Originally published October 2017

Extraordinary Tales is a rather vague and ambiguous title. It's not very original. It doesn't really capture your attention. It doesn't give you any insight into what the movie is actually about. Paired with images of animation that reminded me of a Tim Burton stop motion film, I would constantly skip right past it while browsing Netflix, without bothering to read the synopsis. Then my girlfriend decided to start watching it herself one day and found that I needed to give it a shot.

Extraordinary Tales is an animated film that uses various animation techniques to tell multiple short stories. There are only about 5 total stories and none of them go beyond 20 minutes in length, so it's a shorter movie. Each of these stories has the same author, who happens to be one of my favorite authors: Edgar Allan Poe. Yes, the short animated film is a collection of Poe's short stories, narrated by different famous voices of the horror world, including Bella Lugosi, Christopher Lee, and Guillermo Del Toro, to name a few. It's a dark little romp that isn't exactly as gory or morbid as Poe's stories could sometimes be, so children could conceivably watch this and only have nightmares for a little while. But it's the charm of the animation and the impassioned narration of his stories that makes this movie worth watching as an adult, so long as you have an interest in old-fashioned horror.

Pros

• The animation changes from story to story and provides a variety to its charm

• The narration adds a lot of character to the story, especially with the creepy sounds on Lugosi's recording from whatever phonograph was used

• Bite-sized stories help keep the film moving so you don't have time to get bored

• The "silent" portrayal of Masque of the Red Death is efficient at telling you everything you need to know

Cons

• The connective tissue of the film with the raven speaking to Death doesn't really amount too much

• Would have liked one or two more stories

Plot & Thoughts

Extraordinary Tales opens with a paper raven that is supposed to be the metaphorical representation of Edgar Allan Poe having a chat with Death who has taken shape in the form of a reaper on various gravestones in a cemetery. The conversation they have is the only part of this movie that wasn't written by Poe. The dialogue is more casual and familiar to our own speech, and the topics are more personal to Poe as a person, even though he's a crow. I'm not sure what the filmmakers are trying to do with this section of the movie. It is the scene we keep coming back to at the end of each story as though it were the Cryptkeeper's interludes from a Tales from the Crypt anthology film, yet I couldn't tell you what happens or is said during these moments. It is the weakest part of Extraordinary Tales and could have been removed to allow more time for another story, or even a rendition of Poe's famous poem if they were desperate to include a raven in the piece.

Outside of that connective piece of the anthology, everything else is great. I honestly felt guilty and foolish for having written it off so many times before as another Tim Burton-esk animated film, especially since I happen to like most of Burton's animated films. Had I stopped to notice that this was an anthology of different Poe stories, I would have watched it far sooner. Having finally done so, I'd say it's a great rendition of his work.

The main reason to watch Extraordinary Tales if you don't care about Poe is for the charm of it. The charm of the animation and the charm of the narration add a lot to the experience. Some of it reminded me of Corpse Bride, some of it reminded me of Kubo and the Two Strings and some of it reminded me of the video game White Night. If you're a sucker for quality animation like I am, this is something worth viewing. Poe's stories spring to life without losing their melancholy. The dark drama of his writing oozes through the animation and is constantly enveloped with shadows and darkness. Even the most benign character faces can look maniacally evil with certain lights in their style.

In addition to the animation, the narration from the famous voices of horror films further heightens the character of the movie. Bella Lugosi's narration, in particular, is a massive addition to the charm of the movie. He always had a great voice for horror, hence why his performance as Dracula is so iconic, but the recording of him reading "The Telltale Heart" is fantastic. Part of the greatness of his particular recording just has to do with Lugosi's flair for the dramatic, but part of it has to do with the crappy quality of the recording. The scratches and clicks of whatever device they used to record his reading only add to the creepy atmosphere portrayed on-screen.

Outside of the charming style and unique narration that Extraordinary Tales boasts in each story, there's not much else to say about it. If you like Poe or even the various film adaptations of his work that have been made, Extraordinary Tales provides yet another method of telling his stories. Having familiarity with the stories certainly improved my experience, but everything is animated and thorough enough that you could be completely new to the stories and still be able to understand what was happening.

Masque of the Red Death is a standout story because, unlike the rest, there is no narrated reading of Poe's story. Instead, it is peppered with a few minor lines of dialogue and is almost similar to the silent horror films of the early 20th century. Watching it, I couldn't help but think of the silent Phantom of the Opera, simply because of the masquerade elements. Regardless, Masque of the Red Death does perfectly fine at portraying the story and making it understandable without any need for narration. Much like the short stories these segments are all based on, Poe's work benefits from the short format.

TL;DR (Conclusion)

The portrayals of Poe's stories in Extraordinary Tales are efficient, charming, and faithful to the source material. The animation and narration alone make the 73 minutes worth your time. While the connecting scenes with the metaphorical raven don't add anything to the movie, they don't detract much from it either. If you've struggled with or disliked Poe's writing style and just wanted an easier method of digesting his stories, this is a very good way to get through some of his best.

At the time of this review, Extraordinary Tales is currently available on Netflix streaming. Just in time for Halloween! You can see what other horror movies I recommend watching this month on the other streaming services here:

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