Tales of Terror loosely adapts three works by Edgar Allen Poe. In the first, Morella, Vincent Price is none too happy to see his daughter come home to visit as he blames her for his wife's death. This is a very short little story where the dead don't stay dead and the living don't stay alive.
The second, and my favorite, was The Black Cat. This combines The Cask of Amontillado (my favorite Poe story) with the actual Black Cat story in a clever way since both involve bricking up living things. Peter Lorre stars as a lush who perpetually steals money from his wife until the night he stumbles into a wine-tasting party. He challenges Vincent Price to a wine tasting contest. Price has never been funnier than he is as Fortunato Luchesi. After the contest, Lorre makes the mistake of introducing Price to his long-suffering hot wife. And then we are off to the races.
The third story is the The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar. Basil Rathbone is a mesmerism expert who is taking the pain away from a dying Vincent Price. All he asks in return is that Price allow himself to be hypnotized at the moment of death. Price agrees after asking his wife to marry their physician. All four get more than they bargained for when Rathbone finds Price is aware but dead at the same time.
The first story is so slight it barely registers. Pretty much one thing happens in it. Seeing Lorre and Price bounce off each other in the second story is a real treat. Likewise, to see an old pro like Rathbone hamming it up with Price in the final story is pretty cool. There are horrific moments but nothing really scary happens in these stories. I did not feel the titular terror at any point. But this is a solid little anthology (I liked it better than the artsy Spirits of the Dead).
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