Il caso Valdemar (1936)
Article 5522 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-5-2017
Directed by Gianni Hoepli and Ubaldo Magnaghi
Featuring Lav Kemanarovic, Gino Eprisi, Carlo Bissi
Country: Italy
What it is: Poe adaptation short.

A man on the verge of death is kept alive by being put in a hypnotic trance for several months. But what will happen when he’s taken out of the trance?

The copy I saw of this short was in Italian, but the Poe story is familiar enough that I was able to follow it anyway. It’s a very stylish little short, with bizarre camera angles and interesting visuals. It’s also a pretty grotesque short for its time; those familiar with the story (Poe’s THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR) knows how it ends, and the special effects for this moment do not disappoint. This one is satisfying and memorable.