The Tell Tale Heart review

By Daniel King

This short, directed by McClain Lindquist, offers a new take on one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous stories.

I say a ‘new take’ although the film does follow the story quite closely; no, where Lindquist departs from most retellings is an ingenious merging of time and place.

The narrator (Sonny Grimsley) is clearly a 19th century character – dress, surroundings, manner of speech – but the detective (Teren Turner) who comes to question him is a classic mid-1940s hard-boiled cop.

Not only that but the policewoman (Mikah Olsen) who accompanies to detective is from the present day. Sometimes the interrogation takes place in the narrator’s 19th century abode, sometimes it takes place in the detective’s office.

It’s a great take on the original and shows that flair and imagination can revive a tale that’s as old as the hills, and in so doing puts the fear and horror right back in.