SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

gavin6942 A madman (voiced by James Mason) tells his tale of murder, and how a strange beating sound haunted him afterward.The animation of this short is pretty decent and fits the material well without being too grisly. But, of course, the real joy is in the narration. When it comes to telling a story so well-known and often repeated, it pays to get just the right voice. And James Mason is the one for that (though Vincent Price would also work).I remember this story being longer. Now, that might be my memory or it might be that they abridged it. But I have fond memories of the first time I ever heard the story in an elementary class. (I don't believe I actually read Poe's work until later.) The tape I heard was not Mason, but I wish it had been.

Hitchcoc The pacing of this story, with its wonderful rises and falls, similar to a heartbeat, makes this a masterwork. Jame's Mason narrates and leads us on a terrifying tale of murder and obsession. A man, a boarder, becomes fixated on the eye of an old man with whose he lives. It becomes so dominant in his life, he resolves to kill the old man to rid himself of the eye. There are incredibly eerie clips leading from one event to the other. Music and Mason's voice carry us through this familiar tale. It is really a series of still shots that make this really work well. This is a masterpiece of concision. It is not like most of the short features of its day.

theowinthrop With it's delicate (but, shall I say "pounding"?) use of language, Edgar Allan Poe's THE TELL TALE HEART remains his most perfect story in terms of verbal effect and thrills. It is possibly the most anthologized Poe tale (maybe THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER" is more frequently reprinted, or "THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM"). Still for it's effects in language nothing else Poe wrote as a story approaches it. It has also been used again and again in the movies. Besides the 1941 short with Joseph Schildkraut (which I reviewed some months ago), there is D.W. Griffith's early film, THE AVENGING CONSCIENCE (a clumsy retitling and retelling of the story). There was even a borrowing of the story in an episode of THE SIMPSONS ten years ago, where a jealous Lisa sabotages a new schoolmate's science project, until she hears the throbbing of the heart.I ran across this excellent (to use a term that Charles Montgomery Burns would use) version of the story on YOU TUBE - which has some nice moments of animation (two of which I reviewed just before this piece tonight). Made in 1953 it was nominated for an Oscar for best short - cartoon, but lost. Too bad, for it had some imaginative use of background. When the narrator (James Mason) first mentions how the old man's filmy eye is driving him mad, he mentions the white film on the eye, and suddenly the madness of the narrator reveals itself as everything that is roundish and white is considered the eye. The sequence culminates with the smashing of a white tea pot, which is a fine summation of the growing violence in the narrator.The story follows the normal course, as the narrator (in Mason's wonderful rich speaking voice) maintains his kindness and decency, and then explains how he was waiting for the right moment to kill the old man, and is set off (finally) when he hears the heart of the victim for the first time. The moment of violence is the second time that Mason's tone changes for the worst. The final time, of course, is when he hears the heart again as the police are in the house examining for traces of the victim, and not realizing it is buried under the floor. Then Mason, not being able to stand the "noise" again, reveals all. And the last we see of the narrator he is in a stone cell, asking again why everyone insists he is mad! A pretty effective retelling of the story.

agenttimmyk Just tonight I saw this short in a presentation of animated films as part of the Milwaukee International Film Festival. I found myself literally watching this with my mouth hanging open in awe. The animation is not groundbreaking in the various techniques used, but the ways they are used, and the ways they are merged to create brilliant, original techniques in their own light, are astounding. The use of numerous versions of a full paintings to animate things like the changing of a light source is shocking in it's simple, yet immense effectiveness. The music is very minimalistic, but very appropriate for the film. James Mason is haunting in his narration. This film is one of the most beautiful, unconventional, and effective uses of the animation art form in American film history. It is a shame that it is not available on video, though it may be that the only way to really experience it fully is in a theater. In that case it is a shame that it isn't played very often.UPDATE...The film is now available as an extra on the DVD for the original theatrical version of the film Hellboy. The only reason I can see for this is that Hell Boy director Guillermo del Toro must be a fan of it. The film Hellboy isn't bad, but the DVD is worth it for this short alone. And it can be had quite readily in used shops for a very good price (I've seen them as low as $9.99).