The Masque of the Red Death

Plot synopsis:
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH Grandmother (Sarah Brackett) is gathering kindling. The Man in Red (John Westbrook) calls to her, sitting under a tree. Causing a white rose to turn red, he gives it to her, telling her to take it to her village with the message that the day of their deliverance is at hand. She takes it and bows in honor.A royal carriage enters the village of Catania. Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) is making a personal appearance to invite the villagers to a feast. Gino (David Weston) pulls a baby out of the way just in time to keep it from being run over by the horses and carriage. Prospero gets out and begins inviting people to his feast. Gino sarcastically mouths that they will only receive scraps from his table like dogs. Gino tells Prospero that a holy man told an old woman that they would be delivered from his reign of terror. His father-in-law Ludovico (Nigel Green) comes up beside him. Prospero suggests that they should be on their knees thanking him. With a signal to his guards, the two men are lowered to their knees and strong-armed. Francesca (Jane Asher) runs up and begs for mercy. Prospero questions her and tells her that she must decide whether her father or her husband will die. Alfredo (Patrick Magee) comes up, remarking what entertainment this is for him and how innocent the girl is. Prospero promises that soon he will corrupt her and calls for Francesca to make a decision.A scream is heard and a guard sent to see about it. When the scream continues, Prospero goes himself. In a hut the guard is stunned. Prospero asks what it is, and the guard can only point and tell him to look. The old Grandmother has broken out with the Red Death (red spots on her face).Returning to the others, Prospero questions whether the three had any contact with the woman. When he determines they did not, he tells the guards to take the two men to the castle and he will take the girl. They are loaded up and Prospero tells the guards to burn the village. Gino questions why and Prospero tells him it is his deliverance.At the palace Prospero orders invitations to those whom he wants to attend his feast. Francesca is stripped by maidens and thrown into a hot bath. Prospero enters with Juliana (Hazel Court) and orders the maidens out. Francesca covers herself in modesty. Prospero questions why and asks whether the cross she wears is ornamental or symbolic of her faith. She attests to being a true believer and he orders her to remove it and never wear it again in the castle. He tells Juliana that after her bath to clothe Francesca in her finest gowns. Francesca asks about her father and Gino and is told they are being quartered. Prospero leaves and Juliana assures Francesca that she has not made a good impression on him. Francesca asks if Juliana will do as Prospero has told her. She replies that she will do as he says, as they all must.At the feast, Alfredo tells a woman he will tell her about terror. Prospero, overhearing, asks what he knows of terror. He calls him away into another room. Everyone follows. He questions whether terror is hearing the sounds of time ticking away as he walks past an antiquated clock. He suggests terror may be the sound of a heartbeat in fear or the sound of footsteps approaching.He introduces dancers Esmeralda (Verina Greenlaw) and Hop Toad (Skip Martin) who will entertain. Musicians enter playing and a dwarf, a young girl and a long-haired dog. As Esmeralda dances, Alfredo approaches Prospero, asking about her. Suddenly the girl knocks over a wine drink. Alfredo slaps her and she falls. Hop Toad begins to draw his knife, but upon seeing the anger of Prospero and Alfredo, he instead comes to raise up Esmeralda. Prospero leads Alfredo away, claiming the first act has disappointed but then throws wine in the face of Alfredo, who threatens him. Prospero then tells everyone they are lucky to be in the palace and safe from the Red Death which will spread the countryside.He invites everyone to a masquerade ball the following day at midnight, offering costumes to everyones use. He advises them not to wear red.Francesca enters in a white gown and is introduced to everyone by Prospero. First she is introduced to Señor Veronese (Julian Burton), who is told to act like a pig. He gets on the floor and rolls around as everyone laughs at him. Next Prospero calls for Señor Lampredi (Brian Hewlitt) to become a worm on the floor. He crawls around to everyones amusement. Prospero calls for Señora Escobar (Gaye Brown) to play a braying jackass. Señor Rivoli (Harvey Hall) is told to ride the jackass. Prospero tells everyone else to act like animals. Francesca is horrified.As Francesca is led away by Prospero into private quarters, Alfredo looks on with desire. In a yellow room Prospero tells her that his father once imprisoned a man there for three years. When the man was freed, he no longer could look at the sun or a daffodil. Prospero tells her that it was a test to control a mans mind.In a purple room he tells her that he doesnt believe in God; if God existed He must have died long ago. He believes someone or something exists in His place. Francesca believes in love and the goodness of God.Before they go into another room Prospero tells her she is not ready to enter that room. He tells her to rest from her long day. He promises her that the next day she will see Gino and her father.Prospero, roaming the castle later, is confronted by Juliana, who tells him she is ready to enter the deeper ceremonies which he believes in. He laughingly suggests that she is only ready because she wants to secure her position.In her room Francesca is awakened by the sound of wind. She goes over to a sconce that has gone out. As she turns back, she sees blood on a book and screams. Next she hears Prospero chanting in Latin. Putting on her robe, she goes out to investigate. She goes downstairs, following the sound of his voice. Entering the yellow room, she goes through the purple room and finds the door open to the next room. She goes through it into a black room where she sees Juliana and a raven cawing. Seeing Prospero lying in a coffin looking dead, she goes to touch his face. At that moment he opens his eyes and she screams and runs away. She is startled by Alfredo who is wearing a mask.The next day Prospero shows Francesca a falcon which kills another bird. He tells her it is trained by blinding its eyes until it becomes a slave to its master. He says that God blinded people with the cross and that he serves a different master. She begins to say that he forced her to remove her cross because it offended him. He interrupts her, saying that it offends no one following his master. He felt that it was discourteous to wear the symbol of a dead God. He confesses his master is Satan, Lord of Flies, the Fallen Angel and the Devil.Hearing a horn blowing, he tells her to come. Going to the battlement, he looks down as a carriage arrives. Scarlatti (Paul Whitsun-Jones) demands entrance to the castle as an invited guest. Prospero tells him he is no longer welcome due to the Red Death. He begs for sanctuary and offers up his wife to the Prince. Prospero informs him he has already had that doubtful pleasure. Begging for Prospero to spare him from the Red Death in the name of friendship, Scarlatti receives an arrow below the throat. Prospero throws down a dagger for the wife to kill herself with.In the dungeon, a sword is thrown down before Gino, who is told to learn to fight. He refuses to fight his friend. A swordfight ensues. Prospero and Francesca enter and witness the fight. When Gino wins, he tells Prospero that he will not fight his friend. Prospero promises torture, but Gino tells him that that would be considered losing. Intrigued, Prospero promises that after some thinking he will match the two together in a death fight.Walking through the dungeon, Prospero tells Francesca that sometimes life is cruel. She winces at the sound of a man in pain. She asks if Satan requires torture in his worship. He tells her of a Christian monk many years ago who tortured men, women and children in order to save their souls. He blames this on God. He promises to lead her into the ways of Satan. She refuses.Juliana prays and offers herself to Satan, branding her chest with an upside-down cross and asks to be made into a demon.Alfredo has a conversation with Hop Toad, who desires to serve someone other than Prospero. He promises his talents if Alfredo will take him in. Hop Toad persuades him to come to the ball in the costume of an ape which he will provide. Alfredo is pleased.Francesca hears someone trying to get into her bedroom door. She rises and stands aside as the door opens. Juliana comes in and Francesca sees the brand on her chest, asking if Prospero did it. Juliana admits she did it herself, marking her as a handmaiden of Satan. She tells Francesca that there is one more ceremony where she gives her soul to the devil to be immortal. She is hoping to be bound to Prospero and that Francesca would be out of the way. When Francesca tells her she would love to escape, Juliana gives her a key to the cell and urges her to free Gino and her father and escape.Francesca wanders through the dungeon, passing several men in the throes of torture. Finding the cell with Gino and her father, she frees them. As they pass the guard room, one of the guards sees someone go by and goes to check. A fight ensues with Gino, Ludovico and two guards. Coming out onto the battlement, Gino calls to a guard who turns to face him. It is Prospero, who calls out his guards. Francesca tells him that Juliana betrayed them. Prospero tells her Juliana betrayed him and that one of the two men must die for their sins.At the party, people are seated at long tables as waiters bring platters of food. Dancers and musicians perform. Prospero stands and calls for their attention. He announces that at midnight the masks will go on. He states that some among them still harbor good thoughts. He calls for the next entertainment to come in. Gino and Ludovico come in and stand before him. He throws down five daggers, one of which he says contains a poison that kills in five seconds. He tells them to each cut themselves with one of the daggers. Ludovico goes first, followed by Gino, then Ludovico again and Gino. The final dagger is taken by Ludovico, who tries to stab Prospero across the table with it. Ludovico is stabbed by a sword and falls dead. Prospero calls for them both to be killed since the game was not done correctly. Francesca begs for Ginos life. Prospero announces that he will not kill Gino, but release him so that he can die of the Red Death. Taunting Gino about his God, Prospero asks where his God is now. Gino says he will meet Him in paradise. The command is given to release him and Gino swears he will somehow return for Francesca.Francesca tells Prospero to allow her to go with Gino, which he refuses. Then she says bring him back and she will submit herself to whatever he wishes. At this point Juliana calls from across the room, telling the Prince that she is ready for the final ceremony.Gino is cast out of the castle and runs through the forest. The sounds of Prosperos fiendish laughter and the screams of Francesca are heard on the wind. As he stumbles on, he sees the Man in Red sitting under a tree, playing Tarot cards. Asking how it is going, Gino confesses that he has killed and that he is afraid for Francesca and afraid of Prosperos castle. The Man in Red gives Gino one of his cards as a sign. Gino takes it and returns to the castle.Meanwhile Alfredo is trying on the ape costume. Hop Toad directs him as how to walk slumped over and swinging his arms. He tells Alfredo that he can remove the costume once the unmasking is done.Gino finds a group of villagers heading for the castle to ask forgiveness and receive sanctuary. One woman is carried on a stretcher with the Red Death. Gino tries to stop them but is pushed aside.Juliana begins her ceremony, chanting at the altar. She drinks ceremonial wine drugged with hallucinogens. In the dreams she runs through hazy corridors and then finds herself on an altar. She is horrified to see five different men who wield weapons over her.When she comes to, she hears the laughter of Prospero and calls out to him. Searching from room to room, she tells him that she is now betrothed to the devil. He says there are more horrors to come. In the main room, she approaches the swinging pendulum and hears the voice of Prospero telling her that her fears have just begun. At this point she is attacked by one or more ravens that leave her dead and bloodied on the floor.One woman finds her and cries out. Prospero approaches with the other guests and tells the woman not to grieve for Juliana, for she has wed the devil. He calls for the masquerade to begin.Outside, the villagers arrive and call for mercy. They are told to return to Catania. One guard is sent to fetch Prospero. Gino tries to dissuade the elders from groveling before the Prince. They refuse. Prospero comes out and tells them to go back where they came. When they refuse, he commands his archers to slay them.Inside, Prospero throws jewels down to the people, who scramble to gather them. He tells Francesca that all of these rich people suffer from greed and are desperate for more riches. Then he tells them to rejoice because the remaining villagers are now dead. He has promised all inside his castle will be safe from the Red Death. He tells Francesca that soon she will be initiated into understanding. Prospero and Francesca are seen dancing with the others.Gino climbs the castle walls with a makeshift rope he has made from vines. At the battlement he sees the Man in Red, who tells him to wait until one oclock at which time Francesca will be sent out to him. Gino is anxious to rescue her but is told to be wise. When he is shown a dead guard, he looks back and the Man in Red has vanished.Hop Toad enters the room of Esmeralda and tells her to be ready to leave the castle later when he comes for her. She tells him that she trusts him.At the party, Hop Toad and the ape make their appearance. Hop Toad cracks his whip, telling everyone that he controls the ape. As the ape seizes a woman and falls to the floor with her, Hop Toad unties a rope holding up a light fixture of candles and lowers it just above them. Citing that the ape is out of control, Hop Toad ties him to the candle fixture and lifts him up in the air. Alfredo complains and demands to be released but Hop Toad tells him he has insulted Esmeralda too much and deserves to pay. Dousing the ape with brandy, Hop Toad sets him on fire. As the party goers look on, their laughter changes to screams as the ape burns. The fixture collapses and Prospero calls for the guards to remove it. Hop Toad leaves the room and Prospero calls for a reward to be given to him.Across the crowded dance floor, Prospero sees the Man in Red. Telling Francesca that he commanded that no one should wear red, he follows through the different rooms. In the black room, he is confronted by the Man in Red (whose face is covered). Prospero tries to guess who it is, saying the voice is familiar. Suspecting that it is the devil himself, he makes Francesca bow down. Prospero calls for the man to show his face but is told that he will only see it upon his own death. He tells Prospero that the unmasking will reveal everyones faces soon.Leaving the room, the Man in Red calls for a new dance to begin. Prospero follows. With each wave of his hands, the Man in Red spreads the Red Death to those at the party. Prospero is pleased and remarks that he led all these friends to Satan and corrupted them for him. He asks that Francesca be spared and the Man in Red tells her to go to the battlements. Prospero tells her that he will join her when this is over.Prospero addresses the Man in Red, who denies being the devil. He says that he is death. Prospero insists that his own pact with Satan will save him. The Man in Red says that it will not. Prospero removes the mask to see his face. He is horrified to see his own face, made red from the Red Death. Prospero is then taken by all the guests who jostle him around the room. As the people begin to collapse from the Red Death, Prospero is the only one left standing. He retreats to the black room, hoping to escape from a horrible death. In that room he finds the red-cloaked figure, who strikes him with the Red Death.The Man in Red is seen playing cards with the young girl from the village. Several other men arrive and give reports of the deaths of many. The Man in Red tells them that only six survived: one man and woman, a dwarf and small lady and the girl from the village.

Tags: mystery, gothic, murder, cult, atmospheric, philosophical, revenge

Review:
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.
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 one of Roger Corman's greatest achievements and one of the very best horror movies made in the 1960s.
Directed by Roger Corman, the film stars Vincent Price as the diabolical Prince Prospero who holds fear over a plague infested peasantry while jollying it up in his castle.
Vincent Price is the absolute top as the wealthy servant of Satan who thinks his safely locked away in his castle while the plague of the Red Death crosses through the countryside.killing all the poor villagers.
There where all other horror movies can't fulfill in telling a satanic tale without showing a huge amount of bloodshed, Corman's film achieves this effect easily thanks to its atmosphere, its intelligent structure and side plots, the costumes and scenery and the beautiful use of colors.
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.
For those of you who are fans of director Roger Corman's classic 50s sci-fi films like ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, or THE WASP WOMAN, you are going to be surprised that this is the same man who directed MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.
Superbly directed and beautifully composed, MASQUE is the first and best of Corman's Poe films of the 1960's.Prince Prospero (played with just enough venom by Vincent Price) is an evil tyrant who hates his citizens and thinks nothing of burning their village to the ground.
The Masque of the Red Death is another triumph over low budget, and sees horror's premier team of Vincent Price, Roger Corman and, of course, Edgar Allen Poe team up to great effect once again.
This Poe story follows the evil Prince Prospero, a man who believes that his master, the Lord of Flies (Satan to you and me), will grant him and his friends that are taking refuge in his castle safety from the disease known as the 'red death' that is laying waste to the surrounding towns and villages.This is a very different production to the earlier films in Corman's Poe cycle.
As usual, he's portrayed by Vincent Price (the finest horror actor to ever live) but unlike the parts he'd played for Corman so far, this character is a strong and malicious presence, and therefore a far cry from the more pathetic characters he played films like 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Pit and the Pendulum'.
The character is a typical Poe labyrinth and helps to maintain the interest and malicious intent that the film presents for it's running time.The story is one of absolute terror, and through Corman's surreal use of colours and atmosphere, he makes the best of it and the result is a truly terrifying tale of faith, disease and death.
Here, the Prince Prospero is unable to control nature and all die as a result.The story THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH is about the inevitability of fate and death - nobody can avoid it, no matter how hard they build up walls, and in the end they end up searching out for it (and finding it).Roger Corman, as I mentioned in discussing his film about Richard III, took to Edgar Allan Poe as no other major director of horror had before him.
There is also two expansions of the plot tied to the Prince: his kidnapping of Francesca (Jane Asher), Gino (David Weston) and Ludovico (Nigel Green) and the doomed hope of Juliana (Hazel Court) to achieve the goals of total acceptance by Satan in order to secure her hold on Prospero.The end result is not bloated, phony-Poe, but a serious philosophical debate that the evil Prospero actually articulates: He explains to Francesca that he became a Satanist because of serious questions he had about the validity of Christianity.
The evil Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) is riding through the Catania village when he sees that the peasants are dying of Red Death plague.
"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.
Once again scripted by Charles Beaumont and produced/directed by Roger Corman, Masque of the Red Death is a much-beloved horror film from a lost era.
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).
But what makes his character, and how Price plays it, so compelling is how he tries to align himself with Satan himself without fulling reckoning whatever power there might be with the "other-side", of a God or the Devil or just Death itself.This might be making it sound like Roger Corman is getting deep on us, for a one-time-only concert kind of deal.
Indeed this is one of the only times Corman was able to conjure up some real scares, sometimes out of things that should be very typical of a B-horror movie, of a "jump" in the surprise of something revealed; the first time someone uncovers someone who has been killed by the Red Death, a face covered in red markings and blood, it is terrifying, and it is what Corman would've usually fallen flat on his face about.I have to think that it had to do with taking just a little more time and care on the production (five weeks instead of the usual three on Poe adaptations), and having a crucial asset of Nicholas Roeg as a DP.
"The Masque Of The Red Death" of 1964 is, alongside "The Pit And The Pendulum" of 1961 and "The Haunted Palace" of 1963 one of the absolute masterpieces of this great cycle, a truly brilliant and essential masterpiece of Gothic Horror that should not be missed by anyone who consider themselves a Horror fan or even a fan of cinema in general.In medieval Italy, a region is terrorized by the evil Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), a sadistic tyrant who has committed his life to the worship of Satan.
No one could have played the leading characters in Corman's Poe adaptations with the brilliance of Vincent Price, and "The Masque Of The Red Death" is the perfect example for that.
Hazel Court is also terrific in her role as Prospero's wife Juliana, and Jane Asher delivers an excellent performance in the female lead, as Francesca, a young woman forced to stay at Prospero's castle.After the success of his previous Poe films Roger Corman had a higher budget for "The Masque Of The Red Death", and, as a true master of atmosphere, he certainly knew how to use it.
Roger Corman had originally planned to make "The Masque Of The Red Death" instantly after his first Poe Film, "House Of Usher" (1960), had become a success.
So this movie recycles the existing sets given the movie grandeur even though its a low budget film.However the film has more than an atmosphere provided by its scenery, its terrifically written giving it an eerie and cerebral quality, add some good acting led by Vincent Price who stays on the right side of ham as the local prince who worships Satan and who believe he and his wealthy friends are safely locked up in his castle while the Red Death sweeps the village.This is a film adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe novel that gives it justice..
European prince Prospero (Vincent Price) terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.Every time Roger Corman touches Edgar Allan Poe, it sparkles with gold.
The Masque Of The Red Death is one of the last Roger Corman's adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe's story.
The Masque tells the story of Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), a mean and cruel tyrant which decides to invite all of his friends to his castle so they can be protected against the Red Death (sort of a medieval disease).
"The Masque of the Red Death" is another in the series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations from Producer/Director Roger Corman.
This is one of the best Poe adaptions put on film.The wonderful Vincent Price is the evil and heartless Prince Prospero.
But it was used very well because from the set designs, costumes and everything they really put a hell of an amount of effort and heart into what they were doing to do their very best in emulating Poe. Music is great, I really like the score from the theme to the end credit sequence which is cool since there are tarot cards shown.I really like the story which fits like a glove, which is more centered around a castle run by Prince Prospero (masterfully played by Vincent Price) whom is probably one of my favorite fictional villains.
I do love the Pit and the Pedulum, The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher just as much, but of the Roger Corman-Vincent Price-Edgar Allen Poe films I find The Masque of the Red Death to be the best.
"The masque of the red death" adapted from Edgar Allen Poe's novel tells the story of a brute prince (Vincent Price) who made a pact with Satan and who has no mercy for the people of the village who are suffering from the terrible red death.
Vincent Price stars as the evil Prince Prospero in this loose adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's celebrated short story The first few scenes of The Masque Of The Red Death exemplify why kitsch fans see it as Roger Corman's finest moment as a budget-horror director.
'The Masque of the Red Death' is one of the finest Roger Corman's movie and probably the best one in his Poe series.
***** The Masque of the Red Death (1964) Roger Corman ~ Vincent Price, Jane Asher, David Weston.
Another addition to Roger Corman's series of movies adapted from Edgar Allan Poe stories casts Vincent Price as a Satan-worshiping medieval prince holding a party while a horrible plague ravages his fiefdom.
this is one of my favourite movies Vincent Price is brilliantly evil as Prince Prospero (especially the ways he disregards the deaths of his friends and humiliates his guests by making them perform as animals.
the scene when the red death passes among the guests dancing is brilliantly eerie.A total classic and the best of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price Poe adaptations.10 out of 10.
Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) is an evil man who is a big fan of the Satan.In his castle the people are safe from the Red Death which is killing the people in the village.The beautiful Francesca (Jane Asher) is one who has found her way to the castle.She wants to safe her father Ludovico (Nigel Green) and lover Gino (David Weston).There's also Juliana (Hazel Court) who has devoted herself to the Devil.We can't forget Hop Toad (Skip Martin) who does a neat trick at the masquerade.The Masque of the Red Death (1964) is a very fine Roger Corman film.It's based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story.Acting is great in this movie.Vincent Price is very convincing in the lead.He was an excellent actor who was seen in many Poe's movies.This horror movie is filled with scary and creepy scenes.It works today just as good as it worked forty years ago when it was made..
Roger Corman's "The Masque of the Red Death" is an interesting but static attempt at adapting Edgar Allan Poe's story to the screen.
Call me a philistine if you like, but I've always found Roger Corman's lavish adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death a little too pretentious for my taste, much preferring the director's more trashy B-movie output.
Here, Corman is under the illusion that he is Ingmar Bergman, presenting his tale in an art-house fashion that might look visually impressive (the photography by Nicolas Roeg is definitely eye-catching) but which actually proves surprisingly dull overall, despite the debauchery and decadence on display.Nobody plays loathsome quite like Vincent Price, and here he at his most despicable, as Prince Prospero, a Satan worshipping aristocrat who delights in corrupting the innocent.
Consequently, the fact that Corman may have intentionally intended THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH as as sort of homage to Bergman's 'medieval' films  not just THE SEVENTH SEAL but also perhaps THE MAGICIAN aka THE FACE (1958) and THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960)  makes the film stand out quite strongly among the Corman/Poe adaptations.However, the similarities between THE SEVENTH SEAL and THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH are not merely confined to the stylized look of the two films but extend also to several plot points, namely: · In MASQUE, Prospero (Vincent Price)'s relationship with Alfredo (Patrick Magee) is very volatile: seemingly conspiratory and in tune in their love of sin and debauchery, but also frequently condescending and ruled by their position in society as a royal and his subject; in THE SEVENTH SEAL, the same ambiguity can been seen to inform the relationship between the Knight Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) and his Squire Jons (Gunnar Bjornstand).· Towards the end of the film, Gino (David Weston) meets Death (unknowingly) under the trees and, in a moment of despair, confesses his doubts about succeeding in saving Francesca (Jane Asher) from Prospero's castle; early on in the film, when Antonius Block goes to confession, he mistakes the figure of Death (who is with his back to him) for a priest and subsequently reveals his strategy by which he would have beaten Death at their ongoing chess game.· In the final sequence, the Red Death is seen playing cards with the little girl from the village; in their first meeting, Antonius Block tries to buy some time for himself by challenging Death to a game of chess which continues throughout the various confrontations they have in the film.· The Red Death finally catches up with Prospero and his minions when he visits the castle during a masked ball; Death knocks (for the last time) on Antonius Block's castle door where the latter has joined his wife for one last, solemn supper.· The films end with a procession of both the Survivors [Francesca, Gino and the little girl in MASQUE; Jof (Nils Poppe), Mia (Bibi Anderssen) and their child in SEAL] and the Damned [the variously cloaked Deaths walking slowly away in MASQUE; Death leading his victims onward in SEAL).· The Plague features prominently in both movies.· The differences between agnosticism, faith and the loss thereof, and mistaken beliefs (e.g. Satanism) is a theme which features strongly in both films.While THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH is certainly among the best of both Corman's and Price's films, I still prefer THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964) to it and personally I can't wait for MGM/UA's jam-packed dirt-cheap DVD edition coming out in August!
"The Masque of the Red Death" is the penultimate entry in a series of film adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe directed by Roger Corman between 1960 and 1964.
The final words of the film are also those of the story:- "And darkness and decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all".An element not found in Poe's story is the contrast between the evil and debauchery of Prospero and the innocence and goodness of Francesca.
For Roger Corman – the King of B-movies – Poe adaptations were an opportunity to use Vincent Price at his sinister best, and also to be a little "arty." No doubt he took some inspiration from the European cinema of the era.
Death himself, cloaked in red, delivers a plague to a village under the rule of the cruel, corrupt Prince Prospero(Vincent Price, in one of his finest roles).
I personally like The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) far more than this & still remains my favourite Corman adapted Poe. The Masque of the Red Death is not a film I can recommend despite all the positive word of mouth, very disappointing..
Vincent Price, Jane Asher, Hazel Court and John Westbrook star in Roger Corman's 1964 horror film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story.
Roger Corman directed a handful of memorable cod Poe horror films, I think this was his best, certainly the one for which I have the fondest memories.While the deadly Red Death disease rages in the countryside the weird guests of Count Prospero's castle think themselves safe, including the pure young girl her father and her lover who were abducted for pleasure from their village.
Basically, set in Medieval Europe, the cruel Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), who worships and prays to Satan, is inviting many of the local townspeople to his castle for a gathering to escape the oncoming plague, the Red Death.
The movie stars the deliciously hammy and dashing Vincent Price as the wicked devil-worshipping Prince Prospero, and eventually as the Red Death himself.