An avant-garde experimental film running only 13 minutes,[1] the visual element predominates, including shots through prisms to create optical distortion.

Various new scores have been composed to accompany the film, including one by new wave musician Tom Verlaine and guitarist Jimmy Rip,[3] and another by American composer Jean Hasse's version (2010) for the UK ensemble Counterpoise (violin, trumpet, saxophone, piano), this version available to view on YouTube.

When Madeline apparently dies, Roderick has her buried in the family vault, not realizing she is merely in a catatonic state.

Madeline awakens in her tomb, and realizing she has been buried alive, descends into madness as she escapes her coffin and seeks revenge.

The actors have little opportunity to make much of an impression, and ultimately the film is a minor footnote in the canon of Edgar Allan Poe.