The Tell-Tale Heart
by Ernest Morris
Our Price: $39.79
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.94 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Adrienne Corri, Dermot Walsh, John Scott (IV), Laurence Payne, Selma Vaz DiasDirector: Ernest Morris
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 79 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Alpha Video
DVD Reviews of The Tell-Tale Heart
DVD Review: Edgar Allan Poe IS Norman Bates IN "Rear Window"
Summary: 4 Stars
It must be an ambitious undertaking for a film production to tackle Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". After all, it is one of Poe's most famous and chilling works. If the film falls flat on its face, then the director can't simply blame the original text for being underwhelming. And much of the horror is based upon Poe's prose which is not the easiest thing to convey in film.
However, the most challenging aspect must be the fact that Poe's original story is a little more than five pages long. It works as one quick effective jolt, not as a long sustaining opus. While The Internet Movie Database lists an astonishing 22 attempts at filming this story, I was hesitant to see how this particular instantiation (a low-budget 1960 British full length film) would attempt to pad the length.
Writing additional material into Poe's classic work is something that should only be attempted by experts. Surprisingly, there was a writing team up to the challenge. The most famous of this pair is Brian Clemens who is now more known for having written for and having produced The Avengers, The Professionals and other British television programs. At this point in his career, he was churning out a lot of B-movie crime/thriller scripts with his writing partner Eldon Howard.
As one would assume, quite a lot of story has been added to flesh out this production to a standard movie running time. In this telling of the tale, the main character is a fellow called Edgar (not much of a stretch). Edgar is a troubled, lonely and strange man who has a very odd manner in dealing with the fair sex (again, they aren't going very far for material). I'm not sure exactly what connection (if any) the producers where attempting between Edgar the character and Edgar the author, but it is notable that he is a much weaker character than the brash central figure of the original story.
Betty, a pretty young woman, moves in across the street, and Edgar is soon painfully infatuated. Despite the lady's obvious unease with his advances, Edgar's mind quickly escalates the relationship far past where it exists in actuality. Within the span of a few chaste dinner dates (and one uncomfortable groping session) he's buying jewelry for her and imagining the two of them in a fantasy of wedded bliss with a long and happy future together.
Of course, reality must intrude, and it does so in the form of Edgar's best friend, Carl. Carl is a charming and handsome man who Edgar insistently invites to a few of his outings with Betty. One thing leads to another, Carl and Betty become very close, and given the original story you can see where this is going to end up, can't you?
The new material not taken from the original story is rather simplistic and wholly predictable. But this actually works in the film's favor. While the film's approach is more conventional in plot, it retains the Gothic feel of the original. The straightforward nature of the storyline allows the tension and the atmospherics to rise. There's no mystery for the viewer, everything is predictable. The audience therefore can focus on the journey rather than spend time worrying about the destination.
The recreation of the 19th Century is very good and the effective black and white cinematography reminded me of more than one Sherlock Holmes film. It did take me a while to realize that the action was taking place in France and not (as I originally assumed) in London. Why the story was set there is a question I can't immediately answer, but the outdoor cafes and florist shops are a nice touch.
The film production has a nice feel to it and there are a few moments where the atmosphere becomes very dark indeed (and probably appeared even more close to the edge in 1960). The cast does a very good job; the overall performances are more theatrical than cinematic in scope, but that acting decision makes a lot of sense within this context. Laurence Payne has the always difficult task of making a psychotic character appear realistic yet he manages quite well. Dermot Walsh and Adrienne Corri (known for roles in A Clockwork Orange and Doctor Who) do an admiral job as the ill-fated romantic pairing.
For overall quality, it doesn't really come close to Poe's original work, but then, few things do. For a low-budget adaptation from the early 1960s, this is surprisingly decent.
DVD Review: Different plot, but good film
Summary: 4 Stars
I showed this film to my eighth graders after having read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". Although it does have a different plot to the original story, I believe that Payne does a wonderful job of bringing to life the narrator's lunacy. You feel his pain and you get the same sensation of disgust, and amazement you feel when you read the short story. I believe the essential ingredients are in it. It makes a great starting point for a comparing/contrasting discussion. DVD Review: TELL TALE HEART
Summary: 2 Stars
Fair Quality Item. The film print used for the DVD transfer was only fair and had several negative splices, dust and particles visible. Sound Track fair. We own a Super 8 sound print of this title that is in better shape and complete without cuts.DVD Review: (3.5 STARS) Very Loose Adaptaion of Poe's Short Story
Summary: 4 Stars
FOREWORD: To those who are squeamish or react nervously to shock, we suggest that when you hear this sound ... (thump, thump., thump ... muffled sound of heartbeat) ... close your eyes and do not look at the screen again until it stops.
The feature-length adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe' short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" begins with the tongue-in-cheek warning to viewers. Or maybe it was meant serious. I know nothing about the production company of this film which was made in 1960, but whoever it is, the producer(s) must have got their inspiration from William Castle and his low-budget, but hugely enjoyable B thrillers. It was released one year after Castle's cult horror "The Tingler" and "The House on the Haunted Hill."
The melodramatic story of this version of "The Tell-Tale Heart" itself is very, very loosely based on Poe. The film's story revolves around a troubled librarian Edgar (Lawrence Payne) who falls in love at first sight with a newly moved-in girl Betty (Adrienne Corri) living across the street. Edgar asks Betty to have a dinner with him, and she accepts, but he later finds that she is really in love with Edgar's friend Carl (Dermot Walsh). Angry and in despair, Edgar does what you know he will do anyway in his desolate house where he lives alone.
[NOT POE, EXACTLY] Now how can you turn a 5-page short story into a feature film that runs 79 minutes? This film does it by adding many things to the original material, and they actually added a lot here - mostly things about a classic love triangle case that went awry. The script is not very original, but the acting is good with Lawrence Payne's tense portrait of the protagonist. (He sometimes looks like Anthony Perkins as Norman.)
The camera is also surprisingly stylish (though the image quality of Alpha DVD is not perfect, but acceptable). Interestingly, the film contains some sexual nuances in several scenes (that reminds us of the opening scene of a clandestine meeting in Hitchcock's "Psycho") and it even suggested voyeurism like "Rear Window." The influence from the latter is obvious (I don't say how).
Only a few elements are transferred into the film from the source material. This film could hardly be called a Poe adaptation, but is still an interesting low-budget thriller
DVD Review: An average adaptation of a story you already know
Summary: 3 Stars
There's not a whole lot of suspense in this one, as everyone over the age of five knows the story. The filmmakers do try to shake things up a bit with strange twists at both beginning and end, but the merits of an introductory warning to close your eyes and open them only after the beating heart stops beating is about as campy as they come - and the ending is somewhat annoying in its own right. Still, at least the effort was there to throw in something of the unexpected to an extremely familiar tale.
In this incarnation of Edgar Allen Poe's famous short story, a lovers' triangle leads to the tell-tale murder. It's never pretty when a shy librarian starts pitching woo, but hermit-like Edgar Marsh (Laurence Payne) works up the nerve to ask out a woman who just moved in across the street from him. Betty (Adrienne Corri) isn't much of a looker to my eyes, and she's sort of a strumpet, what with her disrobing nightly in front of an open window right there on a busy thoroughfare and all, but Edgar is quite hooked on her. His best friend Carl (Dermot Walsh) helped talk him into making his move, so Edgar can't wait to introduce him to Betty. The poor dope is quite blind to the fact that Carl and Betty (who wasn't exactly enamored with Edgar to start with) can't take their eyes off one another from the very start. Then comes a night when, from his vantage point across the street, he spies the two of them together in Betty's bedroom (the woman apparently doesn't own a curtain) - these two may dress like Victorians, but they certainly don't act like Victorians. Well, you know the rest: Edgar kills Carl, starts hearing that infernal heartbeat, etc.
It's a perfectly average film with decent heart-beating special effects, but it's just hard to get excited about a perfectly average film of a story universally imbedded in the minds of viewers (especially when it dates back to an era in which blood and gore were still kept to a minimum).
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Shaun of the DeadPEGG,SIMON; Release date: 2004-12-21; DVD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2001-02-27; DVD
Best price: $5.51
Price in other shops:
Romeo & JulietHUSSEY,OLIVIA; Release date: 2000-05-23; DVD
Best price: $4.18
Price in other shops:
State of Play (BBC Miniseries)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-26; DVD
Best price: $19.50
Price in other shops:
Sense & Sensibility (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 1999-08-24; DVD
Best price: $5.78
Price in other shops:
OnceTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-12-18; DVD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
PersuasionSony; Release date: 2000-02-01; DVD
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops:
Les Miserables: The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert at London's Royal Albert HallWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $21.48
Price in other shops:
The InheritanceRelease date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $2.34
Price in other shops:
Pride & PrejudiceUNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2006-02-28; DVD
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Anne Frank - The Whole StoryBUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $6.35
Price in other shops:
The Fall of the House of UsherRelease date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $3.85
Price in other shops:
Christopher David Collins presents: The Tell - Tale Heart (c)Release date: 2007-09-04; DVD
Best price: $14.95
CharlyRelease date: 2005-03-08; DVD
Best price: $6.53
Price in other shops:
To Build a FireRelease date: 1999-12-07; DVD
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
The Masque of the Red Death / The Premature BurialRelease date: 2002-08-27; DVD
Best price: $4.20
Price in other shops:
The Most Dangerous Game (Colorized / Black & White)MOST DANGEROUS GAME (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-07-01; DVD
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops:
The Ransom of Red ChiefALLUMINATION FILM WORKS LLC; Release date: 2004-06-08; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
The LotteryRelease date: 2003-02-04; DVD
Best price: $0.56
Price in other shops:
The Fall of the House of Usher / The Pit and the PendulumTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2005-02-15; DVD
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops: