The Masque of the Red Death
United States
1964
89 Min
Color
2.35:1
Latin, English
Synopsis
Satan-worshiper Prince Prospero invites several dozen of the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague, the Red Death. Prospero orders his guests to attend a masked ball and, amidst a general atmosphere of debauchery and depravity, notices the entry of a mysterious hooded stranger dressed all in red. Believing the figure to be his master, Satan, Prospero is horrified at the revelation of his true identity. —IMDb
Director
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926), sometimes nicknamed “King of the Bs” for his output of B-movies (though he himself rejects this as inaccurate), is an Academy Award-winning American producer and director of low-budget movies, some of which have an established critical reputation: his cycle of films derived from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe for example. Corman is also a sometime actor, taking minor roles in such films as The Silence of the Lambs, The Godfather Part II, Apollo 13 and Philadelphia.
Corman has apprenticed many now-famous directors, stressing the importance of budgeting and resourcefulness; Corman once joked he could make a film about the fall of the Roman Empire with two extras and a sagebrush. One of the most expensive films he produced was Battle Beyond the Stars. —Wikipedia
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Cbarky99
25Feb12
Evidence that the only one who can win an argument with Vincent Price is Vincent Price.
Graveyard Poet likes this
Mitchell Corner
10Jan12
By far my favorite Corman film and certainly one of the best macabre performances by one of my favorite actors, the devilishly campy and gentlemanly Vincent Price. The film is certainly the biggest of the Poe adaptations Corman tackled and the set design and color photography (DP Nicolas Roeg became a director of stature himself) have stayed with me. The imagery may look cheap by today's standards but it holds up.
Graveyard Poet likes this
Zachary George Najarian-Najafi
3Dec11
Gorgeous colors, pulpy horror, beautiful women: what's more to love? Corman's adaptation of Poe's story is phantasmagorical, and a lot of fun. Poe himself would have appreciated this film, as it captures the campy but unsettling nature of his work. The dream sequence and the final fifteen minutes are fantastic. Don't pass this one up.
Graveyard Poet likes this
SALESK
3Nov11
Corman's most legitimate Poe adaptation, occasionally bogged down by self-importance but mostly successfully in creating & maintaining a chilling sense of the macabre. Aiding in tonal consistency is Price's mirthlessly amoral Prospero. Remember, greed & depravity are bad, kids! Haller's production design is captured in all its resplendence by Nicholas Roeg's unique cinematography (wide-angle lenses, 360-degree pans).
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Scary Monsters 2011, Round 3
By David Hudson on October 25, 2011
Lists, reviews of classic and new horror, news and interviews. Updated through Halloween.
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Corman's B-Movie Rendition of "The Red Death"
By Jordan K. Ellis on February 16, 2012
Roger Corman directed the loose film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Red Death,” but he also adapted another Poe story, which was Hop Frog. So he was able to combined both stories… read review
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