendulum, which is not really explained. I do not recall seeing it on the film's first release. Still, this is a dvd I would highly recommend for Corman and AIP and gothic horror fans.
February 2008 update: The P&P "theatrical prologue" turns out to be something shot for the ABC-TV premiere showing, and has nothing to do with the rest of the film. Luana Anders appears in the prologue, an interesting bit. I do wish this information were provided on the DVD!
Also, the reviewers who put this film down have really got to think about the time it was made. It is really a wild and valid interpretation, and one to savor.
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