The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Very disappointing...

Thanks for the memories!

Awesome Movie

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

'The Masque of the Red Death' is one of the finest Roger Corman's movie and probably the best one in his Poe series. Definitely Corman's technically complete film ever, as his direction is precise with all the details falling at the right place, tight and intense screenplay written by Charles Beaumont (who also penned the screenplay for Corman's 'The Intruder') and rich cinematography by Nicolas Roeg (who himself went on to direct some cool movies like 'Don't Look Now'). Visually striking and more visceral with its rather philosophical angle than just simply getting out of scares with usual '60s horror stuff.Vincent Price gives one of his best and nuanced performances as Prince Prospero who is intelligently evil and suave. Rarely the great horror actor have had such a good opportunity to match his wits with good in equal strength - the village girl Francesca (Jane Asher) whose child like innocence is supported by strong inner confidence and will. She should be praised as one of the greatest heroins in film history as genuinely strong ladylike woman, not a butch badass who can kick ass. The great performances by these two actors are supported with other strong acting jobs by Patrick Magee (Alfredo), Hazel Court (Juliana), David Weston (Gino) and Skip Martin (Hop Toad).Colorful film not only because of its colorful scenery, but also because of its well written screenplay, fantastic characters and some brief but enriching subplots.

If you like Vincent Price this is a must-see, like the Pit and the Pendulum and the House of Usher. All these classics are directed by Roger Corman and Mr. Price just gives us some of his finest performances in these movies. In The Masque of the Red Death, an evil prince worshiping Satan and practicing Black Magic tries to lure an innocent beauty to the Left-Hand-Path. But in the end, the black magician is confronted by a force even more powerful than the Fallen Angel.Imho this is one of Roger Corman's and Vincent Price's finest moments. A must-see for the lover of classic horror movies.

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")

No need to go into storyline details after so many reviews. Looks like Corman's movie is Bergmann for the rest of us. The screenplay's heavy with philosophical themes about God, evil, and death. However, except for the themes and some of the imagery, the movie's a stylistic opposite of the grim Swedish filmmaker's Seventh Seal (1956). Here candy box colors are lavishly piled on top of one another. No shades of gray or bleak shorelines to depress viewers. Instead, it's manic gaiety interspersed with diabolical games of death and corruption. Looks to me like meaningful horror can be done even with a vivid color scheme, contrary to what some b&w purists have held. Then too, the movie shows that Price is quite capable of giving a non-hammy performance as his icily heartless Prospero proves in a tailor-made performance. For a minute, however, I thought Hollywood might actually carry through with a tough- minded existential theme (a morally indifferent world) that is suggested by such remarks as our making our own heaven and hell or death being the only overarching reality. But no. Even death, it seems, has a soft spot for love and lovers. So at the last minute Hollywood sneaks in, after all. Nonetheless, the movie's easily the best of Corman's adaptations of Poe, echoes of Bergmann or no.