Visually an achievement for the time, but the story is deprived of any of the thematic complexity that was in the source material. Poe had crafted an impeccable web of meanings, where every element of the story existed for a reason. This "adaptation" does not seem to recognize that, as it messes with some of the core symbolism by making such fundamental changes as turning the sister to a wife or removing Roderick's actual illness and giving him some weird obsession with painting his wife instead. I don't think this movie has anything to do with the *house* of Usher anymore. But even on the surface level this new, oversimplified storyline fails to capture my interest or elicit any emotion.