LGM Film Club, Part 58: The Fall of the House of Usher

We started the day with Poe, let’s end the day the same, with this wild 1928 version of The Fall of the House of Usher, from a live performance in 2010 with a new score.

This is really a remarkable film. There’s a good essay on it at the National Film Preservation Foundation site (you can stream it there too). It is basically an experimental theater production with lots of funky camera moves, splicing, and special effects, plus really outstanding set design. Cool film. The plot doesn’t make a lot of sense told this way, without any title cards, but then does it really matter?