I can't say I was ever a big Poe fan, but the few Poe tales I know I have always kept coming back to. The Tell tale heart, Frog Hop, and even a few scattered memories of the first time I read THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM. I suppose that makes this movie a bit of a crash course history video for a Poe scholar in training.
Raúl García’s “Extraordinary Tales” is an animated anthology film of Edgar Allan Poe stories narrated by luminaries like Christopher Lee, Guillermo Del Toro and even Bela Lugosi himself. To be blunt, it’s kind of difficult to mess that up too much. Christopher Lee reading Edgar Allan Poe? Sign me up.
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
So your old homeboy calls you up looking to hang out after many years of silence, and rumour has it his mental health has gone to shit. When you show up you realize that's no rumour but a fact and now you wait patiently to see what this madman has to say to you. good moody start that gets you entangled in the mystery, and the tale continues to do a good job of being both visually interesting and narratively intriguing. My mom is actually going to the last of her family's name, and I must say I never understood her urgency to keep that (or any other) name alive. It's a classic example of Poe's am I crazy or is there a vengeance ghost after me type tale, with a healthy dose of the dark atmosphere Lovecraft would become obsessed with capturing.
If I am to consume Poe's stories in any way at all this is easily my favorite method, and having both the visual and audio elements really makes things easier to follow along and understand. Can't wait for the next one.
THE TELLTALE HEART
Remember that whole vengeance ghost thing? well...
This is the story I was the most familiar with, and the one that surprised me the most. Going into this movie, I assumed all of the shorts would be animated in the same way. I felt no need to comment on the animation style of this first segment because I had nothing to say about it, but this second segment is beautifully unique. It's in gorgeous black and white, constantly plays with negative space, and has a more Warhol pop art style that I love. easily my favorite story in this collection, narrated by the best narrator in the whole collection.
Long live Bella Lugosi.
It was at this point I stopped making notes and just got sucked into the movie, and I had a damn good time doing it.
this movie is just great yall.
10/10
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