The Masque of the Red Death
Roger Corman
Initial release: June 24, 1964 (USA)
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| images c/o IMDB |
In the 1960s, B-movie king Roger Corman, hot off his first critical success (1958’s Machine Gun Kelly) directed several films based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Other than the original Little Shop of Horrors, the Poe cycle is probably Corman's most enduring contribution to the world of schlock horror, and he had a lot of help doing it. Where would he be without Vincent Price? Without Price, Masque of the Red Death would just be cheese. With Price, it's compelling cheese. Based on… you guessed it… the Poe story of the same name, but greatly expanding on what’s arguably a symbolism-heavy, dream-like tale, borderline work of poetry, Corman's Masque presents, instead, a straightforward tale of cruelty, decadence and hubris.
In who-the-hell-knows-when (but probably the 16th century) Italy, Vincent Price is Prince Prospero, a charming but cruel Satanist. Upon discovering the presence of the a mysterious plague known as the Red Death in a village, he seals up his castle and invites several other nobles to come for a party. Among the people in the castle are three survivors from the village: Francesca, her father, and her boyfriend Gino. Prospero seems keen on corrupting Francesca (at the expense of his magic student, Juliana) while tormenting the men for his own amusement. Eventually, Gino is allowed to escape with his life, and devises a plan to rescue Francesca. It’s unnecessary, though, because the party, with all its laughing nobles and cruel jokes, is about to be crashed in a big way.
Some might compare this film to The Seventh Seal, and, indeed, the Red Death (an uncredited John Westbrook) seems
to take a lot of cues from Ingmar Bergman’s pale-faced Grim Reaper. But
I think the comparison is flawed, as they’re different movies doing
different things. That’s
not to say that the scenes involving the Red Death aren’t disquieting,
even when he’s being benevolent. His presence looms over even Price,
who’s spent the film with a mouth full of scenery as usual. Prospero,
for his part, oozes sinister charm, clearly infatuated with Francesca
and delighting in taking things that capture his interest, then
abandoning them when he grows bored. It's in this context that the Red
Death presents a kind of unstoppable natural force against venal, cynical evil. The two of them carry the film.
The same can’t be said for most of the other characters. The captured villagers are so blandly heroic that they’re hardly memorable, even Francesca, who isn’t nearly as steadfast in her Christian faith as the script would have you believe. Jilted Juliana is more interesting as she continues her quest to be a bride of Satan (though she clearly equates him with Prospero;) her cheesy death scene is poor payoff for the build-up. A scene of her hallucinating her own ritual murder is also more laughable than unsettling. More unsettling than laughable is a side-plot (based on Poe’s Hop-frog,) involving a dwarf avenging his insulted lover, who is SUPPOSED to be a dwarf, but was instead played by a 7 year old. (At least they don’t kiss.) Worse, her lines are dubbed over by an adult woman.
I’m
of two minds on this film. Price is great; the Red Death is great, but
the fact that the film’s success hinges on these two characters (who
were the only definable ones in the original story) speaks to the
weakness of the script’s expanding from the source material. Nevertheless, while Corman's Poe cycle can be pretty uneven, this is one of the better entries in his quest to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was his House of Usher adaptation.