Alpha New Cinema (series)

The Death Of Poe

Directed and written by Mark Redfield of Redfield Arts, I picked this up at Monster Mania the past weekend after Redfield himself offered to sign my copy. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. He was there with one of the video's other stars, Jennifer Rouse (see previous pictures of the event). Both of them were charming people and I hope they did well at the event.
The video play concerns the last week of Poe's life. It begins with his burial, but quickly flashes back to the events leading up to his unexplained death. Refield's Poe is a confused man who is obviously suffering from short-term memory loss and the effects of something: alcoholism or mental disease, it's never stated what. Much of the events of the production are taken from known facts about Poe's last days in Baltimore, but the video adds some conjecture as well. All of the dramatizations fit into what was known about Baltimore at the time and are entirely plausible.
The cast is professional. I was amused at seeing cult actor and publisher George Stover in a dual role as wealthy twin brothers. Poe wastes his time trying to solicit funds for a new magazine from them. Peter Karas and Johanna Supasky give very creepy performance. They play a mother and son renting a room to Poe.
The final half hour of the film is told from Poe's viewpoint as he slips in dementia. What could have been played for maximum gore or as garage surrealism is instead done with true vision. Working with budget video equipment, the producers have managed to create something special.

While I have given this product the highest rating,I must also mention, this might not be everyone's cup of tea.
That is to say that if you are expecting a big budget Hollywood , tear your head off horror tale to keep you on the edge of your seat, you will likely be disappointed.
What we do have here is a sincerely fine, aristic effort to portray the final days of Poe's life, and how, like his own mystery, horror writings, was an ironic, enigmatic mystery in itself. Therefore,if you are something of a Poe fan, you may well appreciate this thoughtful and stylihly crafted mood piece.
Mister Redfield with most evident love of the subject matter not only gives a great performance in his interpretation of Poe, but also on the audio bonus disc offers an excellent reading of some of Poe's great works.
Then there are the other bonuses like the T.V. emission speculating on the possibility that Edgar A's restless ghost might be haunting Baltimore, both in a cemetary and in a former residence.
Other bonuses are some very early silent films which took on two of Poe's famed stories. These somewhat creaky editions, as MR. Redfield rightly explains, may try your patience if you haven't had much exposure to, or appreciation of silent films. However, it is at least worthwhile watching the old 'Raven' silent with Mr. Redfield's voice-over, in which he offers some insight to both the style of silent film, and the real details of Poe's life. In fact, one might do well to watch that portion of this disc set first with Mister Redfield as a sort of introduction to the full life of Poe to gain a little more insight into understanding his last days as dramatized in the film, 'The Death of Poe.'
And at this price--How can you go far wrong?