By today's standards this isn't horror at all and to younger generations, accustomed to adrenaline rushes, this could even be a bit boring, but those old horrors, and old movies overall, have some special kind of charms that today's hyper-production can't achieve any more. Scenario is based on famous story by Edgar Allan Poe and I think it faithfully conveys Poe's poetics and overall atmosphere, and Vincent Price in leading role is always safe choice for this type of movie. Just forget about modern technology, turn off all the lights, preferably on stormy night, sit back comfortably and imagine that you're reading a book. When dark castle emerges from the fog, eerily lit by a full moon, with storm and curtains carried by the wind, atmosphere of this classic for all times will drag you into story and obsolescence of production won't bother you at all.8/10

Always a penny-pinch, Roger Corman made a modest budget of around $300,000 go far with this Poe adaptation. Instead of two low-rent black and white trash movies he convinced the money men to let him do a single, prestige picture in color and Cinemascope. They agreed, but there is really not a feature-length story here, and it limps across the 79-minute mark gasping and wheezing.Well-to-do Philip Winthrop arrives at the gloomy House of Usher to whisk his fiancée away to a new life in Boston. Her brother Roderick (a blonde Vincent Price) objects to it, claiming that the Usher bloodline is doomed to misery and that the dark, old house won't let her leave. Er...so how did they meet in the first place? Philip imposes himself on the household and discovers that they are all indeed quite mad. Had he been a little older and wiser he would have realized that no woman is worth that trouble and rode right on out of there. But then we wouldn't have a movie, or what has been stretched out into a movie.The pacing, sets, and morbid atmosphere all feel very similar to Pit and the Pendulum, which Corman and Price did a year later. Had I not been recently familiar with that movie then perhaps Fall of the House of Usher might have had a better effect on me, but they are both so alike that I felt like I was watching the same movie twice. It looks pretty and the aching, wobbling house is a wonderful location with a brooding, foreboding gloom surrounding it, but there simply isn't enough for this quartet of characters to do.

I wouldn't call this a strict horror film, although it has some small elements of horror, but the atmosphere alone, plus the performance of the great Vincent Price(Roderick Usher)is worthy enough to recommend this film. You know the story by now, and even though it takes a little time to progress, it's worth the wait, and you don't need to be a horror fan to enjoy. My personal highlight is the performance of Harry Ellerbe, who portrayed Bristol the butler, as he tried his best to appease all the parties involved, and was very proper and respectful, and it's easy "root" for him, so to speak. The color schemes worked very well, as it was also a fine movie to look at visually, even though the exterior of the castle's many shots were obviously fake, and even some of Price's lines were pretentious, but still charming. Mark Damon(Philip Winthrop)and Myrna Fahey(Madeline Usher)were both solid in their prospective roles, even though at times their dialog was a tad mushy. The conclusion of this film was better than I remembered it being, and that adds to what is a solid film which boasts the talents of one Vincent Price.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest writers of all time, and House of Usher (1960) the film version of his short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" is interesting look at modern psychological science. It covers the form of sensory overload known as hyperesthesia (hypersensitivity to light, sounds, smells, and tastes), hypochondria (an excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness), and acute anxiety. The film was directed by Roger Corman known for his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. The film was the first of eight Corman/Poe feature films. The film starts with Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) travels to the House of Usher, , to meet his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey). Madeline's brother Roderick (Vincent Price) doesn't want the marriage to happen, telling Phillip that the Usher family is afflicted by a cursed bloodline which has driven all their ancestors to madness and doesn't want that to continue. Victor Price is great in the role, and truly can seem like a hypochondriac madman. Philip becomes increasingly desperate to take Madeline away; but Madeline suddenly dies and laid to rest in the family crypt beneath the house. As Philip is preparing to leave, the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe), lets slip that Madeline is alive. Philip rips open Madeline's coffin and finds it empty. He desperately searches for her in the winding passages of the crypt but she eludes him and confronts her brother. Now completely insane, Madeline avenges herself upon the brother who knowingly buried her alive. The film does a good job in my opinion of presenting a faithful adaption of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale of the macabre. Others say it ignore the author's style. I do say I'm glad the film doesn't do a whole reading of Mad Tryst, a novel in Poe's novel "House of Usher'. It wasn't needed in the film. The use of color is wondering. I love the opening shot of Victor Price in the bright red suit. Chilling—yet there were a bit of over cheese scenes, such as that of the green fog and dead people that makes me laugh. That scene was probably a serious scene in 1960's, but now it does looks awful. The movie help define the Gothic genre. It shows Poe's ability to create an emotional tone in his work, specifically feelings of fear, doom, and guilt. The explicit psychological dimension of this tale has prompted many critics to analyze it as a description of the human psyche, comparing, for instance, the House to the unconscious, and its central crack to the personality split which is called dissociative identity disorder. Mental disorder is also evoked through the themes of melancholy, and possible incest. An incestuous relationship between Roderick and Madeline is never explicitly stated, but seems implied by the strange attachment between the two. The film can be interpreted as "a detailed account of the derangement and dissipation of an individual's personality." The house itself becomes the "symbolic embodiment of this individual." With the house falling apart, the characters are falling as well. Check it out if you want. There are two versions, the original and the retouch version, as on 2010, BRIC Arts presented the film with a new score and psychedelic overlays and flash forwards by Marco Benevento in celebration of the film's 50th anniversary. I would choose the newer version as it's more interesting in sound and taste. A great horror movie, so watch it. Talked about a really good haunted house movie.