Edgar Allan Poe's The Tomb of Ligeia

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the 1964 film version see Das Grab der Lygeia , for the novella by Edgar Allan Poe see Ligeia .

Movie
German title	Edgar Allan Poe's The Tomb of Ligeia
Original title	The tomb
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	2009
length	85 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Michael Staininger
script	John Shirley
production	Jeff Most
music	Patrick Cassidy
camera	Chris Benson
cut	Danny Saphire Michael Shemesh
occupation
Wes Bentley : Jonathan Merrick Kaitlin Doubleday : Rowena Sofya Skya : Ligeia Romanova Michael Madsen : George Eric Roberts : Vaslov Mackenzie Rosman : Loreli Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa : Len Burris

Edgar Allan Poe's Das Grab der Ligeia (OT: The Tomb ) is an American horror film directed by Michael Staininger . The film, shot in 2009, is based on the story Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe .

action

Jonathan Merrick, successful writer and professor of literary studies, meets the mysterious PhD candidate Ligeia Romanova, a beneficiary of Professor Len Burris , at a lecture . Although the latter warns him urgently about her, he begins an affair with her. What neither of them know: Ligeia experiments on living people and extracts their souls in order to achieve immortality. By the time the professor finds out, it's already too late. Jonathan has succumbed to her influence and leaves his fiancée Rowena because of her. At a party, Ligeia puts the professor in a coma. Jonathan cannot help her influence and marries her. Together they move to the Ukraine, where Jonathan buys back their old mansion. Ligeia continues to experiment there. When Jonathan can fight it off, Ligeia dies of an illness. Jonathan brings Rowena and her alcoholic father George to the castle. However, Ligeia is not dead and first slips into the body of Loreli, the silent daughter of the servant Vaslov. She kills Vaslov first, then George, and slips into Rowena's body. Jonathan gets behind the masquerade and, with the help of Loreli, can send Ligeia back to the realm of the dead. In the end, however, Loreli's eyes change color.

background

The film is Michael Staininger's directorial debut, which transports the well-known story of Poe into modern times. Allusions to Poe's epoch can be found in the conservative clothing and the emphasis on the then common intoxicant absinthe . The first German-language edition came with a 20-page booklet containing literary analyzes of the original story.

Eric Roberts states in an interview on the DVD that he played in the film out of friendship with producer Jeff Most, who was also responsible for The Crow .

criticism

The film fails to meet the high demands of the original and, in the opinion of most critics, cannot build on the earlier Corman film The Grave of Lygeia in the Ligeia story. Despite the good atmosphere, the film failed mainly because of its low budget. However, the performance of the actors is praised.

“The grave of Ligeia” does not make it easy for an overall rating. Beautifully designed scenes with a cozy, creepy atmosphere are juxtaposed with pale hectic phases and when it comes to film adaptations, director Michael Staininger did not always have a happy hand with his first film, even if the actors partly compensate for this. "

- Review on GamesUnit.de

Web links

• Edgar Allan Poe's The grave of Ligeia in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Edgar Allan Poe's The Grave of Ligeia in the Lexicon of International Films

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Review. GamesUnit, accessed August 2, 2010 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} DVD review - The grave of Ligeia. Splashmovies.de, accessed on August 2, 2010 . 
3. ↑ Michael Drewniok: The grave of Ligeia. Filmbessprechungen.de, accessed on August 2, 2010 .