Saturday 30 June 2012

FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER (2002)


The great thing about Ken Russell's FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER is that in the future when anybody prompts me to answer the killer question "What is the worst film you have ever seen" I will now be able to answer Ken Russell's FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER without hesitation.  It is, to put it is Biblical terms, an abomination. Not only is it an insult to Edgar Allan Poe it is far worse, it is Ken Russell pissing on his own talent. As I said in my piece when Ken passed away I was never an uncritical admirer of his cinema films, preferring his BBC work, but he had is moments. His increasingly silly films began to irritate me although I have a soft spot for LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM which works in a strange way all of its own. The film under discussion has little to do with the Poe story that inspires the pun of the title and seems to me to be the product of a sadly deranged mind - and I mean that quite seriously. Ken appears as mad Dr.Calahari (oh, yawn) and looks like he is a victim of the Red Death, although I was unsure if this was another reference to Poe or whether Ken was  suffering from some terrible skin affliction. Rating : 0

5 comments:

wellyousaythat said...

You, my good sir, have made this a must see. Anything this bad needs viewing.
i'll let you know how far I get before hurling the TV out of the window.

Weaverman said...

I just knew somebody would say that!
Go for it.

Cerpts said...

Oh deary deary me. I've heard of this film but never ventured near it. Seems like a wise choice.

However, I also am a fan of LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM; delightfully bonkers.

wellyousaythat said...

Oh my giddy Aunt! I managed a respectful 26minutes and 17 seconds before I threw in the towel and decided that I should desist before my eyeballs melted in their sockets and my brain imploded. The sheer awfulness of this debacle from Ken Russel is actually beyond description; it makes Holiday on the Buses seem like Apocalypse now

ernest said...

Told yer!