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A theatre company wants to perform An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe,
but its lead actor Lyman (David Stevens) has difficulties getting into
character - even though he tries everything from getting drunk to drinking
blood (?). To everybody's surprise though, stagehand Rex (Adam Smoot)
turns out to be an authority on Poe and helps him get a feel for the role.
The two of them become very close friends before very long and even drink
each other's blood. Soon, Melissa (Ashley Clark), female lead of the play,
joins them on their excursions to find the spirit of Poe, which eventually
leads them to a house built on the grave of Edgar Allan Poe, the House
of Usher, called that because it was built by a Poe-fanatic who has
changed his name to Usher to pay tribute to his idol ... oh, and he also
murdered little children, as did his son and his grandson - and his great
grandson might actually be Rex. Melissa feels in equal parts drawn to
and repulsed by Rex, but Rex seems to have problem with women - well, with
people other than Lyman actually -, so he pushes her away most of the
time, and eventually she starts an affair with Lyman ... much to Rex's
dismay, who eventually corners, tortures and humiliates her - and then she
disappears. Melissa's disappearance unhinges Lyman, especially after a
ring he gave her - a replica of Poe's ring - seems to return to him again
and again and again. Eventually, Rex takes over Lyman's role in the play.
Then Rex and Lyman meet up in the house of Usher, and in the freezer where
the Ushers used to keep their dead children, they find the cut up remains
of Melissa. Lyman thinks Rex has killed her out of jealousy or whatever,
and the two men get into a fight, in which Lyman is eventually stabbed by
his own knife - and then someone slits Rex's throat from behind ... could
it have been Edgar Allan Poe (Jim Smooth)? If my synopsis reads
promising, I'm afraid the movie isn't able to keep at least half its
promise. Basically, this could have been a chilling meditation on all
things Poe, but while the characters in the movie pretend to get to the
core of Poe's work, the script of the film suggests that the writers have
done nothing more than very superficial research on the subject and filled
the rest of the script with random horror clichées. The problem is that
that doesn't really work, because the story seems to constantly change
direction but go nowhere in particular. Likewise, the characters seem to
be lost in the maelstrom of narrative confusion and their relationships to
one another seem to be constantly shifting for no apparent reason - which
is not at all helped by the actors, who at times just ham it up without
rhyme or reason, and the utter confusion when it comes to locations. Add
to this a directorial effort and you're left with ... well, at least the
film has a good premise, and maybe another film is made on it some day
that will do it justice.
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