by Ray Walton

Tales of Terror (1962) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐/5

Three tales of terror involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife’s black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man’s death.

Tales of Terror tells three tales of terror that involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife’s black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man’s death. I’m a little surprised that I liked this more than the full-length Corman Poe adaptations. Maybe because Poe’s stories were short, and despite Corman’s passion, maybe they felt a little padded? Not actually sure, I need to go back to revisit. With each of the three segments only being about half an hour, nothing overstays its welcome. Each of Vincent Price’s three characters has its own unique personality. All of his characters are completely different from one another. I do really like how Corman relied on atmosphere more than in-your-face scares. I actually wrote a paper about Poe in my freshman year of college about how his writing doesn’t exactly fit into the category of “horror” anymore, but his stories are still very effective. With the term “elevated horror” floating around nowadays, his stories just don’t fit that definition, whatever that even is. It’s just a very enjoyable string of stories with Vincent Price doing what he does best. This is one of the reasons why I love old-school horror. I’m going to give Tales of Terror a 4/5. 

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Ray Walton

Neurodivergent movie lover. Here to share reviews for horror and non horror movies that fall into the “Dark Cinema” category.