Skip to main content

The Tell-Tale Heart (1960)


One of the perennial favorites when it comes to horror in general is Edgar Allan Poe.  His tales of the macabre and the unusual provide fertile soil for directors and actors when it comes to cultivating the heebie jeebies in people...

Edgar is a quiet, retiring sort of person- much too shy of a person to ask his beautiful neighbour out for a date.  On the advice of his friend Carl, Edgar asks Betty out... only to find out later that the two have started an affair behind his back.  Taking matters into his own hands, he soon discovers that the heartbeat of guilt is a difficult one to stop...

This "What Movie Wednesday" winner (part of last Wednesday's double feature), is a loose adaptation of Poe's famouse short story.  While there are several major differences between this movie and the source material, the spirit and core premise is still there.  For such a simple movie, the story is strong and solid.  Normally, the ending (similar to that of "Point of Terror") would've irritated me- but I didn't mind it with this one.

The acting was fairly good.  Laurence Payne suited the role of Edgar very well.  He looked the part, sounded the part, and acted the part beautifully.  You come to feel for him- even after his horrendous actions.  He also gives a good example of "crazy eyes" that really looked insane.  The beautiful Adrienne Corri played Betty.  She really made you feel that her character was only dating Edgar because she had no other friends.  She looked great with blonde or black hair, too.  Even though Dermot Walsh isn't in the movie much as Carl (he's dead for at least half of it), he still turned in a good performance.  You could tell that his character was trying to be the best friend he could be to Edgar, and was fighting the temptation offered to him by Betty.  His performance really helped to his end a tragic one... and makes you glad when revenge is finally his.

There isn't much to say about the camera work.  It's fairly standard, static fare for the 1960's- but does use light and dark really well to create a suspensful scene.

I'm going to place "The Tell-Tale Heart" in The Good.

Special Shout Out:

I want to thank everyone that voted in this week's "What Movie Wednesday"- especially those that voted for "The Tell-Tale Heart":

Jessica Hewlett
Mathew Little (of "The Wayward Tarheel")
Jason Wiggins

The next "What Movie Wednesday" will take place 20th February 2013!

And don't forget to join me Friday nights at 7:00 pm (PST) on Twitter (@camethebasement) as I tweet along to NON-horror movies!


Related articles

Enhanced by Zemanta
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zombie Bikers From Detroit (2001)

Over the years, it has been shown that with very little money, a skillful director can put together a high quality horror movie (John Carpenter's " Halloween ", " The Blair Witch Project ", and " Paranormal Activity " being a few of them).  So, when it comes to determining a movie's quality, budget is no longer a negative... Ken and his mother have moved from Hell, Michigan to Grosse Pointe near Detroit.  Upon his arrival, he meets the lovely Courtney, and her jealous suitor Chad.  While Ken and Chad square off, an evil is growing within Detroit and slowly spreading towards Grosse Point... where Ken will meet his destiny ... This week's " What Movie Wednesday " winner was " Zombie Bikers From Detroit "- a low budget horror movie that feels like it was put together as a school project.  High School, or College... I can't really tell. The premise- as stated in my little synopsis is interesting- as was the title.  ...
9 comments
Read more

Meridian: Kiss of the Beast (1990)

Sometimes, a director/producer will surprise you- such was the case during " Terrorpolooza 2012 " when I watched Charles Band's " Meridian: Kiss of the Beast " Catherine Bomarzini has come home after her father's death.  Needing company, she asks Gina to stay with her.  Soon, the two meet a wondering troupe of performers that Catherine invites to dinner at her castle. Catherine find herself pulled into a love triangle and an ancient curse that only she can break. After watching movies like " Evil Bong ", and " Demonic Toys ", I really wasn't expecting too much from this Charles Band movie- but I was pleasantly surprised by it. The story is actually quite interesting with lots of potential for eerie scenes, and character development.  It's a nice twist on the classic " Beauty and the Beast " story.  It's a bit slower than most of Band's other works, but moves smoothly and draws you with it. I have to ad...
Post a Comment
Read more

Demon Seed (Dean Koontz)

  Susan has withdrawn from the world  after her divorce from her abusive husband.  Her mansion contains state of the art household automation.  She is secure from the dangers of modern Life.  She is safe from an unsafe world... Too bad her mansion had other ideas... The idea of a Alexa/Siri controlled house going haywire may sound like something written within the past decade, but you might be surprised that Dean Koontz actually wrote this book back in 1973. That's right.  Just five years after " 2001: A Space Odyssey " hit theatres, Koontz wrote this book brining HAL to a more personal level, while predicting the advent of programs like Alexa and Siri. This book is actually a pretty quick read at 301 pages.  The story progresses and builds at a steady and fast pace.  The writing is smooth and seamless as the tension and events unfold before you.  I lost track of time as I turned page after page.  I loved that this book was written from ...
Post a Comment
Read more