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House of Usher (The)
R1 - America - ThinkFilm Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (31st October 2007). |
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The Film
 When it comes to Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, I just have one rule: if it's not Roger Corman, it's probably not worth it. Indeed, this applies to 'The House of Usher'. If the movie doesn't grab you in the first ten minutes, then there won't be much reason to get interested in the rest. The The last 25 minutes of this movie takes a weird and somewhat pointless turn that is completely irrelevant to the original story, and reminds me more of 'Bloodlines' than it does Poe. In the movie's defense, this is a movie influenced by, a retelling of the story. The filmmakers took the bits and pieces of the short story the liked - the condition of the main character's friend, the dead friend's relative and something in the cellar - and threw everything else out. They then figured they could make things better by adding a weird tank in the basement, an annoyingly creepy housemaid and really silly third act. The movie is about a woman (Izabella Miko) who goes to an estranged friend's funeral and ends up staying with the friends brother (Austin Nichols), also a long-time friend. The two talk, and talk, and talk. Then, nothing really happens and the ending comes around, making you wonder why they didn't just stick to the original story, which is a lot more chilling and atmospheric. To the movie's credit, the opening is really well done. The movie jumps from past to present, creating nice intrigue and atmosphere. Unfortunately, immediately after the credit roll, the editing slows down and the style can't support the atmosphere created in the first minutes of the movie. The cold colours make for a nice frame, but can't hold the movie up alone. A frustrating thing is that there are some great shots, like the one when Miss Miko finds the photograph behind the picture on the wall, but these are few and far between. Izabella Miko is a capable actress, and is really pretty, but for some reason she hasn't had the best choices in projects. This would be one of those projects. The acting isn't bad by any of the actors, it's just appropriate for the type of movie. Nobody is a standout, for better or for worse. The movie starts and finishes pretty quickly, but there's nothing much to see. Its roots are terrific, as the original story is highly creepy and scary. Unfortunately, the movie changed things and ended up missing the point. The short story starts with a description of the house – bleak walls, vacant eye-like windows and crumbling stones – and the house in the movie is completely different. This should have been an indication of things to come.
Video
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The movie has a very desaturated colour scheme, which makes the whole movie look a bit lower-budget than it probably is. The film was shot on DV, which means there are no specks or scratches or other blemishes of the kind. The compression is pretty good, though the shadow detail is kind of flat. The colours are well represented and the contrast is okay. The picture looks low budget, but then again, the movie is low-budget so there shouldn't be much of a problem.
Audio
The movie comes in an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, as well as an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. The audio is kind of bad. It's not that the movie is badly mixed or anything, it’s just the sound seems a bit cheap. The dialogue is clear, if a bit low, and the sparse score is mixed in well enough. There's a little bit of positioning but for the most part the audio is pretty centered. For pretty much the entire movie, this isn't a problem because there are only 2 or 3 people on screen, talking. English (HoH) and Spanish subtitles are provided here.
Extras
The first, and biggest, extra of the disc is an audio commentary by director Hayley Cloake. The director is fairly enthusiastic and that helps her track to be a bit more entertaining than it should be considering the comments she gives. She's not boring, but she does narrate a fair bit, and explain what's happening on screen. To be fair, she does give out a lot of interesting bits of information, as well. She points out shots she doesn't like because she used DV. She also talks about the original short story a bit. The actors and their roles, as well as the budget and shooting schedule are also mentioned. The track has a lot of nice information, but it also has some less interesting parts. After that, you can watch some Deleted Scenes. There are about 4 ½ minutes worth of cut scenes. One scene has Jill walking through the woods, hearing things. The next has her calling back home to arrange things after she decides to stay longer, and the third scene is an extension between Jill and Rodney, talking about Maddy. The scenes don't really add too much, though the second would help smooth out Jill's arc. After that, and finishing out the disc are the 'The House of Usher' Trailer (1:45) trailer, and a Trailer Gallery. The film's trailer looks appropriately creepy, if a bit low-budget. The trailer is okay, but you pretty much know what you're getting into. The gallery (also seen as start-up trailers) includes 'The Killing Floor' (2:00), 'Deceit' (1:29), 'Gag' (1:27), 'The Insatiable' (1:53), 'Bloodlines' (1:47) and 'Going to Pieces' (1:16) are here. These are also start-up trailers.
Overall
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