Interested in Poe on Film? Here's a list of films made from Poe's stories and poems, as well as those films made about Poe. Not a complete listing by any means, but a good listing of everything easily found at a video store or available from one of our fine advertisers.

The Films:

Annabel Lee (1921, 5 reels, b&w, silent). Starring Jack O'Brien, Lorraine Harding, Florida Kingsley, Louis Stearns. Bad version uses the poem as a take-off point for overlong story.

Avenging Conscience, The (1914, 6 reels, b&w, silent). Directed by D. W. Griffith. Starring Henry B. Walthall, Blanche Sweet, Spottiswoode Aitken, Mae Marsh. Based on "The Tell-Tale Heart," "Annabel Lee," and "The Pit and the Pendulum." Melding of tales is uneven but the atmospheric mood is overwhelming. Worth finding.

Black Cat, The (1934, 70 min., b&w). Also released as House of Doom. Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Jacqueline Wells. Virtually no relation to Poe's tale, but a classic horror film well worth viewing. 

Black Cat, The (1941, 70 min., b&w). Starring Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Bela Lugosi, Gale Sondergaard. A comedy not really based on Poe's tale but still fun.

Black Cat, The (1966, 91 min., b&w). Starring Robert Frost, Robyn Baker, Sadie French. Gory but faithful adaptation of Poe's tale.

Blood Demon (1969, Germany, 73 min., color). Starring Christopher Lee, Karin Dor, Lex Barker, Carl Lange, Vladimir Medar, Christiane Rucker, Dieter Eppler. Based on "The Pit and the Pendulum." Very loosely based, but lots of fun.

Bucket of Blood (1934, British, 50 min., b&w). Starring Norman Dryden, John Kelt, Yolande Terrell. Based on "The Tell-Tale Heart." Kick this bucket.

Castle of Blood (1964, Italy, b&w). Starring Barbara Steele. Directed by Antonio Margheriti. Poe visits London and bets a skeptical British journalist that he (the journalist) can't stay one night in a haunted castle. An intensely scary film.

Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (1972, Mexican, 88 min., color). Starring Claude Brook, Ellen Sberman, Martin LaSalle. Based on "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather." A man is sent to investigate the mysterious Dr. Tarr, and his asylum. Not bad.

Edgar Allan Poe: A Journey in Verse (2004, DVD, color). Part of the Master Poets collection, this award-winning film is recommended for classrooms.

Edgar Allan Poe: A Light and Enlightening Look (1996, color) A biography of Poe presented by a Professor Eliot Engel. Part of the "Writing Wonders" series.

Edgar Allan Poe's The Telltale Heart (2000, Monterey Home Video, color). Pretty good version.

Fall of the House of Usher, The (1928, b&w). Directed by Jean Epstein and Luis Bunuel. Avant-garde version of the story by two renowned filmmakers. Absolutely essential.

Fall of the House of Usher, The (1952, British, 70 min., b&w). Starring Kay Tendeter (Usher), Gewndoline Watford (Lady Usher). Pretty bad.

Fall of the House of Usher, The (1980, 101 min., color). Starring Martin Landau (Usher), Ray Walston (Thaddeus), Charlene Tilton (Jennifer), Dimitri Arliss (Madeline). Limp version.

Haunted Palace, The (1963, 85 min., color). Starring Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Lon Cheney, Jr., Leo Gordon. Based on H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" but with the title taken from Poe's poem. Go figure. Price plays both a 17th-century warlock burned at the stake and the modern-day descendant who wants to breed monsters. Excellent work by film veterans with plenty of atmosphere.

Haunting Fear (1992, 88 min., color). Starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Karen Black. Based on "The Premature Burial." Black is plagued with nightmares about being buried alive; her husband uses these fears in a murder plot against her. Film not buried soon enough.

Haunting of Morella, The (1991, 82 min., color). David McCallum, Nicole Eggert, Maria Ford, Lana Clarkson. Produced by Roger Corman. A witch comes back in the body of her beautiful young daughter. R-rated exploitation.

House of Usher (1960, 79 min., color). Also released as Fall of the House of Usher. Starring Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey. Excellent commercial adaptation (not too close to Poe, but hey) with Price in fine form.

House of Usher, The (1992, 90 min., color). Starring Oliver Reed, Donald Pleasence. A waste, set in the present day and filmed in South Africa, with cheap sets.

Jaws of Justice (1933, 58 min., b&w). Starring Richard Terry, Ruth Sullivan, Gene Toller, Kazan, the Dog. Based on "The Gold Bug". Not bad, especially if you like a dog in the starring role.

Living Coffin, The (1958, 72 min., color). Also released as El Grito de la Muerte. Gaston Santos, Maria Duvall, Pedro de Aguillon. Based loosely on "The Premature Burial." A woman is afraid she will be buried alive, so she insists on having a bell device installed in her coffin. Turns out it was a good idea.

Loves of Edgar Allan Poe, The (1942, 67 min., b&w). Linda Darnell, Shepperd Strudwick, Virginia Gilmore, Jane Darwell. No, not the "Loves of Dobie Gillis." This is a commercially-released biography of Poe, with heavy emphasis on the heartbreaks of his life. Covers all the ground and does it well.

Manfish (1956, 78 min., color). Starring John Bromfield, Lon Cheney, Jr., Victor Jory, Barbara Nichols. Based on "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Gold Bug". Nichols' first film role, otherwise pretty tame.

Masque of the Red Death, The (1964, US/British, 86 min., color). Starring Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston, Patrick McGee. A Roger Corman production, and one of his very best.

Masque of the Red Death, The (1992, 94 min., color). Starring Frank Stallone, Brenda Vaccaro, Herbert Lom. Directed by Larry Brand. Pretty bad, even the Pink Panther's Lom.

Master of Horror (1965, Argentine, 61 min., color). Original title: Obras Maestras del Terror; also released as Masterworks of Terror. Starring Narcisco Ibanez Menta, Carlos Estrada. Based on "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" and "The Cask of Amontillado". Not very good adaptations. A third adaptation, of "The Tell-tale Heart," was cut from American release.

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971, 87 min., color). Starring Jason Robards, Jr., Christine Kaufman, Herbert Lom. A theatrical group is staging Poe's mystery and things get out of hand. Expert cast is well worth watching.

Murders in the Rue Morgue, The (1986, color). Starring George C. Scott, Rebecca De Mornay. Excellent version carried by the amazing Scott as the retired detective August Dupin called upon to solve a series of murders.

Mystery of Marie Roget, The (1942, 61 min., b&w). Also released as Phantom of Paris. Starring Patric Knowles, Maria Montez, Maria Ouspenskaya. Decent adaptation still holds up.

Oblong Box, The (1969, British, color). Also released as Edgar Allan Poe's "The Oblong Box." Starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee. Some folks love it, but rather a confusing tale. Voodoo, premature burial, murder.

Oval Portrait, The (1988, 89 min., color). Giselle MacKenzie, Barry Coe. Adapted from the Poe story. Set during the American Civil War and telling of a young woman in love with a Confederate soldier.

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954, 83 min., 3-D). Starring Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Merv Griffin(!). Based on "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Silly 3-D version is good for a few laughs. Come on, Merv Griffin?

Pit and the Pendulum, The (1961, 85 min., color). Starring Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele. "Loosely based" on Poe, but an enjoyable romp. Steele and Price in fine form.

Pit and the Pendulum, The (1992, 95 min., color). Starring Lance Henriksen, Rona DeRicci, Oliver Reed. Poe's story serves as a launching point for an evocative, moody film.

Premature Burial, The (1962, 81 min., color). Starring Ray Milland, Hazel Court. Don't miss this great Corman film.

Raven, The (1935, 62 min., b&w). Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Irene Wade. "Inspired by" Poe's poem. Wonderful film about a Poe fanatic, played by Lugosi.

Raven, The (1963, 86 min., color). Starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court, Jack Nicholson. The Corman old-home-week classic send-up of the horror genre. Price and Karloff play rival sorcerers in a great battle. Lorre gets magically turned into the raven of the title.

Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe, The (1973, 87 min., color). Cesar Romero, Robert Walker Jr. A fictionalized account of Poe's life in which he goes to visit his beloved Lenore, who is an inmate at the local asylum!

Spirits of the Dead (1969, French/Italian, 117 min., color). Starring Vincent Price, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot. Based on "Metzengerstein," "William Wilson," and "Never Bet the Devil Your Head." Must-see adaptations of three stories by three top European directors: Federico Fellini, Roger Vadim, and Luis Malle.

Student of Prague, The (1927, German, 5 reels, b&w, silent). Original title: Der Student von Prag; also released as The Man Who Cheated Life. Starring Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, Agnes Esterhazy. Based on "William Wilson" as adapted by Hanns Heinz Ewers. Must-see classic German Expressionist/Gothic film.

Tales of Terror (1962, color). Starring Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre. Directed by Roger Corman. The stories "Morella," "The Black Cat," and "The Case of M. Valdemar." Creepy stuff combining horror and black humor in an effective mix.

Tell-Tale Heart, The (1962, British, 78 min., b&w). Also released as The Hidden Room of 1,000 Horrors. Starring Laurence Payne, Adrienne Corri. Roundabout version of the tale is effective.

Tomb of Ligeia, The (1965, British, 80 min., color). Starring Vincent Price. Roger Corman's last Poe film. Also released as Tomb of the Cat. Luscious visuals and shot on location in Europe, but not very convincing version.

Two Evil Eyes (1992, 115 min., color). Starring Adrienne Marbeau, Ramy Zada, E. G. Marshall, Harvey Keitel. Directed by George Romero and Dario Argento (!), so it is well worth watching. Based on "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" and "The Black Cat."

Web of the Spider (1972, Italian/French, 93 min., color). Also released as In the Grip of the Spider, Dracula in the Castle of Blood, and And Comes the Dawn ... But Colored Red. Based on "Danse Macabre." Starring Klaus Kinski, Tony Franciosa, Helga Line. Directed by Antonio Margheriti. Kinski as Poe, for about 8 minutes. A remake of Margheriti's Castle of Blood.