Review #12: The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) - Short film

This artistic short barely resembles the Poe story it takes it's name from, but unlike The Tell-Tale Heart, this really doesn't harm my review or reception in any sense. It's clear to me that this film was trying something new, something akin to the German expressionism movement years earlier. While not good in the traditional sense, one cannot deny that this short is unique.

Source: YouTube

Length: 13 minutes

Number of Ratings from IMDb: 753

Country of Origin: USA

Director: James Sibley Watson [The Fall of the House of Usher] & Melville Webber [The Fall of the House of Usher]

This film is often described as avant-garde and an example of American expressionism (think The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). As such, the short doesn't really follow the story whatsoever - oh, if you're familiar with the story, you can make some connections, but overall, there's not much of a plot to speak of.

Unlike Where Evil Dwells, a short I previously reviewed, the film is not harmed due to the lack of plot. This is for a few reasons - firstly, this is about half as short, and thus is far more palatable. Secondly, unlike the 1985 short, this film has many unique shots (as one can expect from an expressionist film), and as disjointed as it may be, it's still sort of fun to watch. Below are a few images that stood out to me.

The last two images interest me especially. It spells out "crack", and the second one spells out "cracked" while the word is, as you can see, literally being cracked apart. I don't know the meaning over it whatsoever, but visually, it is interesting.

In fact, most of this film, if not all, is visually interesting. What it lacks in story and plot, it makes up for with that. I don't love it, but I felt no strong feels of dislike toward it while I was watching. In fact, I'm rather impressed by how this came out - sure, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari came out eight years earlier, so I shouldn't be surprised - but even so, the visuals strike me as damn cool.

On a side-note, while I realize, and have said of such, that this short really does not resemble the original Poe story, I'll link the original story here anyway, as it's really worth reading.

Also, I watched this short with the soundtrack by C.Z. Robertson, who added sort of a dark electronic feeling to the film, which I felt really helped it along. I admit, I have some doubts at first, but this film should probably be viewed - it's just that aesthetically appealing.

My rating: 7/10

IMDb Page

- Michael