Le Masque de la mort rouge

Original title: The Masque of the Red Death

1964
13
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

17K

YOUR RATING

A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.

Play trailer2:15

1 Video

99+ Photos

Supernatural Horror Drama Horror

A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

17K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Jane Asher asked Roger Corman if a friend could visit the set and join them for lunch. She explained that her friend was a musician who was about to do his first gig in London that night. At the end of lunch, Corman wished him good luck with his concert. Corman had never heard of Paul McCartney until he read of the concert's success in the next day's newspapers.

Goofs
Despite Prospero warning the guests not to wear red to the masque, several people are wearing red: capes, hats, etc.

People ignoring someone's directions is not a Goof; it happens all the time and was even a significant plot point in L'insoumise (1938).

Quotes
Man in red: Why should you be afraid to die? Your soul has been dead for a long long time.

Crazy credits
"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all." Edgar Allan Poe [The final line of the original Poe story.]

Alternate versions
The original UK cinema version was heavily cut by the BBFC to edit lines of implied sexual dialogue, the killing of Juliana by the falcon, and scenes of burning people (including Alfredo in the ape costume), and to completely remove the entire black mass dream sequence. Video and DVD releases fully restore the BBFC cuts though the print used is an edited U.S version which misses some dialogue as well as a shot of Francesca being slapped across the face by one of Prospero's soldiers.

Connections
Featured in Aweful Movies with Deadly Earnest: The Masque of the Red Death (1971)

User reviews152

Featured review

Price at his Most Wicked!

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!