The Fall of the House of Usher (1982)

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is definitely my favorite story by the great American write Edgar Allan Poe due to its legitimate creepiness and heavy atmosphere. With this 15 minute long stop motion animated short film, the master filmmaker Jan Svankmajer attempts to translate Poe's beautifully atmospheric writing to the language of cinema, and does so with much success.I would like to note that the animation in this film is fantastic, as it is in all of Svankmajer's works. You can tell that a lot of effort was put into the stop motion, and it looks absolutely spectacular and adds to the eeriness of the short.Other than the animation and haunting atmosphere, this short is really just a reading of the original Poe story. None of the characters appear on screen, and there is only one narrator. It works quite well, but I do admit that more creativity could have been inserted into the project. However, I'm not necessarily complaining, because the animation and moodiness of this film are enough for me to highly recommend it.

Typically adaptations of literature in this style do not operate well--where the original text is overlaid in voice over against images, either the words clash with the imagery or reinforce it too much, making the experience of either watching or reading redundant. Instead of populating the house with Usher, his sister, and his friend, however, Svankmajer lets the elements, space, and furniture speak of its own characterization while a very good reading of the short story plays over some of Svankmajer's signature stop motion animation. It has been a while since I've read the short story, but from my memory of it this is the text in exactness and entirety, so that's really good. The storm and the abode are satisfyingly Gothic, and a really good graphic match between animated clay and a tree's roots are but one of many examples of the muddy and hazy quality of all of the imagery in this movie which weighs down with its dark Romantic tone. Svankmajer at least managed to hit the spirit of the story, if not the character's faces.--PolarisDiB

Couldn't really enjoy this as much as I'd like to. It seems that the entire poem is recited here - problem is I don't understand Czech and the visuals while good don't really stand on their own. This is one case where subtitles don't really work because they prevent the visuals from being appreciated. Someone should redo this with the poem recited in English. I don't think Mr Svankmajer would object. For a better Poe work by Svankmajer check out The Pit, the Pendulum and Hope. Actually, that movie's the best Poe adaptation I've ever seen. Both of these films can be found on the recently released two DVD set of Svankmajer short films called Collected Shorts Of Jan Svankmajer.

Beginning and ending with the shot of a large raven, Jan Svankmajer's rendition of Poe's tale of The Fall of the House of Usher uses various stop-motion animation techniques to tell a riveting version with mold growing, chairs moving about, and the name of Roderick's sister appearing magicly in clay. All sorts of furniture rapidly departing (without the help of human hands) the house as it disintegrates adds a somewhat light touch to the story.