The Masque of the Red Death starts with an old woman in a forest talking to a mysterious figure completely dressed in red, back at her village Cartania the evil, sadistic & cruel Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) who rules the land through fear discovers that she has caught the red death. Knowing that the disease will spread & kill everyone Prospero takes a young woman named Francesca (Jane Asher), her lover Gino (David Weston) & her Father Ludovico (Nigel Green) for a spot of entertainment back at his castle where Prospero feels he will be safe from the red death. As Prospero holds a extravagant Masque for his rich & influential guests there is one uninvited guest, a guest dressed entirely in red...
Produced & directed by Roger Corman I was disappointed after all the good things I had heard. The script by Charles Beaumont & R. Wright Campbell based on a couple of short stories 'The Masque of the Red Death' & 'Hop-Frog' by Edgar Allan Poe just didn't do a thing for me, I found it overlong, dragged & lacked focus. It mixes a love triangle, revenge, devil worship, religion, a plague, two dancing dwarfs & a guy in a gorilla suit. The story neither interested or gripped me. I also didn't like the look of it, the sets were garish & like they belonged in a Disney film with all the bright colours. I thought this was meant to be a horror film? The cobweb encrusted dungeons apart The Masque of the Red Death is best viewed through sunglasses. There is very little horror except the last 10 or 15 minutes & as a whole I found the film rather dull. Having said that it does what it sets out to reasonably well, it has good solid production values & is technically well made throughout although having just finished watching it mere hours ago I simply can't remember that much about it which is definitely not a good thing to say. The acting is OK & Vincent Price is always fun to watch. 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.
Produced & directed by Roger Corman I was disappointed after all the good things I had heard. The script by Charles Beaumont & R. Wright Campbell based on a couple of short stories 'The Masque of the Red Death' & 'Hop-Frog' by Edgar Allan Poe just didn't do a thing for me, I found it overlong, dragged & lacked focus. It mixes a love triangle, revenge, devil worship, religion, a plague, two dancing dwarfs & a guy in a gorilla suit. The story neither interested or gripped me. I also didn't like the look of it, the sets were garish & like they belonged in a Disney film with all the bright colours. I thought this was meant to be a horror film? The cobweb encrusted dungeons apart The Masque of the Red Death is best viewed through sunglasses. There is very little horror except the last 10 or 15 minutes & as a whole I found the film rather dull. Having said that it does what it sets out to reasonably well, it has good solid production values & is technically well made throughout although having just finished watching it mere hours ago I simply can't remember that much about it which is definitely not a good thing to say. The acting is OK & Vincent Price is always fun to watch. 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.