The last avant-garde film Jean Epstein made before he broke with the movement is based on a tale by Edgar Allan Poe. The mysterious house of Usher is visited by a friend who finds Roderick following the family tradition: he paints his wife’s portrait with such passion that he draws the very life from her to put into his picture. Refusing to accept her death, Roderick declines to have her coffin nailed shut. Everything in this film is subordinated to the creation of atmosphere. Misty, fog-shrouded scenes, slow-motion filming, low angles, lighting, and camera tricks contribute to a masterful evocation of the macabre.