The Corman Poe Cycle

 I've been thinking about the Roger Corman Poe cycle a lot lately after hosting the double-feature this past weekend. Corman produced and directed this series of films between 1960-1964. All were based on Poe works and all but one of them starred the great Vincent Price.

 
There are eight official films in the Poe cycle, although I personally like to include The Terror in the cycle too. It isn't officially based on a Poe work, but it looks and feels just like one of those films. It was made in 1963 and was produced and directed by Corman (with other directors shooting additional footage after-the-fact to complete the film). It was also mostly shot on the sets of The Raven. Corman famously wanted to take advantage of the still-standing sets before they were torn down, and hired Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson for a two-day shoot. If they had included a couple of lines from some work of Poe's at the beginning or end of the film, it would have fit as easily as something like The Haunted Palace, which bears no other Poe ties than a quick quote.

The official films in the Poe cycle are: House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Premature Burial (1962), Tales of Terror (1962), The Raven (1963), The Haunted Palace (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Tomb of Ligeia (1964). 

 They raised his reputation in the minds of critics and fans alike,
and are arguable his signature work.

These films were a real game changer for Corman. Prior to this, he had been known primarily as a producer/director who made films fast and cheap. The Poe films, made on a bigger budget, with better scripts and name actors, proved he was capable of more than just exploitation quickies. And they were wildly successful. They raised his reputation in the minds of critics and fans alike, and are arguable his signature work. They raised his stature to that of an auteur - like Bergman, Fellini, or Hitchcock. These films are instantly recognizable as Corman films - they don't look and feel like any other director's work. And they've stood the test of time - they're just as captivating and haunting today as when they originally came out.