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Silver Urania to Roger Corman
12.11.2009
The Man With The X Ray Eyes
A few hints about the films to be screened in tribute to Roger Corman, guest and recipient of the Urania d’Argento award at the Science+Fiction ’09.
We’ll start out with X - The Man With The X Ray Eyes, the historic film that won the Asteroide d’Oro award at the first edition of the Trieste Science fiction film festival back in 1963.
A scientist, played by Ray Milland, discovers a liquid that enables his eyes to see through things: being a doctor, he’s determined to use this ability to cure people. After realizing he can’t cure every disease he’s able to see, he starts to suffer from profound existential crisis until a preacher causes him to blind himself. Rumors have been circulating about a remake of this film with Spanish film maker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo as director (28 weeks later, Intacto).
The retrospective Fant’America, dedicated to the work of Edgar Allan Poe, will be the opportunity to see some of the most famous films of Corman’s carrier: first in line The Fall Of The House Of Usher, based on Poe’s novel of the same name, this film ushers in the collaboration between Corman and Vincent Price, here starring as Roderick, the main character who’s hallucinating and buries his sister knowing she’s not dead. A horror film penetrating the psychology of the characters with ambiguous and dreamlike atmosphere.
Next, The Pit And The Pendulum, a film where Corman skillfully and carefully plans a game of doubles personalities and appearances.
Matheson’s screenplay moves away from Poe’s novel but this is one of Corman’s best horror with a masterly performance by Vincent Price.
Then The Raven, big time stars: from Vincent Price to Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and a young Jack Nicholson, together for a fairy-tale horror, almost a parody, with all-out magical fights between wizards .
And last but not least, The Masque Of The Red Death, with Price as a tyrannical prince and devil worshipper. Based on Poe’s novels- The masque of the red death and Hop frog- the film is veiled with black humor and features the sophisticated photography of director-to-be Nicolas Roeg.
