The best Edgar Allan Poe adaptations
by janisgoody | created - 25 Jul 2019 | updated - 29 Aug 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, Horror
A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston
Votes: 16,221
2. The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope (1983)
15 min | Animation, Short, Fantasy
A horrifying, surrealist version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" directed by the masterful animator Jan Svankmajer.
Director: Jan Svankmajer | Star: Jan Zácek
Votes: 1,040
3. The Fall of the House of Usher (1982)
15 min | Animation, Short, Horror
In this animated version of Edgar Allan Poe's story, a traveller arrives at the Usher mansion to find that the sibling inhabitants are living under a mysterious family curse: The brother's ... See full summary »
Director: Jan Svankmajer | Star: Petr Cepek
Votes: 794
4. Lunacy (2005)
Not Rated | 118 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
A man takes up residence with a mysterious marquis and is soon persuaded to enter into an asylum for preventative therapy. Things are not what they seem, and the marquis may be even more sinister than what the young man may've predicted.
Director: Jan Svankmajer | Stars: Jan Tríska, Pavel Liska, Anna Geislerová, Martin Huba
Votes: 3,948 | Gross: $0.05M
5. The Tell-Tale Heart (1941)
Approved | 20 min | Crime, Mystery, Short
In this classic Edgar Allan Poe story, a man commits a murder, but afterward the victim's beating heart torments the murderer's mind.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Joseph Schildkraut, Roman Bohnen, Oscar O'Shea, Will Wright
Votes: 985
6. The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Unrated | 13 min | Short, Horror
An avant-garde take on Poe's classic story of a traveller taking shelter at a household under a mysterious curse.
Directors: James Sibley Watson, Melville Webber | Stars: Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, Melville Webber, Friedrich Haak
Votes: 1,431
7. Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
When several women are found mutilated and murdered, the Paris police are baffled as to who the killer may be. All evidence points to Dupin, but soon it becomes apparent that it is someone (or something) stronger and deadlier than a human.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest
Votes: 1,128 | Gross: $1.45M
8. The Pit and the Pendulum (1964 TV Movie)
37 min | Horror
Adaptation of Edgar Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum.
Director: Alexandre Astruc | Star: Maurice Ronet
Votes: 151
9. The Pit and the Pendulum (2007)
7 min | Animation, Short
Rediscovers a tale of judgment, condemnation, hope, faith and redemption.
Director: Marc Lougee | Star: Peter Cugno
Votes: 32
10. Tales of Terror (1962)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Three tales of terror involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife's black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man's death.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Maggie Pierce, Leona Gage, Peter Lorre
Votes: 8,375
11. House of Usher (1960)
Approved | 79 min | Drama, Horror
Upon entering his fiancée's family mansion, a man discovers a savage family curse and fears that his future brother-in-law has entombed his bride-to-be prematurely.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey, Harry Ellerbe
Votes: 15,433 | Gross: $3.16M
1 Golden Globe Award winner (Most Promising Newcomer - Mark Damon)
12. The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A man's obsession with his dead wife drives a wedge between him and his new bride.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Elizabeth Shepherd, John Westbrook, Derek Francis
Votes: 6,881
13. Fool's Fire (1992 TV Movie)
60 min | Drama
A crippled dwarf is forced to become jester to a tyrannical king, but when the king abuses a beautiful dwarf with whom the jester is in love the jester plots a terrible revenge.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Michael J. Anderson, Mireille Mossé, Tom Hewitt, Paul Kandel
Votes: 132
14. Extraordinary Tales (2013)
Not Rated | 73 min | Animation, Horror, Mystery
An animated anthology of five tales adapted from Edgar Allan Poe's stories.
Director: Raul Garcia | Stars: Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, Guillermo del Toro
Votes: 3,559
15. Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
Approved | 61 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A detective tries to unravel the strange circumstances surrounding the death of a young actress.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Patric Knowles, Maria Montez, Maria Ouspenskaya, John Litel
Votes: 325
16. The Premature Burial (1962)
Unrated | 81 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
An artist grows distant from his new wife as an irrational horror of premature burial consumes him.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Richard Ney, Heather Angel
Votes: 4,855
17. The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986 TV Movie)
PG | 100 min | Crime, Mystery, Horror
A detective comes out of retirement to help his daughter's fiance prove that he did not commit a series of murders.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: George C. Scott, Rebecca De Mornay, Ian McShane, Neil Dickson
Votes: 1,357
18. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Not Rated | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, Luana Anders
Votes: 16,391 | Gross: $4.36M
19. Spirits of the Dead (1968)
R | 121 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A trio of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a cruel countess haunted by her cousin's stallion, a sadistic soldier haunted by his doppelgänger, and an alcoholic actor haunted by the Devil.
Directors: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, Roger Vadim | Stars: Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp
Votes: 6,944
20. The Tell-Tale Heart (I) (1953)
Passed | 8 min | Animation, Short, Crime
A madman tells his tale of murder, and how a strange beating sound haunted him afterward.
Director: Ted Parmelee | Stars: James Mason, Jack Mather
Votes: 2,211
1 Academy Award nomination (Best Short, Cartoons)
21. Bérénice (1954)
Not Rated | 15 min | Short, Drama, Horror
A man becomes obsessed with his fiance's teeth.
Director: Éric Rohmer | Stars: Teresa Gratia, Éric Rohmer
Votes: 523
22. Two Evil Eyes (1990)
R | 120 min | Horror
A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.
Directors: Dario Argento, George A. Romero | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Harvey Keitel, Ramy Zada, Bingo O'Malley
Votes: 8,133 | Gross: $0.35M
23. The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
R | 97 min | Horror, Romance
Horror film set in 1492 Toledo, Spain, depicting the cruel deeds of a monk named Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Lance Henriksen, Stephen Lee, William Norris, Mark Margolis
Votes: 5,450 | Gross: $0.00M
24. Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A series of murders are committed near the estate of a degenerate author and his mistreated wife.
Director: Sergio Martino | Stars: Edwige Fenech, Anita Strindberg, Luigi Pistilli, Ivan Rassimov
Votes: 4,683
25. Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
Passed | 61 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A mad scientist seeks to mingle human blood with that of an ape, and resorts to kidnapping women for his experiments.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Ames, Bert Roach
Votes: 5,256
26. Manfish (1956)
Not Rated | 76 min | Adventure
Three deep sea divers get involved in murder while searching for a lost treasure.
Director: W. Lee Wilder | Stars: John Bromfield, Lon Chaney Jr., Victor Jory, Barbara Nichols
Votes: 319
27. Masque of the Red Death (1989)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
With a deadly plague ravaging his Renaissance kingdom, Prince Prospero invites his friends to retire to the protection of his castle for ongoing revels, leaving the peasantry to die. But ... See full summary »
Director: Larry Brand | Stars: Patrick Macnee, Adrian Paul, Clare Hoak, Jeff Osterhage
Votes: 353
28. The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967)
M | 84 min | Horror, Mystery
A Count executed for murdering twelve virgins in a bid for immortality returns to life, seeking revenge on the daughter of his intended thirteenth victim and the son of his prosecutor.
Director: Harald Reinl | Stars: Lex Barker, Karin Dor, Christopher Lee, Carl Lange
Votes: 2,599
29. The Raven (1963)
G | 86 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A magician, who has been turned into a raven, turns to a former sorcerer for help.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court
Votes: 13,545
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