Daninger very weak, unfortunately

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

mark.waltz Low budget but spirited adaption of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, this came around the time that American International was doing their own Poe films, ableit in color and with a cast of veteran horror stars. Lawrence Payne is the handsome Edgar Marsh who lives through a real nightmare when he murders a romantic rival and places the dead man's corpse under his floor board. It isn't the smell of rotting flesh that keeps him awake at night but the sound of a loudly beating heart that seems to get closer with each beat. Is it guilt, insanity or real horror approaching? Or possibly all three?Poe's story has been filmed dozens of times, but this version seems the most likely to be true. Various short versions only tell one side of the tale, with an MGM short indicating that the victim was the killer's boss. Even Vincent Price would get in on it by doing a dramatic reading that showed Price in the background bring the terrorized murderer losing his sanity, if he ever had it that is.This version may be cheaply made, but there's a sense of romance in the more complete tale. Payne shows much vulnerability and Adrienne Cori makes a lovely heroine. In a sense, this is more a Gothic thriller with elements of horror, and at times, I think the heart is beating for color like the SIP and Hammer horrors which were breathtaking to look at. A sometimes inappropriate musical score reminds Mr of carousel music, but the period details are excellent. I have seen a musical about Poe's life Off Broadway which touched on his stories (in addition to his madness) but if it ever does make it to the musical stage, this would be a fabulous basis for it.

kidboots Even though the opening warning addressed to "those who are squeamish" etc, and with the sound of a heartbeat on a black screen now seems a cheesy gimmick (think William Castle), overall the film is quite a scary experience. You know it's going to be good when you realise it is an early Brian Clemens (he of "The Avengers" and "Thriller" fame) script.Laurence Payne's haggard looks gave dimension to his performance as the shy Edgar, a reference librarian, whose hobby is chess and who is desperate to find his ideal love. He contrasts strongly with his Carl (stalwart of British Bs, Dermot Walsh) who has all the charm and worldliness that Edgar lacks. They both fall for the same girl, Betty (pretty Adrienne Corri,) and she is attracted to Carl's ease of manner - next to him Edgar appears like a neurotic wimp. Within the first ten minutes you realise Edgar has a drug addiction, he has almost an aversion to women in the flesh but has a need for pornography - did I say he also has a mother complex!!Betty is a flower seller who moves in across the road from Edgar who, in taking tips from Carl, attempts to sweep her off her feet. His manic enthusiasms turn her off but she is more than willing to be romanced by Carl who tries to warn Edgar about her flirtatious ways. Edgar takes a voyeuristic delight in watching her undress - their windows face each other across the street but one night he sees more than he wants to when Carl keeps a midnight rendezvous with Betty.The murder of Carl is particularly vicious as Edgar, blood spattered and wild looking, drags his body down the stairs. Jenny seems to show undue concern when after three days Carl has still not shown up. Meanwhile, back at Edgar's residence, the cleaner has been given strict instructions not to enter a locked room. Ticking clocks, dripping taps - even rocking vases, chess pieces and metronomes do their best to send Edgar completely around the twist. He removes the heart, takes it to the parkland and buries it - all very grisly. Observing Edgar, Betty feels he is at the bottom of Carl's disappearance but the police laugh at her complaints, thinking she can't get over the fact that she was thrown over!! And even though the ending is a major let down it still doesn't take away from what is an unsettling, horrific movie!!Throughout the movie Edgar's sexual repression was pounced on by the censors who apparently removed scenes involving a brutal murder with a poker, the resurrection of the victim's body from it's hiding place and the removal of the heart - all to do with sexual arousal through violence, something the British Board of Film Censors wouldn't put up with. Just a couple of years previously there had been a huge controversy over Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" (1960) that was finally given an X certificate which may explain why the release of "The Tell Tale Heart" was delayed for two years.

Scarecrow-88 A pitiable, terribly timid librarian, Edgar Marsh(Lawrence Payne, who is superb), falls head over heels for a new neighbor, a flower sales-girl who lives across the street. This lovely creature is Betty Clare(Adrienne Corri)and she agrees to date Edgar out of sympathy for his pathetic nature, but soon is attractively drawn to his best friend, playboy Carl Loomis(Dermot Walsh), a ladies' man with quite a reputation around the place. Carl, at first, resists Betty who clearly displays arousing affection for him, but soon accepts a sexual invitation for which a gullible Edgar sees from his window(..he often watches her undress, the voyeur that he is). Edgar, who had spent a considerable amount of money and time on Betty, reacts hostilely to Carl's betrayal by attacking him with a fireplace poker, burying the body under a floor board. This act of violence, haunts him as he hears the loud pounding of Carl's heart beat, which rarely ceases, plaguing him night after night. Succumbing to drink and madness, it's only a matter of time before he cracks. Meanwhile, Betty pursues the answer as to why Carl hasn't returned to her, suspicious since he proclaimed their future betrothal after he broke the news of their engagement and love affair to Edgar.I think this was a really nice surprise. Director Ernest Morris builds the torment existing within Edgar's soul slowly, over time, using the movement of objects, simple but effectively spooky tricks anchored by Payne's pitch-perfect portrayal of a rather feeble man whose guilty conscience starts to erode his psyche, and his already fragile mental state slowly crumbles..and Morris uses images and sounds such as a water faucet dripping, a clock ticking, a chess piece rolling on a board back and forth(..wonderful symbolism, to boot, since Edgar and Carl played chess all the time), and a rug moving up and down symbolizing the supposed beat of a heart. Corri is ideally cast as the lustful object of Edgar's affections, and she's incredibly sexy which provides an understanding as to the infatuation of the film's protagonist and why he'd constantly obsess over her, to the point that he'd kill his best friend as a result. Great use of silence(..accompanied by the variety of sounds I mentioned above), as well, pointing out Edgar's isolation as the heart beats and he can not escape it, eventually cutting it from Carl's chest, looking at it thump, finally burying it. I think the filmmakers(..and, especially Payne) effectively convey this poor loser's slow descent into hysteria. Bravura job for all concerned..a real sleeper, see it of you get the chance. A word of warning, though..this is a slow burner, a film that takes it's time, allowing all the elements to take shape.MAJOR SPOILER: Maybe, the twist at the end is a bit of a drag(..the whole "it's all a dream" aspect), but Edgar is quite a whimpering chap, so he deserves some sympathy, which may be why he's spared.

Geisterzug I completely agree with the first reviewer.A little gem - co-written by Brian Clemens (who went on to create THE AVENGERS, THE PROFESSIONALS etc.)A surprising 'sexuality' about the proceedings. Utterly passe now, but it must have been a little intense and 'naughty' at the time. The slow-burn attraction between Walsh and Adrienne Corri is quite good. And given that the Danzigers' track record for British B movies is not brilliant - this one certainly tries to deliver the goods. The murder scene, and the gore content, is quite graphic for its time. 1961, remember? (I suspect there would have been British censor trouble then, had the movie been filmed in colour).Trivia: Co-star Dermot Walsh was married at the time to Hazel Court (of Hammer/Roger Corman movie fame.) Walsh then went on to star in the Danzigers' TV series: RICHARD THE LIONHEART. I can still sing the title song on request. Sad, eh? And how Dermot maintains that high quiff-hairstyle is an astonishment. Laurence Payne (who I've always liked and was co-star in THE TROLLENBERG TERROR/THE CRAWLING EYE),lost an eye in the early sixties during a fencing scene in his British TV series SEXTON BLAKE. Great casting for that part, I always thought. He was always good.)Bar tender Frank Thornton, who has two brief scenes, went on to great success as a comedy character actor in theatre, and British TV (eg ARE YOU BEING SERVED?)Geisterzug