Alternative Treasures: The Fall of the House of Usher and The Terror within Roger Corman's Poe Cycle

Abstract

abstract:During the 1960s Roger Corman produced a series of adaptations based on the literature of Edgar Allan Poe, known commonly as his Poe cycle. They were B-films but they were also prestige pictures, flagship films for production company American International Pictures. This article argues that Corman embarked upon a renewal of Poe's literary influence through creative mistranslation and examines two of Corman's films. The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) signifies the "best" and "worst" of this series. The first of the cycle, it set a tone that was emulated by all the films to follow. The Terror (1963), a so-called honorary member of the cycle, has not had the deserved theoretical or critical attention, especially in studies of adaptation in the cinema and questions of translation, transmutation, and transfiguration. The Terror, in fact, might represent one of Corman's most enduring contributions to filmic art.