The Masque of the Red Death

Roger Corman has done an outstanding job with this film, possibly the best of his Poe adaptations. Although the film really is an incorporation of two Poe stories....The Masque of the Red Death and Hop-Frog...it is an excellent, atmospheric, quality piece of entertainment. At the core of the film's strength are the performance of Price as the evil, malignant, malicious Prince Prospero, follower of the devil and cruel sovereign of an area plagued with a all-consuming Red Death, and the fabulous period sets and costumes, many borrowed from the film Beckett. Price is at his best, and his turn as Prospero easily ranks as his most sinister and wicked performance(closely running against his portrayal of a witch hunter in The Conquerer Worm). Vincent Price blends outrageous showmanship with intricate subtleties of a man reasoning why he is what he is. The dialogue certainly is more important than the action in the story...a reason why some viewers(younger ones more than likely) will find film a bit tiresome. The sets and costumes are just gorgeous and the film looks like the most lavish ever made by Corman and company. A true modern masterpiece of the horror cinema!

Once again scripted by Charles Beaumont and produced/directed by Roger Corman, Masque of the Red Death is a much-beloved horror film from a lost era. Movies will never again be made quite like this. It's filled with the same mad characters, gorgeous sets, and colorful dream sequences we're used to seeing from Corman. Vincent Price, however hammy he may be, is perfect as the Satan-worshiping Prince Prospero. This very well could be the most evil I have ever seen Price. The cast is fine but Patrick Magee is definitely worth mentioning. He is delightfully wicked. And the character of the Red Death itself is cryptic and cool. This is one of the most colorful horror pictures ever made. The sets are grand, the story is marvelous, and the ending is brilliant. Masque of the Red Death is perhaps the most expensive Poe production, but it's still not Corman's best. I leave that honor to The Pit and the Pendulum.

Visually appealing and trippy in its telling, The Masque of the Red Death is a very acquired taste. Directed by Roger Corman, the film stars Vincent Price as the diabolical Prince Prospero who holds fear over a plague infested peasantry while jollying it up in his castle. The screenplay by Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell is based upon a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, while part of the film contains a story arc based on another Poe tale titled Hop-Frog. It's the 7th of 8 Corman film adaptations of Poe's works.

Sinister yet beautiful (Nicolas Roeg genius like on photography), "Red Death" has proved to be the most divisive of all the Corman/Poe adaptations. Choosing to forgo blood in favour of black magic dalliance and general diabolism, the film is arguably the most ambitious of all Corman's love affairs with Poe's literary works. With Price gleefully putting gravitas of meanness into Prospero, the film also greatly benefits from the intelligent input to the script from Beaumont (many Twilight Zone credits). This is, strangely, an intellectual type of horror film, offering up observations on the indiscrimination of death and proclaiming that cruelty is but merely a way of life.

God, Satan and a battle of faith, are all luridly dealt with as the story reaches its intriguing and memorable closure. It's a very tough film to recommend with confidence, and certainly it's not a film one wishes to revisit too often (myself having viewed it only twice in 30 years!). However, the one thing that is a cast iron certainty is that it's unlike most horror film's from the 60s. It's also one of Price's best performances. Gone is the camp and pomposity that lingered on many of his other horror characterisations, in its place is pure menace of being. A devil dealer shuffling his pack for all his sadistic worth.

You may feel afterwards that you must have eaten some weird mushrooms, or that the last glass of wine was one too many? You are however unlikely to forget "The Masque of the Red Death" in a hurry. 7/10

A reviewer linked to this site described "The Masque of the Red Death" as Bergmanesque. A Roger Corman film Bergmanesque? Since I've only seen one Ingmar Bergman film, and it bored me silly, this was not much of an endorsement.

When I was a kid and Corman's Edgar Alan Poe adaptations were new, they scared the be-jeebers out of me. So would have "The Masque of the Red Death". After watching the movie recently, I didn't gain any insight into Mr. Bergman's film style, but I was entertained. And happily, the movie is free of the campy acting that seeps into so many of the Corman opus. Especially good is Vincent Price as the Satan-worshipping Prince Prospero, in whose castle his debauched guests wait out the plague that is ravishing the countryside. Dark and grotesque, this is an excellent example of Corman's work. Actually, one of the best I've seen.

"The Masque of the Red Death" is another in the series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations from Producer/Director Roger Corman. It has been compared in style to the films of Ingmar Bergman (particularly in the dream and masquerade sequences) and is one of Corman's personal favorites from the series.

The evil Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) discovers the "Red Death" in a tenant farmer village and burns it down. He takes protesters Juliana (Jane Asher), her father (Nigel Green) and her lover Gino (David Weston) to his castle, imprisoning the men and taking Juliana into his household. There she meets Prospero's mistress Juliana (Hazel Court) who becomes jealous of her.

On hearing mysterious noises one night, Francesca wanders through the cavernous castle and discovers that Prospero and Juliana are satanists and have plans to bring her into the "fold". Prospero believes that his "master" will protect all who are within his walls from the "Red Death". He arranges to have all of his so-called friends brought into the castle where they are entertained by their host. He announces that the evening will climax with a midnight masquerade ball. But an uninvited guest crashes the party.

Vincent Price is really nasty in the lead and gives one of his better performances. Jane Asher is appealing as the young Francesca and the lovely Hazel Court makes a beautiful bride of satan. This film is aided by the fact that it was filmed in England and was able to employ many gifted English character players in the supporting roles. In addition to those mentioned, there is Patrick Magee as Alfredo, who is equally as evil as Prospero, Skip Martin as the dwarf Hop Toad, little Verina Greenlaw as the dancer Esmeralda and Robert Brown as a prison guard.

This movie has to be viewed in wide screen in order to appreciate the panoramic shots within the castle, the beautiful color photography and the eerie shadows of the night.

Useless Trivia Dept.

1. Jane Asher is the sister of Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon pop music fame;

2. She was also linked romantically with Beatle Paul Macartney at the time this film was made;

3. Nigel Green would achieve greater fame as Inpector Nayland Smith in the Fu Manchu series with Christopher Lee; 4. Although I can't confirm this, I swear that that is Christopher Lee's voice coming from the red cloaked figure.