A boarder becomes increasingly horrified by the nasty eye of his landlord, and plans to kill him. However, he hasn't taken the power of a guilty conscience into consideration. One is faced with a challenge when adapting something that is already impeccable in its original form. To make one's work worth producing and, for others, to take in, one must truly do justice to what made it so. Poe's short story has chilled countless people for more than a century, with its downright disgusting descriptions, how direct he is in the rendition of pure terror, and of the immersion into madness. Many of his words are used here, with a pristine performance by James Mason bringing them to life. The sound FX and eerie music further enhance this retelling, and completing the trifecta is the vivid, at times surreal animation. Never a tale of people but one of states of mind, of emotion and mood, this barely shows faces, it is not a clear, chronological narrative, no, rather, you feel what our narrator felt, and while you undoubtedly want to distance yourself from his actions, you can't look upon the situation from the outside, with judgment and clarity, you are pulled in, and drown in the insanity. The dark, dingy colors, the sparse detail, indeed, at one point, even... sheer black. Silence. This is how you adapt this magnificent author, R.I.P. There is disturbing content in this. I recommend this to any fan of Gothic horror. 8/10
Review of The Tell-Tale Heart
