Lady Usher
Lady Usher is an odd and eerie thriller based on, as the film’s title suggests, Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Fall of the House of Usher. This retelling brings the Usher family into modern-day, while the narrator becomes a more fleshed out character named Morgan Segal ( Billie D. Merritt). A college student, Morgan met Roderick Usher (John Tupy) on campus and the pair quickly fell in love. Suddenly, Roderick’s father falls ill forcing Roderick to return home. Out of her love for Roderick and quite a bit of naivete, Morgan shows up unannounced at the Usher estate and quickly realizes that the Usher family seems to have some sort of spell over Roderick.
Roderick clearly has a peculiar family. His dying father is extremely old, his brother wears a sack over his face with only one eyehole, and his mother, Lady Usher (Theresa Santiago), is a classic foreboding in-law. Only their butler Vincent (Michael Gibbons) acts like a relatively normal person, merely shrugging off the antics of his employers. Much of the tension in the film comes from Lady Usher, as she quickly makes it clear that Morgan is not welcome in their home and has a controlling relationship over her son. Roderick always chooses his mother’s side, despite Morgan’s efforts to get him to see the light.
Director George Adams knows how to use the right amount of suspense in Lady Usher. The patient viewer will be rewarded when the climax finally comes as Adams takes care to drop subtle hints throughout the film that a keen viewer would be inclined to pick up on. Lady Usher is also a slow-burn, as the film takes its time to establish the strange characteristics of the Usher family. Morgan Segal acts as the audience’s detective; she is the one to make these observations and question the Ushers. Of course, the film is filled to the brim with odd characters but none so much as Lady Usher herself. Theresa Santiago steals each and every scene she is in – demanding, harsh, and sinister. She is always quick to snap at Morgan, chastising her lack of table manners and audacity of showing up at their home uninvited. It’s hard to argue with her.
The production design of Lady Usher helps suggest the irregularities of the Usher family and allows the viewer to make a number of guesses as to what the family is hiding. Much of the scenes are dimly lit, with only shadows on characters’ faces. A character states that Mr. Usher (John Ferguson) likes to keep the house dark. While in the Usher estate, all of the characters wear formal evening wear, suggesting the family is still living up to their past historical traditions. There are points of Lady Usher that don’t work. It gets hard to believe that Morgan would still be vying for Roderick’s attention given that he consistently chooses his mother over her, and it’s also strange that Roderick’s brother often helps Morgan. Surely he too would be under his mother’s hold.
Despite these instances, Lady Usher proves itself to be a thrilling mystery. It’s eerie but never scary. Those familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s writing will find that plenty of new material has been added to keep the reveal a secret. The film uses great story beats as it slowly peels back the layers of the Usher family, largely due to Morgan’s insistence at finding out the truth and not accepting Roderick’s behaviour. With compelling characters and beautiful production design, Lady Usher is definitely a film to make time for, though you may find yourself rooting the villain.