Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Woodyanders Jess Franco movies are a real iffy proposition. For every truly decent or good film you might stumble across, there are at least a dozen duds. This particular flick rates highly as an unmitigated stiff. Dr. Alan Harker (the insipid Antonio Mayans) visits his unhinged and reclusive former university professor Dr. Eric Usher (an embarrassingly hammy performance by a pasty-faced Howard Vernon) at Usher's remote crumbling castle. Usher tries to resurrect his comatose daughter Melissa (pretty Francoise Blauchard) by giving her the blood of lovely abducted young ladies. Of course, Usher sinks further into insanity as both his mind and castle continue to deteriorate. Franco completely fumbles the ball in every conceivable way: the lethargic pace crawls along at an excruciatingly sluggish clip, the script is drab, talky, and uneventful, Daniel White supplies a very annoying wonky droning score, the bland cinematography likewise fails to impress, Franco doesn't bring any style or energy to the drab proceedings, and, worst of all, there's absolutely zero graphic gore or gratuitous female nudity on hand to alleviate the severity of the stupefying boredom. A protracted flashback consisting of copious footage from Franco's earlier (and far better) "The Awful Dr. Orloff" doesn't help matters any. You know a Franco feature seriously smells when the ever-luscious Lina Romay pops up in a sizable supporting role, but never takes her clothes off. In fact, this drippy, static and inert lump of wasted celluloid is so incredibly atrocious that it's often a downright painful chore to sit through. The castle does inevitably fall apart at the bungled climax, but by then it's way too little much too late. A godawful lemon.

slayrrr666 "Revenge in the House of Usher" is a highly disappointing effort.**SPOILERS**Receiving word that his ex-professor and mentor needs to see him, Dr. Alan Harker, (Antonio Mayans) is mysteriously summoned to the castle of Dr. Eric Usher, (Howard Vernon) and find he has gone completely mad. Upon his arrival, the old man confesses his years of misdeeds, admitting to kidnapping young women with the hope of curing his daughter Melissa, (Francoise Blanchard) of her catatonic condition by giving her their blood. His blind assistant Morpho, (Oliver Mato) aids in his twisted quest, involving embryonic stem cells in his techniques. He begins to suffer a series of strange delusions of sorts, including several of the women he has seduced and killed. Convinced that his comatose daughter has been targeted by the apparitions, he hurriedly rushes to get them under control with all the help he can get before they stop him and take over the family.The Good News: This isn't all that terrible. The most striking fact is this looks incredible, with the access to a real castle being a major plus, and full use is made of it, shooting numerous scenes up on the battlements for no good reason other than they look good. Much of the film's photography is quite attractive, giving it a wonderful look that evokes a great Gothic vibe and atmosphere. At times, it does seem to belong to some other movie. There are times that it is a throwback to the expressionist style, and it almost works on that level. The dense hues, such as the blinding yellows, deep reds and disturbing oranges, seem to be what the most interesting feature of the film. This has a pretty decent pace to it, with lots of creepy visions of the hallucinations troubling the man. They're quite creepy and actually have a nice quality to them. It's hard not to say them without spoiling how great they were, so they can't be revealed but each one was quite impressive to see transpired. Other than that, there wasn't much else in it.The Bad News: This is a sadly disappointing film for several reasons. The fact that most of the plot is so familiar is because the film owes much more to the Orloff verse than to Poe. The ill daughter Melissa, as well as the blind assistant Morpho and the use of inserts are fixtures that hark back to the earlier films. The inserts themselves are the biggest problem, since it pads out the running time with obviously inserted footage just so that the film time could be padded out. It's a series of weird inclusions that don't go well. Yet there are inclusions here that don't quite fit well either, such as the introduction of characters from the Dracula story, including Harker and Dr. Seward. The result is rather on the incoherent side, lacking in logic or driving story, and successfully evoking a disturbing fever dream. Those expecting gore and sex in a Franco title will be sorely disappointed, as the usual inserts of blood and breasts are absent here. With only one moment of anything more than implied blood, and with that being cut back to a mere shot of a bloody knife, is almost unbelievable and really hurts this film. It's almost a shame to say that the film needed to be sleazier. There are a number of scenes here that look quite terrible and not at all good, most notable in the climactic fall, which is accomplishes by jiggling the camera, throwing a handful of dust, and using a squishing sound. The scene is less than successful. This ultimately is a disappointing film.The Final Verdict: This was a strangely disappointing Franco entry that just seems so rushed and haphazardly put together that it robs it of most of the virtues going for it. It's mostly interesting as a Franco exercise, but most of those interested will be put off by what's wrong, so only the most loyal, apologetic Franco fans should get this.Rated R: Violence and some Language

mido505 Let's look at two movies, both of which have as their subject matter a man haunted by images of his dead wife. Both films are photographed by their directors, and both star highly respected character actors. The first film is a remake of classic, and the second incorporates lengthy scenes from a classic. The first film cost around $47,000,000; the second, around $1.98. The first film is Steven Soderbergh's remake of Solaris; the second is Jess Franco's Revenge in the House of Usher. Guess which one is better?Revenge in the House of Usher is director Franco's apology for, and commentary upon, his first breakthrough hit, the groundbreaking and highly influential The Awful Dr. Orloff. In that film Orloff was a Sadean Superman, perverse and transgressive, taking horrific delight in his bloodthirsty usurpation of traditional values. Here, transmogrified into Dr. Usher, he is reduced to a blithering and doddering old man, tormented by the images of the women that he has sacrificed to his appalling morality. Franco has often been accused of sharing Orloff's extreme misogyny, but anyone familiar with his work will know that Franco was alway's on the women's side. Franco makes clear that Orloff/Usher's 'project', his desire to resurrect his disfigured daughter, Melissa, is only a pretext, a trigger, a spur, to his grotesquely Sadean 'transvaluation of all values'. Appropriately, Melissa becomes just another anonymous tortured body; when revived by the blood of Orloff/Usher's victims, Melissa can only writhe in excruciating pain before lapsing back into blissful unconsciousness. Clearly, the tormenting spectre of Orloff/Usher's wife, whether real or merely Orloff/Usher's per fervid imagining, reproaching her husband for his dreadful treatment of women, is Franco's judgment upon the character that put him on the cinematic map. Revenge in the House of Usher has taken a lot of abuse on this site, rather unfairly, in my opinion. Image Entertainment's DVD restores Franco's impressive, if somewhat erratic, visual style; and Howard Vernon, as Usher/Orloff, and Linay Romay, as his housekeeper, give excellent, committed performances. Yes, the film is slow, poverty stricken, and lacking in nudity and gore, but it is about something rather important, if only you, the viewer, will pay attention. There is a sensibility at work here, allied with considerable technical skill, that insists on persevering beyond all financial and other material limitations. It's a hell of a lot better than watching Ocean's 12 again.

MHannah I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately I BOUGHT it (cheaply) and you've done better than me because I've attempted to watch it twice with no luck. Where does the aka Zombie bit in the title come from? The reason I bought it was one of the cast from Blairwitch Project said in an interview that a House of Usher film was their favorite horror. On checking after my mistake, it was a different House of Usher film!