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Revenge
in the House of Usher
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5
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
Dr.
Alan Harker (Antonio Mayans) receives word that his ex-professor
and mentor, Dr. Usher (Howard Vernon), needs to see him. Upon
his arrival at Usher's crumbling castle, he finds the old man
succumbing to madness...
The early 1980s saw the cinema of Jess Franco
focused more than ever on pornography — having returned to his
native Spain after the death of his namesake Generalissimo Franco,
he found a climate of relaxed censorship and embarked on a series
of films that exploited the exhibitionistic nature of his muse,
Lina Romay. During this time, Franco was also inspired to revisit
the film that put him on the map: The
Awful Dr. Orlof (1962). Part Poe homage and part pseudo-Orlof
adventure, Revenge in the House of Usher
isn't really one of Franco's better films, although it does
have some admirable elements.
On the plus side, there's the always-reliable
Howard Vernon. Born in Switzerland in 1914, Vernon had a lengthy
career that included collaborations with such distinguished
filmmakers as Fritz Lang (The 1000 Eyes
of Dr. Mabuse), Woody Allen (Love
and Death), John Frankenheimer (The
Train) and Jean-Luc Godard (Alphaville),
but it is for his insane number of Franco film appearances that
he is best remembered. Having originated the Dr. Orlof character,
Vernon here revisits the role for the umpteenth time and, as
always, is never less than convincing. Here called Dr. Usher,
Vernon is a frail old man, paranoid and being driven insane
by guilt; flashback scenes culled from the 1962 Orlof
are essentially 'rewritten' to comply with the new narrative.
The supporting cast includes plenty of familiar
faces in the Franco universe, some playing characters that have
appeared almost as incessantly as Orlof in the director's self-referential
oeuvre. Antonio Mayans (one-time business partner of Franco
and a veteran of dozens of his films) plays Harker, Daniel J.
White (Franco's favorite composer, also an actor) is Dr. Seward,
Olivier Mathot (Cannibals,
Exorcism) is
manservant Morpho, and Romay appears (fully clothed) as Vernon's
housekeeper.
Franco's use of the Orlof stock
footage is apparently particular to the French cut of the film
contained on this DVD; it would appear that the Spanish version
(which this writer has not seen) is longer and doesn't include
these inserts. Regardless, the use of the footage is interesting
and doesn't seem anywhere near as desperate as it may appear.
In a sense, the film sees Franco revisiting his roots, perhaps
even seeking to mock the film's lingering popularity by stubbornly
rewriting it and shoehorning it into a more personal work.
Alas, while the film is mildly interesting throughout, the pacing
is much too slack and the film feels padded. Franco creates
some arresting tableaux via muted soft focus photography, and
Vernon easily injects interest into his various ranting appearances,
but the poverty stricken production values are evident and the
frenzied finale is something of a botched job. It's also a curiously
restrained film for Franco, especially during this period —
one almost feels guilty for saying this, but this is a film
that could have used a bit more sleaze.
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Image's
DVD edition of Revenge in the House of Usher
— recently re-released as part of The Orloff Collection
box set — is satisfactory. The 1.78 framing looks absolutely ideal,
and the image is enhanced for widescreen TVs. Print quality is
very good overall, though there is some sign of wear and tear
evident throughout; the soft appearance of the picture is the
result of Franco's cinematography, not the transfer itself.
Two
audio tracks, both in mono, are included: the original French
track is highly recommended, especially since it includes English
subtitles. The far campier English dub is also included. Vernon
provides his own dubbing for both tracks, but overall the film
plays much better in French. Both tracks are in solid, if unremarkable
condition. Extras include the theatrical trailer and some concise
liner notes by Tim Lucas. 10/08/04 |
| UPDATE
Although the Image DVD is currently still
available as a 'stand-alone' edition, the 4-disc Orloff
Collection — which also includes Franco's The
Awful Dr. Orlof, Dr.
Orloff's Monster, and Pierre
Chevalier's Orloff
and the Invisible Man — is the
most economical way to purchase these peculiar slices of Euro-Cult
cinema. |
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