Tales of Terror

A Trilogy of Shock and Horror!

Tales of Terror is a 1962 American film about three terrifying stories that 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.

Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Richard Matheson, based on short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

A Trilogy of Shock and Horror!  (taglines)

Narrator

• This is the beat of a human heart. Sit very still and listen. Is your heart beating in this same rhythm? You are experiencing the heartbeat of a dying man. And it is with death and dying that we concern ourselves. What happens at the point of death? What happens afterwards? What happens after death to someone who does not choose to stay dead, someone like Morella?

• And what is it that happens just before death which leads inexorably to that death? Our second tale provides one roguish answer to that question in the story of a man who hated a cat. The Black Cat.

• What exactly is it that occurs within the moment of death, especially to a man within that moment who is not permitted to die, as in the case of Mr. Valdemar?

Montresor Herringbone

• Pardon me, ladies, but could you spare a coin for a moral cripple?

• Why don't you watch where I'm going, huh?

• Haven't I convinced you of my sincerity yet? I'm genuinely dedicated to your destruction.

Dialogue

Montresor Herringbone: Give me my money!

Annabel Herringbone: There is no money, Montresor. You haven't worked in seventeen years.

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Montresor Herringbone: What about your sewing money?

Annabel Herringbone: We need that for food.

Montresor Herringbone: Food? That's exactly what I want it for: I drink my food!

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Fortunato Luchresi: You've killed her!

Montresor Herringbone: You notice everything, don't you?

Cast

• Vincent Price — Fortunato/Valdemar/Locke
• Maggie Pierce — Lenora Locke
• Mary Leona Gage — Morella Locke
• Edmund Cobb — Driver
• Debra Paget — Helene Valdemar
• David Frankham — Valdermar's physician
• Peter Lorre — Montresor Herringbone
• Joyce Jameson — Annabel Herringbone
• Basil Rathbone — Mr. Carmichael

Taglines

• A Trilogy of Shock and Horror!

See also

The short stories on which the three sections of the film are based

• "Morella"
• "The Black Cat" (and "The Cask of Amontillado")
• "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Tales of Terror on Wikipedia
• Media related to Tales of Terror (film) on Wikimedia Commons
• Tales of Terror quotes at the Internet Movie Database