La tomba di Ligeia

At one point in this film Vincent Price says 'Christopher, not ten minutes ago I tried to kill a stray cat with a cabbage'. Now, I think that is a pretty good reason alone to watch this movie but if that's not enough for you well, its another Roger Corman gothic horror starring Vincent the magnificent, based loosely on an Edgar Allen Poe story. There's nice sets and locations, lush cinematography, an above average script and Price doing what he does best, as well as vegetable-based violence directed at felines.

Well, at least for a little while! His last of eight Poe films as director is (loosely) based on the Poe work of the same name and is a solid metaphorical ghost story. Lady Rowena (the wonderful Elizabeth Shepherd) falls in love with Verden Fell (Vincent Price) despite his strange behavior and questionable past. Soon after their marriage, he starts disappearing, she's menaced by that old Poe stand-by (the evil black cat) and plagued by horrific nightmares involving Verden's deceased former wife Ligeia (also played by Shepherd), whose ghost seems intent on ruining the union. Price, in top hat and strange sunglasses in many scenes (his vision being "dangerously acute"), seems a bit too old for the role, but still manages to come through with an effective performance. Corman has always been underrated for effectively capturing period detail on a limited budget and it's his keen eye for the crumbling ruins, lush green countrysides, oceanfronts and shadowy castle corridors that make much of this film work. Screenplay by future Oscar-winner Robert Towne (CHINATOWN). LIGEIA was Corman's last horror film as director until 1990's FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND.

Very fine Poe adaptation. I had always reckoned Masque of the Red Death, from the same period to be far superior, but not so. Viewed again this is very well put together, especially the first half, which is really only setting the scene for the Poe tale to be told. Not quite as stylish as the aforementioned film, this is still, nevertheless, possessed of a very strong dream like quality and builds scarily as doors rattle, animals squawk and the inevitable black cat scrambles, leaps and screeches. Wonderful setting of Castle Acre Priory helps give the film greater authenticity and Corman mixes the Shepperton Studio interiors well with the beautiful Norfolk countryside and the marvellous grandiose priory remains. I don't know why the tomb of the title had to be so shining white and new looking but never mind, a really good Corman outing with excellent performances from Price and the leading lady Elizabeth Shepherd, who regrettably seems to have otherwise worked almost exclusively in television. She has real presence here in a double role successfully mixing the seductiveness of Lady Rowena and the satanic steel of Ligeia.

I was asked recently if I could name any genuinely scary films made before The Exorcist in 1973. The only titles I could come up with were Rosemary's Baby and Night of the Living Dead from the late '60s. I could suggest many horror titles made before 1970, but none were genuinely flesh-crawling enough to make the list. At the time, I had not seen The Tomb of Ligeia. Now I have seen it and, wow! This is one seriously under-rated gem.

It is one of the many Roger Corman films from this era based on an Edgar Allan Poe story. Intelligently scripted by Robert Towne, and acted to perfection by Vincent Price and Elisabeth Shepherd, this film is a treat from start to finish. Shepherd plays a well-to-do lady in Victorian England who falls in love with a mysterious loner (Price) who resides in a crumbling abbey and seems haunted by memories of his previous (now-dead) wife Ligeia. She marries Price, but her chances of love are blighted by spooky happenings which may be the work of the ghost of his jealous ex-bride.

The dream sequence, featuring a dead fox hidden in a bouquet of flowers and a terrifying metamorphosis midway through a passionate kiss, is a marvellous and memorable scene. All scenes featuring the weird black cat are eerily effective. There's also a wonderfully creepy hypnotism episode. The photography is lovely, with colourful outdoor lensing of a real English abbey and superb blending of light and shadows during the ghostly indoor sequences.

So, if you're after a truly spine-tingling film from before 1970 - here you go!

"Ligeia" is one of my very favorite E.A. Poe stories, a masterpiece of suspense that doesn't reveal its secret until the very last word. Like a lot of Poe's stories, however, the transformation to the screen isn't always an easy one. A great deal of the action in the short story takes place in the narrator's head, and to make a feature length movie out of it there must be some added action and characters.

The screenwriter here, Robert Towne, would go on to bigger and better things and garner fame and awards while doing it. But this early script of his is a rather modest one. The action drags more and more as the film goes on and the sense of horror and tension dissipates rather than builds as the film progresses. Plus there's that annoying black cat (left over from another Poe story, perhaps?)

What points this movie does get are for style. Roger Corman wasn't a schlock director by any means; he had a great eye and and gave his films a distinctive look and feel. The cast is a very good one as well. Vincent Price does the usual fine job we expect from him and I liked actress Elizabeth Shepard as the Lady Rowena, Price's wife who succeeds Ligeia. I wasn't familiar with her before seeing this movie and I found her very watchable. But 'The Tomb of Ligeia' is hardly classic Poe or a memorable horror film. But fans of Corman and the Hammer Films type of productions may want to see it.