Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Admirable film.

A Disappointing Continuation

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

One of the last Poe movie adaptations directed by Corman starring Vincent Price. I'm glad I watched this one as last and not The Tomb of Ligeia. Finally one that together with House of Usher and Pit and the Pendulum was really enjoyable and actually did have decent story and characters you could either root for or despise. I couldn't say that for the 4 other Poe Corman movies even though Tales of Terror has its merits. About Masque well clearly set in the Middle Ages were life was rough on the common people who had to work hard, starved and were plagued by diseases (the red death instead of the black death) while the nobility had the comfort of the castle walls were they had enough food and drinks and have parties as much as they liked. shocking indeed when just a level lower in the dungeons people got tortured. All of this is perfectly shown in a breathtaking beautiful (and sometimes macabre) setting. The cruel master, sadistic and a satanist, is masterfully played by Vincent Price. Even though he is rarely the one doing the cruelties giving order to it hardly showing emotions the moment someone dies or suffers, tells me he is almost the devil himself. The movie has a surprising end with a message that will give the viewer some food for thought.

So many of Vincent Price's movies involve the master in so much pain, hurt by the world in which he lived. This one is one of the better of the Poe pastiches. Here he plays the Prince Prospero, who has wild parties at his castle, while the riff raff live outside, dying from some bloody plague. What is great is the overconfidence of Price as he taunts and maligns and hurts people for pleasure. The Edgar Allen Poe story "Hop Frog" has been incorporated into this one. Since it was released in 1964, Roger Corman uses some rather surreal psychedelic stuff with fish eye lenses and red filters. We all know what is going to happen, but Price is a precious quantity to emotes all over the place. In his case he is forgiven.

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. In the confines of his castle, he and his fellow deviants enjoy extravagant parties while outside the locals are dropping like flies of the red death, a plague that has been ravaging the countryside. Unfortunately, Price seems to get caught up in the whole ostentatiousness of the production, and delivers one of the hammiest performances of his career, which might be seen as parody if only the actor didn't seem quite so earnest.The ending of the film is particularly painful to watch, as Corman's pomposity goes into overdrive with an extended scene of death and suffering portrayed through the medium of expressive dance, followed by a blatant rip-off from Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Give me Attack of the Crab Monsters any day of the week.

First time I saw this on TV on February 9th 1974 when young I thought it one of the best films I'd ever seen; after many repeat viewings over the decades since it's slipped down the list somewhat but is probably still in there somewhere. No doubt courtesy of the Spectacle Of The Rose Tint. 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. Most of the human foibles and perversions portrayed passed me by until a bit older and unwiser, but by God they were all an ugly rotten bunch, even the goodies! Vincent Price as Prospero was at his prime hammiest, Jane Asher as the ingénue suitably straight and dull, Hazel Court even more outstanding than usual, the only downer was David Weston playing the dashing young wet rag. The photography and colour were superb, and using second hand sets and UK tax breaks all belied Corman's usual fairly low budget.Poe's very short story was excellent in its own way – this has very little in common with that but sorry I've always preferred to read Elsie Lee's official novel of R. Wright Campbell's and Charles Beaumont's marvellous screenplay. The film and the book of the film also have many amusing differences for instance the film inexplicably has six survivors to include an old man in the village and keeps Poe's parting words. The story concludes on orthodox moral lines but is a wonderful, sometimes disturbing ride. Corman's finest hour and a half by far.