Corman/Poe: Interviews and Essays Exploring the Making of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe Films, 1960-1964

by Chris Alexander, Roger Corman (Foreword)

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, PREMATURE BURIAL, TALES OF TERROR, THE HAUNTED PALACE, THE RAVEN, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, THE TOMB OF LIGEIA…

Produced on modest budgets for American International Pictures, Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories were popular in their time as escapist horror cinema. Most starred horror icon Vincent Price and were written (and "freely adapted") by the likes of Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont and Robert Towne. Today the series is recognized as unique and sophisticated, one that delivers decadent Gothic chills while exploring ideas of faith, sexuality, psychology and the supernatural.

CORMAN/ Interviews and Essays Exploring the Making of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe Films, 1960–1964 is the only book to fully examine this important chapter in horror film history. In-depth conversations with the maverick Roger Corman are book-ended by engaging critical analyses of each of the eight films, which together stand as a fully realized and consistent creative vision.

The book is illustrated with dozens of photographs and stills, many of which have never been published before, and features a brand-new foreword from Corman.

Genres: Horror, Essays, Film

150 pages, Paperback

Published June 6, 2023

Reviews

[David Sterritt]

I’ve been looking forward to Chris Alexander’s book “Corman/Poe: Interviews and Essays Exploring the Making of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe Films, 1960-1964,” but it turns out to be aimed more at fans than at serious cinephiles. The long plot synopses have little use in the age of readily accessible videos, the interviews cover material that’s been rehashed in countless places including Roger’s many audio commentaries, and the analyses rarely get below the surface. The movies themselves still hold up beautifully, and it’s always fun to be reminded of them. Too bad the book doesn’t dig a lot deeper into its well-chosen subject.

[Alex Sarll]

A survey of the great cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations (mostly pretty loose, to the extent that one was in fact a Lovecraft adaptation) by Roger Corman, a filmmaker whose career surely short-circuits any notion of hack and genius as mutually exclusive categories. The bulk of the book is fresh interviews with Corman, and if there are no huge revelations, it's still lovely to hear chapter and verse from such a veteran, still seemingly going strong at more than twice the age Poe (or indeed Lovecraft) ever reached. I was particularly charmed to learn that early on, he would sometimes simply say 'Interior!' to remind Vincent Price to use his indoor voice - not far off Ken Russell's directorial method with Ollie Reed. Plus, glancing insights on some of the various big names who started out working for Corman before going on to only slightly lesser work of their own - which for the Poe films includes Coppola, Roeg and Robert Towne. Alexander himself is more a useful compiler than a particularly exciting writer in his own right; he's oddly overfond of 'citing', and when did the confusion of 'descendant' and 'ancestor' get so widespread? But it's arguably more of an issue that, while he is quite correct in being a massive fan of the films, he's a little too reverent about it; they're brilliant, yes, but from this you could almost miss the glorious camp of them.

[Andrew Garvey]

An enjoyable (if far too reverent) overview of the Corman/Poe series of films for AIP featuring plot synopses, an analysis of each film and interviews with director/producer Corman, this collection also has plenty of on-set photos and an appendix stuffed with film posters and letters from Corman's archive regarding the cuts demanded by an American catholic group and the BBFC to the only genuinely brilliant film in the Poe cycle - the Masque of the Red Death. Chris Alexander's love for these films makes some of his analysis pieces a little hard to take seriously but we all have our biases.

The Corman interviews are interesting but Alexander's not about to pick him up on the veracity of the things Corman is saying. Whether due to failing memories from decades earlier or Corman's own tendencies as a storyteller, it's not clear but I checked at least one of anecdotes (the one about Paul McCartney visiting the set of Masque right before the Beatles' first London gig) and the dates absolutely do not match. Corman was quite the worker.

[Tara]

As the title implies, this book includes interviews with Roger Corman and essays by Chris Alexander about the Poe cycle films made by Corman in the 1960s. For anybody new to the films this is a good source of information, but I was underwhelmed by the lack of new details that differ from preexisting interviews and online news sources. The highlight was the vintage movie posters in the appendix.

[Cameron K]

Paperback from Waterstones in Brighton, England

[Gregory Chevette]

I enjoyed the interviews with Corman but could have done without the synopses and analyses.

[Martin Baer]

Advance copy. Well written, insightful and personal look at these fine movies. Trade paperback. Great overview with plenty of Corman interviews, photos and international posters. Charming foreword from Corman. Smaller press, but good quality. Recommended.