The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Vincent Price, Jane Asher, Hazel Court, David Weston, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Skip Martin, Verina Greenlaw.

One of the last Poe adaptations by Roger Corman at AIP, and also one of the more extravagant, shot in England, and benefiting from reused props and sets from Becket and a higher budget because of a tax subsidy. Price is perfectly cast as the intelligent yet supercilious and sadistic Prospero, a Satan-worshipping prince holding court during an opulent, hedonistic celebration among the nobles in his castle while a plague sweeps through peasant villages across the countryside. He abducts one such peasant (Asher) to become his consort-slave, and forces her lover and father to play deadly games for the amusement of himself and his guests, but the “guest” that matters most is the one adorned head-to-toe in red, crashing the party in the final act. Hampered by instances of awkward scripting and meager sideline characterizations, but the lavish dress and set decoration, Nicolas Roeg’s sumptuous photography, and Price’s elegantly glazed-ham performance maintain interest during the lumpy middle segments. Grandly theatrical horror finale could have used a little tightening (and ghastlier makeup effects), and overall, Corman never quite gets a handle on balancing his artistic ambitions with his need to shock and startle; it’s good, but could have been one of the greats of 1960s horror. Screenwriters Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell also incorporate another Poe short story (“Hop-Frog”) into the plot. Remade in 1989 with Corman as producer.

70/100