Well, the only real spoiler I am going to contribute is this. If you were hoping to see screen adaptations here that really present Poe's stories more or less as he wrote them, forget about it. True, some of these episodes come a lot closer than did any of Vincent Price's efforts, but that doesn't say much. The Price flicks went very far afield, but they were entertaining. Some of these 12 episodes are not. Some are. The general pattern with this series seems to be: keep Poe's characters; keep a semblance of the original plot; extrapolate with both plot and characters to get as much crude sex innuendo in as possible. The worst offender in this regard is the two part "The Masque of the Red Death", in which Christopher Lee plays "Prince Prospero". Oddly, the most spectacular aspect of Poe's story is his lengthy description of the seven colourful chambers at the Prince's great "gala" masque party. Don't hold your breath waiting for it, because it is completely omitted!
The best renditions on the DVD, to my taste at least, were "Mr. Valdemar" (note the shortened title), "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Fall of the House of Usher". It's generally down hill from these. Acting and production values vary considerably, and the fact that filming and other production operations were carried on as far apart as South Africa and somewhere in the former Jugoslavia may have been a factor. I suppose it's nice that they made the effort, but the feeling may grow on one that the producers were exploiting Poe more than "realising" him.
The best renditions on the DVD, to my taste at least, were "Mr. Valdemar" (note the shortened title), "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Fall of the House of Usher". It's generally down hill from these. Acting and production values vary considerably, and the fact that filming and other production operations were carried on as far apart as South Africa and somewhere in the former Jugoslavia may have been a factor. I suppose it's nice that they made the effort, but the feeling may grow on one that the producers were exploiting Poe more than "realising" him.
