In Vincent Price's version of "The Cast of Amontillado,"
not only are pieces missing from Poe's original story, the conclusion is also much
different than Poe's version.
At the end of the video, the
climax of the story is the end of the story: Montresor informs his
audience that he has walled up Fortunato—buried him alive. That is the video's end, and
with the music and the close-up of Vincent Price's face, along with the lighting, it has
an impact.
However, I find Poe's version is creepier,
giving us the full effect of how insane Montresor is. As Poe tells it, the shackling of
Fortunato, the conversation, the merciless verbal torment at the hands of Montresor, as
well as Fortunato's hysterical laughter, abrupt silence and then only the sound of the
bells on his hat have a much greater impact on the
reader.
True, sound and visuals often are very effective in
telling a story, but Poe always (and only) could depend on the imagination of the reader
to fill in what might have been missing in his narrative...if there was anything missing
at all. Poe was a masterful storyteller.
Poe captured the
essence of Montresor's madness and his sociopathic nature: Montresor feeling no remorse
says, "May he rest in peace" (a macabre statement in that he could not wait to bring
about the other man's "immolation"), and then he casually observes that the body had not
been disturbed in over fifty years. It is eerie to note that even as it has been at
least fifty years since the death of Fortunato, Montresor has taken great relish in
reliving the experience.
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