Presents a David DeCoteau film
Edgar Allan Poe’s House of Usher
Screenplay by Simon Savory
Inspired by the Short Story
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
by
Edgar Allan Poe
FRANK MENTIER
MICHAEL CARDELLE JAIMYSE HAFT
Running Time: 84 minutes, digital, (HD-D5, Digi Beta), color, aspect ratio 16x9 (1.78),
in English, Rating: R for sexual content
www.regentreleasing.com - www.houseofusher-themovie.com
REGENT RELEASING
John Lambert, President
Helene Nielsen Beal, Director
U.S. Theatrical Distribution
10990 Wilshire Boulevard, Penthouse Los Angeles, CA 90024
Jonathon Aubry, Vice President Theatrical Marketing
310-806-4288
Press Materials
Press & Exhibitors Area www.regentreleasing.com/pwpresspass.html
“EDGAR ALLAN POE’S HOUSE OF USHER”
A REGENT RELEASE A HERE! PRESENTATION A MAX PIX, INC./RAPID HEART PICTURES PRODUCTION
A DAVID DECOTEAU FILM “EDGAR ALLAN POE’S HOUSE OF USHER” FRANK MENTIER MICHAEL CARDELLE
JAIMYSE HAFT JACK CARLISLE DAN FUGARDI TAYLOR GRAHAM BART VOITILA
NARRATED BY IAN SHAW AND JILL JACOBSON AS DOCTOR CABOT CASTING BY JAN GLASER, C.S.A
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER THOMAS A. KEITH SOUND DESIGNER MAUI HOLCOMB EDITED BY DANNY DRAVEN
COSTUME DESIGNER SHAWNELLE CHERRY MUSIC BY HARRY MANFREDINI PRODUCTION DESIGNER BILLY JETT
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY HOWARD WEXLER CO-PRODUCER JEFFREY SCHENCK
PRODUCED BY PAUL COLICHMAN STEPHEN P. JARCHOW JOHN SCHOUWEILER
WRITTEN BY SIMON SAVORY DIRECTED BY DAVID DECOTEAU
© 2008. HERE STUDIOS L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
LOGLINE:
A young man visiting a childhood friend discovers that his house feeds off the souls of
the living, and that he’s about the become the next victim.
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
When a young man, Victor, visits his old friend Roderick Usher and Usher s sister
Madeliene at their crumbling family estate, he discovers the two decaying as quickly as
their mansion. He soon discovers that the only thing keeping the Ushers alive is a
terrifying secret. Inspired by the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar
Allan Poe.
LONG SYNOPSIS:
Edgar Allan Poe’s House of Usher
On a dark and stormy night, a terrified young man runs for his life. He scrambles
towards a large brick mansion and goes inside to hide in the bathroom. He locks the door
behind him and cowers in the corner, but it is not long before he is discovered. A man in
a long black coat, sunglasses, and a large brimmed black hat enters the bathroom and
walks towards him. We see the exterior of the house and hear his screams.
The next day, we see VICTOR REYNOLDS (Michael Cardelle) riding his motorcycle up
the hill to the looming mansion known as the House of Usher. He plans to reunite with
his estranged childhood friend, RODERICK USHER (Frank Mentier). When he gets to
the door, it instantly swings open, as if Roderick has been waiting for him all day.
However, he is greeted with chilly reserve. Roderick is wearing a long black coat and
sunglasses; it is clear that he’s the same terrifying monster who killed the young man the
night before. Victor’s visit was prompted by a desperate letter he received from Roderick.
Showing very little emotion, Roderick now explains why Victor is the only one he could
turn to. When they were children, Victor defended his friend against attacks from other
kids, who made a habit of teasing him mercilessly about his eccentric behavior and
bizarre health problems. Victor assumed his friend suffered from epilepsy, but Roderick
now admits that his reputation for eccentricity is well-deserved.
Their conversation is cut short when a board falls from the staircase. Roderick says that
the house is falling apart but that no one will come to fix it. Victor offers to help with the
repairs, but Roderick warns him against it. It seems that anyone who touches the house is
beset by misfortune.
Later that evening, Victor and Roderick sit by the fire trying to get reacquainted when
MARKUS (Jack Carlisle), the butler, brings them two glasses of cognac. They discuss
Victor’s wild adventures; Roderick expresses a desire to travel and see new places but
muses that he hasn’t left the house in years. Victor equivocates, explaining that he also
seen too many horrors in his travels, and that it hasn’t added to the quality of his life.
Strangely, Roderick admits that he has also seen many horrors. The two friends give each
other a hug goodnight. The attraction between them is so strong that they start to kiss and
disrobe. Victor suddenly stops him, saying that he wants to take things slowly; Roderick
agrees.
Victor decides to take a bath before he retires. As he relaxes in the tub, a hand comes out
of the water and traces the length of his body dangerously close to the skin, barely
touching him. Victor seems entranced, blissfully unaware until Roderick’s sister
MADELINE (Jaimyse Haft) decides to take a peek before shutting the door behind her.
The ghostly hands disappear as Victor emerges from his trance and jumps out of the tub.
He goes out into the hallway to investigate the noise, where he finds Madeline standing in
the hallway barely able to contain her excitement. Her behavior strikes him as strange,
ranging from over-eager childishness to flirtatious vixen. She tells Victor that she and
Roderick have been expecting him for quite some time. She leads him down a dark
hallway into a neglected nursery with only a teddy bear in the crib. Victor starts to speak
but she shushes him, telling him not to wake the baby. Seeing only a teddy bear, he picks
it up and suddenly hears a child’s cry. “He gets angry when you wake him,” Madeline
explains. She says that the baby is the angry ghost of her unborn child. She cannot have
children, and the spirit is trapped in limbo.
The next day at breakfast, Roderick sits at the table while Victor looks at dozens of
textbooks that were written by the Usher family about their own ghostly legends and
curses. Roderick says he has read them but prefers the art of photography. He admits to
being lonely. Victor tells him that he should leave the house and make a life for himself,
but Roderick gets defensive. He explains that his sensitivity to the sun prevents him from
living normally.
Frustrated by his Roderick’s unwillingness to listen to reason, Victor leaves the table and
wanders about the house alone. He becomes transfixed by photographs of three young
and handsome men. Markus tells Victor that Roderick took photos of each worker who
attempted to fix the house. Suddenly, Victor has a vision of Roderick having a late night
tryst with one of the workers in the photos. Everything is going as it should until
Roderick begins to strangle him. Victor snaps back to reality to see the ghosts of the three
men standing right in front of him. “The house is Usher, there is no escape,” they chant in
unison. Victor is shaken by what he sees and goes upstairs to splash some cold water on
his face. The sink fills up with blood and a body riddled with stab wounds is seen
standing behind him.
Victor goes outside to get some air. Madeline is in the garden tending to her roses. She
says that Roderick will not come out to the garden because his senses overwhelm him.
Madeline suffers only slightly from the photosensitivity that devastates her brother. She
says she does not understand Roderick’s fascination with photography and prefers to tend
to living things. Madeline urges Victor to be patient with Roderick because he is sick,
lonely, and in need of affection. In need of affection herself, she makes a pass at Victor.
Suddenly, both of them envision blood and bodies; she collapses in the throes of a
seizure. Roderick tends to Madeline in her bedroom. She tells him that Victor is
different from the others. “He’s like you. He can see.”
Later, Victor and Roderick sit by the fire and discuss Madeline’s condition. Roderick
says that he used to suffer from the same malady but Madeline’s episodes are more
frequent and severe. Roderick takes him outside and hands him a brick from the exterior
of the house. Victor notices that it seems to be warm and pulsating with life. When he
smashes it, a blood-like substance oozes out. Roderick explains that the house was built
on the graves of many generations of Ushers and it feeds off the energy of the living.
Victor thinks that the whole thing is nonsense and gets angry with Roderick for believing
such a thing. Roderick has a small seizure and a pile of bricks falls from the roof. Victor
is shocked, but unharmed. Victor helps Roderick back into the house and the two sit on
Victor’s bed to talk. Roderick tells him that this is the happiest he’s been in long time.
They share a kiss but are interrupted by strange noises outside the door. Roderick warns
him to lock his bedroom door before he goes to sleep.
Madeline wakes to hear voices in the hallway; she peeks out and sees Roderick chastising
Markus for walking the hallways so late at night. Markus tells him that the house is
getting worse and worse. Roderick tells him to attend to his duties and let him worry
about the house.
Victor is troubled by nightmares involving the deceased workers and Roderick’s passion
for him. He wakes up in a panic and goes outside to get some air. Ghosts of the workers
block his path and follow him back to his room; they climb onto his bed and run their
hands over the length of his body. He wakes in the morning as if it was all a dream.
At the breakfast table, Victor tells Roderick about his fears and threatens to leave.
Roderick pleads with him; they cannot get a doctor who is willing to come to the house
and he is their only hope. He explains Victor’s visions away with theories of quantum
physics. Later, Victor finds him giving his sister a sponge bath. Roderick encourages
Victor to lend a hand. He is clearly uncomfortable, but agrees.
Later in the evening, Roderick explains the significance of the workers in the photos.
When his parents died, he and Madeline were excited at the prospect of finally having
visitors over to the house. They hired droves of workers to bring the house back to its
former glory. The workers in the photos were Roderick’s favorites. Victor starts to realize
that his childhood friend is a sexual predator. He storms off into the garden.
In the reflection of the pond, he can see the face of a ghost telling him to leave while he
still can. Victor sees Markus working in the garden and asks for some answers. Markus
tells him that he is bound to servitude. Resentful and angry, he reveals the family’s
secrets. The house itself is alive; it feeds upon the souls of the living, trapping them in a
hellish limbo. Overhearing the conversation, Madeline decides it is time to sacrifice
Markus and Victor to the house. Roderick expresses reluctance because he’s in love with
Victor. However, it soon becomes apparent that they will die unless they sacrifice
someone else.
Later that evening, Roderick pours a small vile of poison into Victor’s wine glass. Victor
insists on hearing the truth about the Usher family history. Roderick explains that the
older generation of Ushers was afflicted by a serious bloodlust. When the house was
under construction, hundreds of workers were killed and buried on the property. Victor
starts to get dizzy, but just before he passes out, he realizes that Roderick is the House of
Usher. The two are connected and one cannot live without the other. Markus tries to
revive him, but the house starts to shake and he runs to the safety of the front yard. There,
he is seized by the ghostly victims of the house.
Victor wakes up, only to see that Markus has joined the ranks of the ghostly prisoners.
They warn him that they made themselves vulnerable by succumbing to Roderick’s
charms. They tell him to kill Roderick and Madeline and destroy the house before it’s
too late. Victor finds Madeline in the hallway. They struggle as she tries to strangle him,
but he impales her on a coat hook. He meets Roderick at the bottom of the stairs and tells
him that it’s over. They share one last kiss and Victor takes off on his motorcycle.
Roderick clings to the banister of the stairway as the house crumbles around him.
Later, we see that Victor is actually a mental patient and the rambling old house is a state
mental hospital. He has cast his caretakers into his own version of “The Fall of the House
of Usher.” Madeline and the three ghosts are nurses and Roderick is the head physician.
He draws pictures of the house with a thousand skulls lining the front yard. He receives
an injection from Madeline, as we see his copy of the complete works of Edgar Allan
Poe.
BRIEF CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
Character
Actor
Description
Victor Reynolds
Michael Cardelle
Roderick Usher
Frank Mentier
Loyal friend who comes to the Usher
siblings’ aid
Heir to the Usher family home
Madeline Usher
Jaimyse Haft
Roderick’s sister
Markus
Jack Carlisle
Fearful but loyal butler of the Usher
household
Bios
FRANK MENTIER (Roderick Usher) is known for his role of Jed Stark on Days of Our
Lives.
MICHAEL CARDELLE (Victor Reynolds) is best known for his role of Rafael Ortega
on As The World Turns.
JAIMYSE HAFT (Madeline Usher) has played Jade in Lords of the Underworld and
Jillian in Moonlight Serenade.
CREDITS:
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher
--------------------------------------------------------Director
David DeCoteau
--------------------------------------------------------Producer
John Schouweiler
--------------------------------------------------------Executive Producers
Paul Colichman
Stephen P. Jarchow
--------------------------------------------------------Screenplay by
Simon Savory
--------------------------------------------------------Inspired by the Short Story
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
by
Edgar Allan Poe
--------------------------------------------------------Co-Producer
Jeffrey Schenck
--------------------------------------------------------Associate Producer
Thomas A. Keith
--------------------------------------------------------Director of Photography
Howard Wexler
--------------------------------------------------------Production Designer
Billy Jett
--------------------------------------------------------Music by
Harry Manfredini
--------------------------------------------------------Costume Designer
Shawnelle Cherry
--------------------------------------------------------Sound Design
Maui Holcomb
--------------------------------------------------------Editor
Danny Draven
--------------------------------------------------------Executives in Charge of Production
Matt Freeman
Richard Carroll
--------------------------------------------------------Casting
Jan Glaser, C.S.A.
--------------------------------------------------------Starring
Frank Mentier
as
Roderick Usher
--------------------------------------------------------Michael Cardelle
as
Victor Reynolds
--------------------------------------------------------Jaimyse Haft
as
Madeline Usher
--------------------------------------------------------Jack Carlisle
as
Markus
--------------------------------------------------------Dan Fugardi
as
Casper
--------------------------------------------------------Taylor Graham
as
Danny
--------------------------------------------------------Bart Voitila
as
Sam
---------------------------------------------------------
Narrated by Ian Shaw
--------------------------------------------------------and Jill Jacobson as Dr. Cabot
--------------------------------------------------------Production Manager
First Assistant Director
Second Assistant Director
Second Second Assistant Director
John Schouweiler
Tom Doniphon
Matthew Grahn
Kat Abbott
-------------------------------------------------------Art Director
Set Decorator
Property Master
Nik Phou
Gina Henexson
Laurel Brock
--------------------------------------------------------Wardrobe Supervisor
Key Make Up/Hair
Assistant Make Up/Hair
Kevin I. Ackerman
April Metcalf
Yusuke Tateishi
--------------------------------------------------------Production Sound Mixer
Boom Operator
Marty Kasparian
Brad Kalpakov
---------------------------------------------------------
Post Production Sound Services
Sound Re-recording Mixer
Foley Artist
Ear Candy Audio
Maui Holcomb
Donald Lee Purnell
--------------------------------------------------------Visual Effects Artist
Script Supervisor
Craft Service
John Lechago
Aprill Winney
Robert Heckman
---------------------------------------------------------
First Assistant Camera
Second Assistant Camera
Production Stills
Christina Ortiz
Zoe Van Brunt
Austin Smoak
Jack Zeman
--------------------------------------------------------Office Production Assistant
Casting Assistants
Assistant to Stephen P. Jarchow
Robert Heckman
Rebecca Zoe Leigh
Seth Canterbury
Lorien Gray
-------------------------------------------------------Key Grip
Best Boy Grip
Company Grips
Satoshi Yamazaki
Collis Huntington
Daniel Durr
Johan Martinez
--------------------------------------------------------Gaffer
Best Boy Electrician
Company Electricians
Jean-Paul Bonneau
David Gordon
Paul Summers
Ramian E. Williams
---------------------------------------------------------
Grip/Electric Equipment
provided by
Wooden Nickel Lighting Inc.
Camera Equipment
provided by
HD Cinema
Videre Inc.
Post Production Facilities
Darkworld Post
--------------------------------------------------------Production Insurance
Event Insurance Canada Inc.
Truman Van Dyke Insurance
Catering
Café Carolyn Catering
Carolyn P. Gordon
Prop Rentals
20th Century Props
Independent Studio Services
--------------------------------------------------------Set Decoration provided by
Jackson Shrubs
Green Set, Inc.
Wardrobe Rentals
ABC Studios
Warner Bros. Studios
Disney Studios
Color Correction
illuminate/HTV, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------Production Vans
Enterprise Studio Rentals
Location Services
Locomats
Walkies
Protocol Telecommunications, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------Legal Services
Vincent Waldman, Esq.
Payroll Services
PES Payroll
John Flores
Location
Chateaux Bradbury
--------------------------------------------------------Additional Music Provided by
Gratis Music
Music Publishing
Gratis Music, BMI
--------------------------------------------------------Special Thanks
rapidheart.com
Scot Anderson
Ann Hamilton
Fred Olen Ray
Kim Ray
Paul Wilson
Eric Miller
Wendy Kutzner
Steve Tannen
Fangoria.com
Randy Carter
Tom Callaway
Robert Tisdale
--------------------------------------------------------MAC Management
Breakdown Services
Anthony Hanna
Screen Actors Guild
Steve Lustgarten
Tim Murphy
Ted Newsom
Richard Band
OutTv.ca
Eric Spudic
Buyhorrormovies.com
Heidi Kroeger
Jerrold Lambert
Charles Berg
Terry LeGrand
---------------------------------------------------------
Richard Kaufman
Media Distributors
Buygaymovies.com
Gino Colbert
Kevin Thomas
Inktip.com
James Shavick
Jaime Ferrar
Justine Hunt
Mark Pritcher
Patty Vittoritto
Momentum Talent & Literary
--------------------------------------------------------Dedicated to the memory of
Gary Graver
And
Jillian Kesner
Regententertainment.com
Heretv.com
cablepositive.org
--------------------------------------------------------WARNING
THIS MOTION PICTURE IS PROTECTED BY LAW. Any
unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, distribution,
exporting, importing, dissemination, exhibition or
public performance is prohibited by law. Violators
will be subject to investigation by the FBI, Interpol
and other police agencies and to criminal prosecution,
civil penalties or both.
© 2008 Here Studios L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.
