The Masque of the Red Death

Summary

“It’s time for a new dance to begin… the Dance of Death!”

Roger Corman had done a tremendous job with his Poe adaptations that started with The Fall of the House of Usher and finishing with The Haunted Palace (which was really a Lovecraft adaptation) for AIP when he was finally able to convince AIP to let him tackle The Masque of the Red Death. Corman had wanted to adapt this story directly after The Fall of the House of Usher, but the studio heads were nervous that the story bore too much resemblance to the Ingmar Bergman film The Seventh Seal. Corman’s enthusiasm for the material is evident in every frame and that care lends itself to creating one of his very best Poe adaptations. The film stars the iconic Vincent Price and has been released on Blu-ray by Shout!Factory as both a standalone release and also inside their recently re-issued The Vincent Price Collection: Volume 1. These releases have given me an opportunity to rewatch the films and simultaneously revisit the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I have done both happily. My personal recommendation would be to purchase the re-issued collection because it is an incredible deal, but the standalone release is well worth owning on its own merits otherwise.

In Medieval Italy, an old woman shuffles across the hillside slowly. She encounters a figure cloaked completely in red who has a deck of Tarot cards. The figure calls to her and hands her a rose. He tells her to take a rose to her village and “tell them their day of deliverance is at hand.” The rose he hands her turns from white to red before her eyes. Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) arrives in the village to thank the peasants for their hard work and let them know of his upcoming dance. Two men – Gino and Lodovico (David Weston and Nigel Green) – speak out against him and Prospero has them seized by his guards and marked for death. Another peasant named Francesca (Jane Asher) cries out for mercy for the men. One is her father and one is her lover. Prospero allows her to pick which one will die. He is interrupted from this pursuit when he hears a scream. Walking into a hut he sees the old woman from the hillside and her face is covered in blood – a sign of the red death. He orders the guards to burn the village to the ground. Gino and Lodovico are taken by the guards. Prospero takes Francesca back to his castle and has her bathed. This makes his bride Juliana (Hazel Court) very upset. That night Prospero announces to his numerous guests – nobility from across the crountry – a masquerade where none are allowed to wear red. Prospero’s confidante Alfredo (Patrick Magee) slaps a woman who has not grown since childhood named Esmerelda when she accidentally spills wine on the prince.  This occurs in front of a dwarf named Hop-toad. Hop-toad vows revenge. Prospero has a brief fight with Alfredo. As Prospero surveys the nobility that he has invited to his castle, he thrives on humiliating others and he insults many of his guests. Prospero is a devout satanist and he wants to see Francesca lose her Christian faith. The jealous Juliana wants to be initiated into the Satanic cult by Prospero and win him back. Meanwhile, outside the castle, the red plague is ravaging the countryside while the nobility laugh and dance.

When I was growing up, I remember how much the Edgar Allan Poe stories effected me. I read almost every single Poe story when I was no older than twelve years old. I also had some of the children’s illustrated classics that I returned to repeatedly when I was growing up from age seven onward – “The Murders at Rue Morgue” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” were seared into my brain. I was older when I discovered the excellent Roger Corman productions of Poe’s work. My dad had told me about his love of Corman’s The Pit and the Pendulum and I happily watched that movie with my father. I was excited to sit down the other night and watch his take on The Masque of the Red Death for the first time.

What comes across immediately when you watch Corman’s Poe adaptations is how much Corman obviously loved the works by Poe themselves. While the films are forced to stretch out the writings of Poe and introduce new elements, the adaptations manage to capture the essence of what Poe wrote. If you just adapted what Poe wrote in the stories, the adaptations would run as short as fifteen minutes long. One aspect that I enjoyed about watching this film was comparing the film to the text by quickly rereading the story it was based upon. While decidedly different, the film is a clever extension of the ideas in Poe’s writing. While Poe’s short story is iconic because of the symbolism involved in the story, Corman’s film holds up well because of its more straight forward horror film approach to the material. The script by Charles Beaumont, aside from adapting “The Masque of the Red Death,” also adds in material from Poe’s short story “The Hop-Frog” and manages to do both stories justice. The ways in which Beaumont approached the material and allowed additional inspiration from Ingmar Bergman’s film to benefit the script lead to  the creation of a truly unforgettable film. All of the ideas involving Prospero and Lucifer are purely from Beaumont, and they are great ideas that really benefit the film. Nothing makes me more nervous than watching people vow themselves to Satan and in those moments the film taps into something that actually does frighten me, even if the film is not necessarily scary in the same ways as The Exorcist. 

The set design and production design are very well done.  A yellow room that Prospero shows to Francesca stands out in my memories of the film. The way that the film brought to life Prospero’s castle with incredibly vivid colors was remarkable. The production benefitted from a five week filming in a studio outside of London that had vast sets that could be dressed wonderfully and still fit the budget from AIP. It is safe to say that this is probably the best looking film of Corman’s Poe adaptations due to the lush designs and the cinematography of Nicolas Roeg. Roeg uses the camera to stunning effect culminating in the danse macabre sequence which is in my estimation a perfect scene. I have enjoyed Roeg as a director, especially his film Don’t Look Now, and this ranks as some of his most visually appealing work.

The center of the film rests firmly on the shoulders of Vincent Price to deliver a devilishly sly performance as Prospero. Price clearly relished the role and his enjoyment in playing the character lends a lot to the performance. Prospero should be completely unlikable considering he is a Satanist that thrives on degradation, but Price makes the character a joy to watch. Patrick Magee is well cast in the role of Alfredo. Hazel Court chews the scenery as the lovelorn and jealous Juliana. Jane Asher also does well in the role of Francesca as a foil to the madness surrounding her.

At the end of the day, The Masque of the Red Death is one of the best films out of the Corman collaborations with Vincent Price and out of Corman’s Poe adaptations. The film manages to encapsulate the original story while expanding it in interesting ways. Highly recommended. 

Video

Shout! Factory present a great looking transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC codec in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The cinematography by Nicholas Roeg is wonderful. His use of fisheyes lenses and his brilliant use of light and color makes the film a visual feast. Shot in CinemaScope, the film is a joy to look at. Fine grain gives a very healthy filmic appearance. The print is in great shape and fans should be very pleased with how it looks.

Audio

The Masque of the Red Death boasts a DTS-HD MA Mono track that does a good job of preserving the original sound design of the film. The score by David Lee sounds fantastic throughout the course of the film as it changes from baroque stylings to more traditional jump-scare motifs. Dialogue is crystal clear. No complaints here!

Supplements:

Interview with Roger Corman – this archival piece was filmed for the original MGM DVD set, but it is a good remembrance from Corman on his work on this film. Well worth your time.

Two Cuts of the Film – Theatrical (88 minutes) and Extended (89 Minutes)

Audio Commentary with author Steve Haberman

Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 4.5/5

The Masque of the Red Death is a fantastic adaptation of Poe’s famous short story from director Roger Corman. With an excellent script by Charles Beaumont which ties together the titular story with aspects from Poe’s story “Hop Frog,” and a fantastic performance by the great Vincent Price as Prospero, this film ranks as one of the best literary adaptations made from Poe’s work. It also ranks as one the best collaborations between Corman and Price. I highly recommend purchasing The Vincent Price Collection: Volume 1 which includes the same features and technical specs, but if solely a fan of this film, it is a worthwhile standalone release! This release and film are well worth owning.