Steven Berkoff’s Tell Tale Heart

CK FILMS / In association with Red Rock Entertainment Present

Steven Berkoff’s Tell Tale Heart despite feeling repetitive in some respects, is a faithful retelling of a classic tale held together by a strong lead performance. Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tale of a servants decent into a manic state over the course of a week has been adapted countless times across all forms of media. Steven Berkoff himself is no stranger to the tale, having previously performed the story in the form of a one-person theatre show. Here Berkoff brings the essence of a one-person show into the cinematic medium, with the film relying heavily on his lead performance and Berkoff being more than up to the challenge.

Over seven days, an unnamed servant (Steven Berkoff) expresses through his narration directly to the viewer the workings of his psyche and his desire to murder his master, who has a distinct vulture-like eye. After finally managing to go through with the crime of smothering the old man, the servant mutilates and hides the body under the floorboards. Although as time goes on, the seemingly beating heart beings to grow louder and louder from beneath the floor, forcing the servant to deal with what he has done.

The plot of the original short story is relatively straightforward, which makes sense when taking into the account the story only last around 25 pages. With Berkoff’s screenplay and an adaption credited to director Stephen Cookson, the film opts for an incredibly faithful adaptation of the source material, expanding the story into an eighty-minute narrative. This allows the unnamed servant to truly be expanded upon as Berkoff is able to give a real insight into the inner workings of a man on the edge of insanity. The adaptation also permits the concluding moment of the film to be more effective than perhaps a shorter version would have allowed. 

However, when extending such a concise narrative into a longer form cinematic version does result in some issues of repetition. Due to the nature of the story locations are limited and as a result, many shots begin to create a feeling of déjà vu despite the often impressive gothic horror visuals from cinematographer Ismael Issa Lopez. With a nightmare sequence allowing some creative and frightening abstract imagery perhaps being a highlight, along with the manic and energetic lead performance from Berkoff.

Despite the film often struggling to fill the more extended narrative with new material, Stephen Berkoff’s Tell Tale Heart is a compelling adaptation of a classic tale of insanity and murder. With Berkoff’s performance managing to carry the weight of the material throughout the runtime, resulting in a satisfying, and very tense conclusion.