The Tomb of Ligeia
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Robert Towne from a story by Edgar Allen Poe
1964/UK
Alta Vista Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Verden Fell: Christopher, not ten minutes ago I… I tried to kill a stray cat with a cabbage, and all but made love to the Lady Rowena. I succeeded is squashing the cabbage and badly frightening the lady. If only I could lay open my own brain as easily as I did that vegetable, what rot would be freed from its grey leaves?[/box]
Roger Corman’s farewell to his Poe series is sumptuously shot and atmospheric.
Verden Fell (Vincent Price) has spent the last several years of his life mourning the death of his wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd) , whose tomb is guarded by a malevolent black cat. Fell’s grief has also made his eyes ultra-sensitive to light. One day, during a hunting party,Lady Rowena (also played by Shepherd) stumbles on the tomb. She is strangely drawn to the reclusive Fell and before long the two are married.
But the honeymoon is soon over and Fell is back to obsessing about the dead Ligeia. Soon Lady Rowena is under her power as well.
The movie with made with care and the requisite creepiness. I can only fault if tor its climax, which devolves into an uneasy mixture of three different denouments.
Joe Dante comments – Trailers from Hell
