"American Masters" Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul (TV Episode 1995) Poster

(TV Series)

(1995)

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7/10
If you like Poe, you'll love this!
roegrocks27 August 2001
I recorded this off the air and have watched the entire biography, but I'm only commenting here on the adaptation of the classic Poe short story, "The Cask of Amontillado" with John Heard and Rene Auberjonois.

This story has been perfectly adapted according to its original stature and not made up to be something more as many of Poe's stories have been, sometimes successfully, other times not quite so well done. It's tough to stretch a little short story into a feature length film, which is not attempted here. The costumes are excellent, which is an important element in the story, and the performances are wonderful. You won't be disappointed.

I recommend this lovely video, although it will be tough to find, so watch your local listings.
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9/10
Riveting Documentary on One of the Towering Figures of World Literature
Screen_O_Genic18 March 2023
Brilliant, difficult and tragic Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most fascinating and admirable icons in literature. "Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul" is a well-done documentary on the great writer's life. Tracing his life from his troubled youth to his turbulent literary career and to his mysterious and tragic death the film is a compelling watch from start to finish. Employing reenactments on Poe's writings and life and interviews with prominent artistic figures like Philip Glass, Richard Wilbur, Joyce Carol Oates, Ira Levin, Alfred Kazin and others one gets a view of a man and a time and the artistry that enriched them. This is one Poe fans and conoisseurs of the arts should not miss.
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6/10
"An excellent jest!"
evening127 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Upon reading "The Cask of Amontillado" today, I wanted to find a film of the creepy tale, in hopes of getting a bead on the exceedingly cruel protagonist, Montresor (John Heard).

This 15-minute adaptation of the Poe tale, as seen in an American Masters episode from 1995, is an absorbing depiction of one man's victimization of another, after he himself has felt victimized.

"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity," Montresor confides.

Lured into his dank and nitre-encrusted catacomb is the vain, competitive, and entitled Fortunato (Rene Auberjonois). And it isn't as if Montresor doesn't give him a chance to get away. However, when Fortunato condescendingly flaunts his Mason membership, for the inwardly seething Montresor there is no turning back.

One certainly wonders about this obsessive revenge artist. Yet we gain no insight into how the diabolical burial-alive-by-immurement affects him in a half-century.

"For the love of God, Montresor!" Surely, there must be few things worse.
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