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Nevermore: The Horrific Tales of Edgar Allan PoePost an Event »
Oddball Films is kicking off the haunted month of October with Nevermore: The Horrific Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, a ghastly evening of rare 16mm short films and animation based on the Gothic novels and short stories of the grandfather of modern horror: the inimitable Edgar Allan Poe. We begin the night with trailers for two classic Hollywood adaptations: Roger Corman's House of Usher (1960) starring Vincent Price, and Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) with Karl Malden. Veteran actor Monty Woolley brings to life the claustrophobic Cask of Amontillado (1954) in a short but chilling rendition. Ray Bradbury heralds the writer and the tradition of the Gothic literary movement in A Discussion of the Fall of the House of Usher (1975). Czech animation legend Jan Svankmajer breathes new death into The Fall of the House of Usher (1980, video) utilizing disorienting camera angles and visceral claymation. Grief takes wing in the breathtaking optically printed animation The Raven (1978) featuring the engravings of Gustave Dore. The melancholic love poem Annabel Lee (1971) evokes more ghosts of lost love. Guilt sends one man into the grip of madness in the haunting adaptation of The Tell-Tale Heart (1971). Plus, a puppet of Edgar Allan Poe weighs in on The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays (1957) in an excerpt from Frank Capra's Bell Science Special and show up early for a pre-pubescent Anthony Michael Hall starring in an ABC Weekend Special The Gold Bug (1980). Drive your hearse down to Oddball and get your October started with a fright! Date: Friday, October 7th, 2016 at 8:00 pm Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117 Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com Featuring: Cask of Amontillado (B+W, 1954) Based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same title about Montresor, an Italian nobleman, who, having been insulted by Fortunato, plots revenge full of terror in the chamber where the prized Amontillado wine is supposed to be. From a short lived series called On Stage with Monty Woolley. A Discussion of The Fall of the House of Usher (Color, 1975) Science Fiction superstar Ray Bradbury discusses not only the seminal work by Poe, he also delivers a history of the Gothic novel and illuminates Poe's influence on horror and science fiction to the present. The Fall of the House of Usher (B+W, 1980, video) An unnerving rendition from Jan Svankmajer combining live action, stop-motion and clay animation, but no actors. A dark study in visceral and tactile terror, this is a stark and unsettling experimental horror story from one of the most imaginative auteurs in the world. The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays (Color, 1957, excerpt) Dr. Research and Mr. Fiction Writer try to enter a mystery-writing contest judged by an esteemed panel of marionettes (Edgar Allan Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Charles Dickens) with the mysterious scientific phenomenon of Cosmic Rays. Between 1956 and 1964, AT&T broadcast nine hour-long television specials that sought to make science entertaining and palatable for children with engaging characters, humor and breathtaking animation.