Usher (2000)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Reporter Truman Jones (Sean Nepita) heads to the home of poet Roderick Usher (Curtis Harrington) in order to get an interview but soon he gets caught up in the evil secrets that the house holds.
When director Harrington was sixteen he made his first film based on this Edgar Allan Poe tale so it's rather interesting that he would end his career the same way. This short runs at 36 minutes and while there are visually a lot of interesting things going on and some good performances, there's no question that you really have a hard time staying drawn into the material.
I think the biggest problem is that there are just too many scenes that have no real point and the thing begins to drag at times. I had a really hard time staying focused on the material but that's not to say there's nothing here. In fact, I thought Harrington was quite good in the role of Usher and he certainly did look like Poe himself! I also thought Nepita was good in his part. The cinematography was good and there's certainly some nice visuals throughout. I will also add that the finale packed a nice little punch.
