The Masque of the Red Death
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell from a story by Edgar Allen Poe
1964/USA
Alta Vista Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Man in red: Why should you be afraid to die? Your soul has been dead for a long long time.[/box]
This has long been my favorite of Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe films.
A horrific plague known as the red death is ravaging the medieval Italian countryside. Propero (Vincent Price), an evil Lord, offers sanctuary in his castle for those as yet uninfected. Prospero also abducts an innocent young village girl Francesca (Jane Asher) along with her father and sweetheart for sadistic entertainment purposes.
The invited noble guests participate in a masked costume ball that is slated to end in some kind of Satanic ritual. In the meantime, the Lady Juliana (Hazel Court) makes her own pact with Satan as Prospero attempts to corrupt Francesca.
By far the most graphic of Corman’s Poe films, this one is filled with palpable menace and evil. Price makes a truly diabolic villain and the film is fantastically lighted by future director Nicholas Roeg. A lot of care went into this one. Recommended.
I love this one. Price is so clearly having a ton of fun in the role. Watching him admit to worshipping Satan is such a pleasure. Plus the wonderful pageantry, the colors, and the fact that within the context of one Poe story, Corman managed to sneak in Hop-Frog, an entirely different, unrelated Poe story.
I’m going to have to look up Hop-Frog. I’m not familiar with it. Price is great – he manages to ham it up and be convincing all at the same time.
This is my favorite Corman film, and one of the reasons (there are many!) is Hop Frog. I read a lot of Poe when I was a kid, including Hop Frog, and I was pretty excited the first time I saw The Masque of the Red Death (I was in my 20s) and saw they had worked in “Hop Frog.”
Make Hop Frog a priority! It’s only eight pages!
Will do!
Vincent Price is really the sell here. He seems to relish in being quite evil lord. The set pieces are also elaborate and gruesome. Lots of fun.
I think it’s the most gore I’ve ever seen in a Corman movie. Also the most cruelty. There’s something particularly creepy about people who can laugh at other people’s humiliation.