Mike Olson
I really enjoyed this. The style of the animation varied in each tale but had in common an antiquated look and feel which I'm guessing was intentional to fit the period and mood of these five great tales by Edgar Allan Poe. Everything from scenes incorporating amazing background colors, textures and layering to the stark 2D black-and-white presentation of The Tell-Tale Heart. Pretty decent soundtrack too.The five adapted stories were: The Fall Of The House Of Usher (narrated by Christopher Lee); The Tell-Tale Heart (narrated by Bela Lugosi); The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar (narrated by Julian Sands); The Pit And The Pendulum (narrated by Guillermo Del Toro); and The Masque Of The Red Death (with Roger Corman in the role of Prince Prospero).One of Poe's most famous tales, The Raven, was not included but in between each tale were short segments featuring a raven embodied by the still living spirit of Poe who has conversations with a non- traditional manifestation of Death. All of which added up to a very enjoyable side story that also set the mood nicely throughout.You would almost expect a film like this to have come up with some way to include Vincent Price as one of the narrators...it doesn't and yet his likeness was used as a character in one of the stories and I thought that was a nice touch.This is one I'll be revisiting.
encyes
This animated anthology based on 5 of Edgar Allen Poe's stories is well done, complete with choice actors for narration such as Christopher Lee, Julian Sands and a surprising (but obviously dated) monologue from Bela Lugosi who does a fine job reading through one of Poe's most well-known tales, "The Tell-Tale Heart". Animation is slick in 5 different computer-enhanced styles including a linking story between Poe in the guise of a Raven and a mysterious entity desperately trying to conceal her identity when it's obvious from the start that it is Death. This anthology focuses solely on Poe's more famous dismal stories ("The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar", "The Pit and the Pandulum", "The Masque of the Red Death" as well as the aforementioned "Tell-Tale Heart") and only hint at the less gruesome works and love poems Poe produced during his lifetime. Designed primarily of kids, the interaction between Raven and Death touch on some historical facts of Poe that are quite adult and sad if you know anything about the writer. It's interesting to note how they seem to talk about Poe in both present and past tense. The problem with this anthology is not in the end result but on the material; Poe's works can be very cryptic, hard to read, filled with lavish but difficult to comprehend wording, and host periods of history that sometimes does not translate well with younger generations albeit adults. This anthology may truly only be for Poe fans, as those who do not know his works, or only lightly, may find themselves lost in the imagery and symbolism that he's most famous for.
thefreelanceangel
Edgar Allen Poe's stories have endured for decades, and with showings like this--demonstrating how his work continues to fire the imagination--they'll continue to do so for years to come. Each animation style is uniquely suited to the story. The choice of a stark black-and-white stylistic animation combined with the incredible sound of Bela Lugosi reading "The Tell-Tale Heart" was sheer perfection. Sir Christopher Lee and Julian Sands matched 'Dracula's' prowess in reading with fully immersive and emotional narration. And Guillermo del Toro... My gods. He was absolutely the PERFECT choice for reading "The Pit and the Pendulum." The inflection, the emotion and the intensity of his narration was completely profound. Although I was a little disappointed that the final piece--"Masque of the Red Death"--wasn't narrated, that changed in seconds with how incredibly effective the purely visual storytelling was. The score was amazing. So completely suited to this absolutely overwhelming piece. Everything about this was mind-blowing and I will be purchasing a hard copy as soon as I possibly can.
David M Farrington
The works of Edgar Allan Poe are nothing if not macabre. In his work, one finds an element of romance and fantasy, almost a love letter to the release of grief that death provides. This is the connecting thread with which writer/director Raul Garcia (The Missing Lynx, Animarathon) ties together five short animated adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe short stories in the new(ish) film Extraordinary Tales. Each short film is stunningly realized in a different aesthetic and each is deserving of high praise. In putting them together as a collection though, to be experienced concurrently, Garcia has attempted to unite the tales with a superficial thread that falls short of being much more than an interruption of each disparate but beautiful love letter to Poe's work. Extraordinary Tales opens on a collection of statues in a cemetery in a style that seems to be a thrilling symbiosis of painted backdrop and stop motion papier mâché animation. A raven, serving as Poe himself and voiced by Stephen Hughes, enters the scene only to be confronted by...
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