The Masque of the Red Death

Roger Corman directed this adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, as Vincent Price plays the evil Prince Prospero, who brutally rules over the local peasantry, and abducts a beautiful girl who catches his eye, Francesca(Jane Asher). He promises not to hurt her, but instead seeks to corrupt her innocence by inviting her over to his castle, where many guests have gathered both for their debauchery, as well as an escape from the plague, a red death that ravages the countryside. Prospero's wife Juliana(Hazel Court) is also evil, and promised to Satan. Francesca's village will attempt a rescue, leading to an apocalyptic climax, as sins will be punished...

Superbly written, directed, and acted film is quite literate and atmospheric, with richly saturated colors, striking religious symbolism and a chilling end make this a winner.

Possibly the best of the Roger Corman-Vincent Price series of film adaptations of the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, 'The Masque of the Red Death' is a chilling and malevolent tale of decadent devil-worshippers holed up in a castle while the Red Death claims its victims in the village outside.

Vincent Price was a gloriously hammy actor who played horror roles with the utmost seriousness. His characterization of Prince Prospero in this movie is brilliant - a man without a soul or heart who is only conquered when a girl of equal faith enters his castle (the wooden Jane Asher as Francesca). In support Hazel Court as the would-be Bride of Satan Juliana, and Patrick Magee as the corrupt Alfredo are particularly worthy of note.

The dwarf's revenge on Alfredo during the masque is as chilling as anything which came before in films such as 1932's 'Freaks'; while the film shimmers with beautiful cinematography (especially the coloured rooms) and simmers with corruption. The combined effect is superb and makes the film a memorable experience.

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!

Roger Corman frequently gets a hard time from misguided movie snobs who look down on b-grade and exploitation movies. While Corman undoubtedly was involved in more than his fair share of silly schlock (usually as a producer rather than a director), he also made some wonderful movies that are criminally underrated. Some of his best movies as a director were the series of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations he made in the Sixties starring horror legend Vincent Price. 'The Masque Of The Red Death' is quite possibly the very best in the series. It is certainly the most unusual and imaginative. Now I'm not sure whether it was filmed in Britain or not, but Price is supported by a largely British cast which includes Jane Asher ('The Stone Tape'), Hazel Court (Hammer's 'Curse Of Frankenstein'), and the legendary character actor Patrick Magee ('Dementia 13', 'A Clockwork Orange'). That and the fact that the cinematographer is none other than Nic Roeg(!), later to become famous for such classics as 'Performance', 'Don't Look Now' and 'The Man Who Fell To Earth', leads me to believe that it was made in England. The involvement of the aforementioned, and a strong script co-written by the talented Charles Beaumont (try and track down some of his short stories, you'll be impressed), make this a memorable experience. But Corman's direction should be given credit, and the single best thing about it is Vincent Price himself, who gives one of his very best performances. This movie has it all, striking visuals, an intriguing plot (with a stronger Satanic theme than generally seen in most mainstream horror movies), good acting, suspense, plenty of atmosphere, and some striking dream-like imagery many have compared to Bergman's 'Seventh Seal'. 'The Masque Of The Red Death' is one of Roger Corman's greatest achievements and one of the very best horror movies made in the 1960s. It has lost very little of its impact over the years and is still essential viewing for any horror fan, or anybody who appreciates imaginative cinema.

The evil Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) is riding through the Catania village when he sees that the peasants are dying of Red Death plague. Prospero asks to burn down the village and he is offended by the villagers Gino (David Weston) and his father-in-law Ludovico (Nigel Green). He decides to kill them, but Gino's wife, the young and beautiful Francesca (Jane Asher), begs for the lives of her husband and her father and Prospero brings them alive to his castle expecting to corrupt Francesca. Propero worships Satan and invites his noble friends to stay in his castle that is a shelter of depravity against the plague. When Prospero invites his guests to attend a masked ball, he sees a red hooded stranger and he believes that Satan himself has attended his party. But soon he learns who his mysterious guest is.

"The Masque of the Red Death" is a stylish movie directed by Roger Corman, with wonderful cinematography by Nicolas Roeg and based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe. Vincent Price has a great performance in the role of an evil Prince that worships Satan and learns that Death has no master and that each man makes his own Heaven and his own Hell. The Death is very similar to the character dressed in black of Ingmar Bergman's "Det sjunde inseglet" (a.k.a. "the Seventh Seal"). My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Orgia da Morte" ("The Orgy of the Dearh")