Excellent anthology directed and produced by Roger Corman for American International Pictures...of course. Vincent Price stars in all three episodes, which are based on various short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Also starring opposite Price is Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone, so let’s see what we have mixed up in this proverbial horror stew shall we? Poe, Corman, Price, Lorre and Rathbone...me thinks we got ourselves a winner folks.

The first tale “Morella” was the shortest and least satisfying of the three, yet still highly enjoyable. Price portrays a grieving and perhaps insane man who keeps his dearly departed wife’s corpse in a closed off room. Price’s wife died in childbirth some twenty-six years ago, with Price still holding a grudge against his daughter whom he has since abandoned. When his little girl shows up on his doorstep looking to make amends, it seems like Price can forgive and forget, but can his dead wife? This one features some excellent gothic atmosphere, a terrific (as usual) performance by Price as a yet another tortured soul, and some genuinely creepy moments. A nice little gothic ghost story is what it is.

My personal favorite episode is the second one, “The Black Cat” featuring Lorre as a drunken wino who is constantly berating his wife and stealing her money to “go out on the town”. Stumbling into a wine tasting convention with Price as the master taster, both men get into a simply hilarious “taste test” with each other resulting in Price escorting the drunken Lorre home to his wife. The scene of the two men dueling it out is simply hilarious, with Price and Lorre both camping it up to the extreme, classic stuff there, no doubt. Price’s character soon falls in love with Lorre’s verbally abused wife and both soon find themselves at the mercy of an enraged and psychotic Lorre. Look for the excellent game of “keep away” that is played with a severed head, nice photography on that one. Price and Lorre’s chemistry together is dead on, and really makes this one work.

The last episode has Price as a dying man whom is at the mercy of a evil hypnotist (Rathbone) who refuses to allow Price’s soul to pass on, thus blackmailing him to serve his own ends. Features some creepy moments as Price speaks “from beyond” and has a rather gooey and messy ending. I love these old A.I.P. flicks with Corman and Price, I grew up watching them on Saturday afternoons and have nothing but fond memories of them. “Tales of Terror” is great fun, and a good watch with a younger scare fan since it is never at all graphic, just scary in a nice and classy way. Recommended viewing. Now where is my tape of “The House of Usher”?