Tales of Terror1962

Name: Tales of Terror
Genre: Gothic, Comedy Horror, Supernatural, Classic Monsters
Released: 1962-07-04
Rating: 6.8

“A Trilogy of Shock and Horror!”

Directed by Roger Corman

6.8

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 6.8Rotten Tomatoes 71%Metacritic 68TMDB 6.7

✍ Review

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Year

1962

Runtime

89 min

Box Office

Domestic

$3,270,000

🏆 2 nominations

The premise

Three stories adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe: 1) A man and his daughter are reunited, but the blame for the death of his wife hangs over them, unresolved. 2) A derelict challenges the local wine-tasting champion to a competition, but finds the man's attention to his wife worthy of more dramatic action. 3) A man dying and in great pain agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death, with unexpected consequences.

Horror Vault's take

A lavish Roger Corman anthology brings three Edgar Allan Poe tales to vivid life, anchored by the incomparable Vincent Price across all segments. Gloom and gallows humor trade blows as each story explores a different shade of mortality — from haunted domestic tragedy to drunken farce to something far more unsettling at the threshold of death. Peter Lorre steals scenes with gleeful menace in the film's most wickedly comic segment, while Basil Rathbone lends chilling authority to the finale. Poe purists and casual genre fans alike will find plenty to savor in this richly costumed, studio-gothic package.

Content: Depictions Of Death And Corpses, Themes Of Premature Burial, Mild Comedic Violence, Period Depictions Of Alcohol Abuse