Edgar Allan Poe Film Adaptations
A list of horror and suspense film adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Note, these are primarily true adaptations of the works and not just inspired by or loosely based. Brought to you by Eric Myford, author of The Encyclopedia of Horror & Suspense Movies book series...
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- DirectorLew LandersStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiLester MatthewsA brilliant surgeon with a morbid obsession for instruments of torture grows dangerously obsessed with a young socialite whose life he's saved.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PricePeter LorreBoris KarloffA magician, who has been turned into a raven, turns to a former sorcerer for help.
- DirectorJean EpsteinStarsJean DebucourtMarguerite GanceCharles LamyAllan visits the sinister Usher family mansion, where his friend Roderick is painting a portrait of his sickly wife Madeline. The portrait seems to be draining the life out of Madeline, slowly leading to her death.
- DirectorJames Sibley WatsonMelville WebberStarsHerbert SternHildegarde WatsonMelville WebberAn avant-garde take on Poe's classic story of a traveller taking shelter at a household under a mysterious curse.
- DirectorIvan BarnettStarsGwen WatfordKaye TendeterIrving Steen1950. Horror. A traveller arrives at Usher mansion to visit his friend Roderick (Kaye Tendeter) and discovers that Roderick and his sister (Gwen Watford) have been inflicted with a strange disease.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceMark DamonMyrna FaheyUpon entering his fiancée's family mansion, a man discovers a savage family curse and fears that his future brother-in-law has entombed his bride-to-be prematurely.
- DirectorHayley CloakeStarsAustin NicholsIzabella MikoBeth GrantSinister thriller based on Edgar Allan Poe's classic story. Jill uncovers a terrifying secret at the funeral of her best friend who disappeared years earlier and whose twin brother was Jill's lover.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiDavid MannersAmerican honeymooners in Hungary become trapped in the home of a Satan-worshipping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsBasil RathboneHugh HerbertBroderick CrawfordElderly Henrietta Winslow lives in an isolated mansion with her housekeeper and beloved cats. As her health fails, her greedy relatives gather in anticipation of her death.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceMaggie PierceLeona GageThree tales of terror involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife's black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man's death.
- DirectorDario ArgentoGeorge A. RomeroStarsAdrienne BarbeauHarvey KeitelRamy ZadaA duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsAnita BerberConrad VeidtReinhold SchünzelA demon, a reaper, and the ghost of a prostitute read gothic short stories and act them out.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsPaul WegenerMaria KoppenhöferBlandine EbingerA crazed scientist murders his wife, walls her up, then flees. A reporter sets out to track him down.
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsDarwin KarrFraunie FraunholzBlanche CornwallThe first story begins with a young and pretty girl named Isabelle sitting upon a hill. It is then that she is attacked by Pedro. And following the common thematic trajectory of the time, Isabelle is then rescued by the kind and brave medical student who spends his time as a minister for the poor, Alonzo. Pedro is insistent on revenge and applies to the local monastery where Alonzo works in order to frame him. He hopes to frame him for the mysterious and sudden disappearance of the church's jewels. The frame ends immediately after Pedro plants the jewels in Alonzo's home and the monks are quick to punish Alonzo and Isabelle.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceBarbara SteeleJohn KerrIn the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.
- DirectorAlexandre AstrucStarsMaurice RonetAdaptation of Edgar Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsLance HenriksenStephen LeeWilliam NorrisHorror film set in 1492 Toledo, Spain, depicting the cruel deeds of a monk named Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition.
- DirectorDavid DeCoteauStarsLorielle NewStephen HansenBart VoitilaSeven students join an experiment studying how pain can be eliminated. As students begin to disappear one by one, the true nature of the experiment is revealed.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsJan ZácekA horrifying, surrealist version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" directed by the masterful animator Jan Svankmajer.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsBela LugosiSidney FoxLeon AmesA mad scientist seeks to mingle human blood with that of an ape, and resorts to kidnapping women for his experiments.
- DirectorGordon HesslerStarsJason RobardsHerbert LomChristine KaufmannParis...at the turn of the century. Inspector Vidocq investigates a series of unexplained murders at a Grand Guignol-type theatre...where the players have suddenly become real-life victims. Based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe.
- DirectorJeannot SzwarcStarsGeorge C. ScottRebecca De MornayIan McShaneA detective comes out of retirement to help his daughter's fiance prove that he did not commit a series of murders.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsKarl MaldenClaude DauphinPatricia MedinaWhen several women are found mutilated and murdered, the Paris police are baffled as to who the killer may be. All evidence points to Dupin, but soon it becomes apparent that it is someone (or something) stronger and deadlier than a human.
- DirectorAlberto ViavatteneStarsDésirée GiorgettiFederica TommasiRoberto NaliBased upon the story "The Murders in The Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe, it tells the story of two prostitutes, mother and daughter, struggling against a mysterious creature after it has broken into their home.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsNorman DrydenJohn KeltYolande TerrellA young man is driven mad by his obsession with the repulsive diseased eye of the old man who cares for him.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJoseph SchildkrautRoman BohnenOscar O'SheaIn this classic Edgar Allan Poe story, a man commits a murder, but afterward the victim's beating heart torments the murderer's mind.
- DirectorTed ParmeleeStarsJames MasonJack MatherA madman tells his tale of murder, and how a strange beating sound haunted him afterward.
- DirectorJ.B. WilliamsStarsStanley BakerA man has murdered an old man in his bed and hidden the remains. He is confronted by police. He seems convincing yet just as it looks as if he will get away with his crime he hears the beating of the old man's heart, louder and louder. Finally, he can stand no more and confesses.
- DirectorErnest MorrisStarsLaurence PayneAdrienne CorriDermot WalshWhile called the Tell Tale Heart, the plot differs significantly from Poe's short story of the same name.
- DirectorJohn La TierStarsPatrick John FluegerRose McGowanPeter BogdanovichA haunting account of a tormented man who continually re-admits himself into a medical facility, in a futile attempt to escape from his pending madness. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Tell-Tale Heart".
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallSpottiswoode AitkenBlanche SweetPrevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTim MathesonJennifer Jason LeighWilliam AthertonA husband finds out that his wife and her lover are trying to kill him.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceDebra PagetLon Chaney Jr.Charles Dexter Ward arrives at a small village to visit the house he inherited from his ancestor who died there 100 years ago.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceElizabeth ShepherdJohn WestbrookA man's obsession with his dead wife drives a wedge between him and his new bride.
- DirectorMichael StainingerStarsWes BentleyKaitlin DoubledaySofya SkyaAn engaged writer falls under the spell of a mysterious temptress who steals souls.
- DirectorFederico FelliniLouis MalleRoger VadimStarsJane FondaBrigitte BardotAlain DelonA trio of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a cruel countess haunted by her cousin's stallion, a sadistic soldier haunted by his doppelgänger, and an alcoholic actor haunted by the Devil.
- DirectorJohn H. AuerStarsErich von StroheimHarriet RussellDwight FryeA crazed scientist invents a serum that induces a catatonic state in whoever it is injected into. He uses the serum to paralyze his enemies, so that he can bury them alive.
- DirectorJohn JopsonStarsKeith CarradineGaetano GuarinoFabio MariniWealthy wine maker Jonathan Bragg (Keith Carradine) hires Tuscan wine detective (Gaetano Guarino) to discover the source of a mysterious bottle of wine. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado".
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceHazel CourtJane AsherA European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.
- DirectorBranko RanitovicPavao StalterAn animated adaptation of Poe's famous short story: "Mask of the Red Death"
- DirectorVladimir GardinStarsZoya BarantsevichOleg FrelikhEvgeniy GryaznovSet in an imaginary land where the threat of revolution spurs the Emperor to seek exile in one of the most distant parts of his realm. There he meets Elka, the daughter of a revolutionary who has been banished here due to his confrontational activities. The two fall in love but meet a violent end when the revolutionaries, led by Elka's father, destroy the palace.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsPatric KnowlesMaria MontezMaria OuspenskayaA detective tries to unravel the strange circumstances surrounding the death of a young actress.
- DirectorGordon HesslerStarsVincent PriceAlister WilliamsonChristopher LeeAristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Sir Edward occasionally escapes and causes havoc around the town.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardHenry B. WalthallA king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsRay MillandHazel CourtRichard NeyAn artist grows distant from his new wife as an irrational horror of premature burial consumes him.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsErich BartelsTheodor BeckerKarl BernhardSuddenly appearing in Florence, an evil seductress causes Cesare, the city's ruler, and his son to both fall madly in love with her. The son, killing his father before an order to torture the woman can be carried out, then turns the city's churches into dens of sexual debauchery. Acts of evil and corruption continue unabated until the arrival of Death, who brings with her a horrible plague which she is about to loose upon the city.