|
Overview
The Masque of the Red Death is a British horror film first released in 1964,
directed by Roger Corman.
The film stars Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston and Nigel Green.
Our overall rating for this film is: very good.
Synopsis
12th Century Europe is being scourged by many plagues, the most
fearsome of which is the Red Death. When Prince Prospero learns
that this plague has reached the villages surrounding his castle, he
orders his men to burn them to the ground. Before doing so, he
takes one of the villagers, a young woman named Francesca, prisoner,
along with her father and her lover – these three will provide
the entertainment at a costume ball which Prospero intends to host at
his castle. Francesca’s pleas to Prospero to show mercy and
release her fall on deaf ears. He is a devout Satanist, and she
is soon to be initiated into his diabolical cult...
Film Review
Often cited as the best of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, The Masque of the Red Death feels
less like a conventional horror film and more like an über-kitsch
reinterpretation of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, not that that
is necessarily a bad thing. The vibrant use of colour in the sets
and costumes, along with the high degree of stylisation in just about
every department from acting to make-up, makes this one of Corman’s
most striking films – a brave, but too obvious, attempt by the director
to shake of his reputation as a perveyor of exploitation trash and
recast himself as one of the art house elite. Although the plot is silly and much of the dialogue toe-curlingly bad, Corman’s assured direction and Vincent Price’s deliciously camp take on villainy makes this one of the most compelling and enjoyable of the low budget horror films of this era. You would never think, on the strength of her lacklustre performance here, that Jane Asher would go to become a major film actress. By contrast, Patrick Magee relishes his role and comes close to out-classing Price as the principal baddy; where else would you see him burned to death in a monkey costume? Whilst The Masque of the Red Death occasionally veers dangerously close to the abyss of pretentious over-indulgence, its eerie Gothic atmosphere, sinister quasi-religious undertones and Price’s chilling presence make it a classic of its genre, one that will remain a firm favourite with all fans of the horror genre. The hysterical denouement offers the one truly frightening moment in the film, with Vincent Price literally scaring himself to death. The very last scene (where the various coloured pestilences get together for a bit of a chinwag on a not very convincing heath) should, however, have been cut. This would have been unbearably silly even in an episode of Monty Python. © James Travers 2009 Write a review for this film... User Comments
What do you think of this film?
Related links
More British FantasyMore British Horror Recent DVD releases |
Credits
Similar films:
If you like this film you may also like the following: Blind Terror (1971) Carry on Cabby (1963) Cul-de-sac (1966) Dead of Night (1945) Dr. No (1962) Fiddlers Three (1944) Footsteps in the Fog (1955) The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) Hue and Cry (1947) Jason and the Argonauts (1963) The Odessa File (1974) Tiger Bay (1959) Village of the Damned (1960) The Wicker Man (1973) |


