3/17/2021 0 Comments Richard Matheson Short Stories
A truck has never looked so terrifying in all the hundred years of movie history.
![]() Hes a pulp auteur. A Twilight Zone alumnus who gave William Shatner some of his best dialogue. Theres some thing On the wing) Hes the unequalled, prototypical working writer, greater even than Robert E. He mastered not only the short story (Long Distance Call) and the novel (Hell House), but also the teleplay and the screenplay, the best of which will be mentioned here. If you dont know him, you have no idea the enviable position you are in, as youre able to experience these stories for the first time. Hired on the strength of his novel I Am Legend and his adaptation of his own work, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Richard Matheson was the perfect fit for this kind of movie: a more literary take on the B-movies that given Corman and AIP their good names. Those familiar with the Poe story will know that this involves premature burial, insanity and, ultimately, total collapse. But Matheson adds his own touch to the story as well, by giving Roderick Usher a distinctive nervous malady: his senses are so acute that anything above a whisper drives him into hysterics. Its this same nervous malady which plagues Madeline and which will drive Roderick to do evil, inhuman things. Its also the perfect place to start with Mathesons screenplays, showcasing his tendency towards tight, small-scale stories with simple plots and big surprises. House Of Usher was such a success in some ways, surprisingly so that Corman and AIP elected to do it again, with a new Poe story, but bringing back Vincent Price and Richard Matheson. And sure, much of the movie is a retread of the first one, but The Pit And The Pendulum is more exciting, more gothic, and features an absolutely unhinged performance by Vincent Price. A young man comes to Vincent Prices mansion looking for a woman, only to find Price still reeling from the effects of his familial sin. Like Usher, too, the Poe story forms the basis of the movies third act, if little else. But what Matheson does is fill the remaining hour up with tonnes of drama, intrigue and mystery, as the young man uncovers the macabre family secrets that lead to unexpected twists and turns and a climax unforgettable in its deviltry. Matheson would later team with Price and Corman again for Tales Of Terror and The Raven, but the first two are the undisputed classics, absolutely perfect in their combination of high camp and Gothic lunacy. Never was there a better argument for Mathesons inclusion on the Mount Rushmore of great writers. That the writer of Cormans Poe films would find his home here was no surprise, given Mathesons predilection for writing contained, domestic horrors in familiar locales. ![]() What it should be known for is its intensity, its compactness, its ability to remain terrifying almost sixty years later. How much of it is in the protagonists imagination is never resolved, but Matheson still manages to carve out a thrilling, suspenseful car chase despite the fact that, for half of the characters, it might just be a routine drive cross country. ![]() Its with him that were trying to get off the road, trying every single thing under the sun to escape until theres no other option but confrontation. Matheson takes away every possible solution at every possible turn, whittling away all methods of escape one by one, letting us feel Manns anxiety as though it were our palms sweating all over the steering wheel.
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