218) The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

"Thus passes the glory of the world." 

Director

Roger Corman 

Cast
Vincent Price - Prince Prospero 

Hazel Court - Juliana
Jane Asher - Francesca
David Weston - Gino
Nigel Green - Ludovico
John Westbrook - Physical Red Death 
Patrick Magee - Alfredo
Paul Whitsun-Jones - Scarlatti

Director Roger Corman's 1964 movie, "The Masque of the Red Death" is the seventh film in his Edgar Allan Poe series, and the second to last of them. It's followed by "The Tomb of Ligeia" which was released the same year. 

I actually watched "The Tomb of Ligeia" before watching this but we got to keep these things in chronological order, right? 

Aside from the fourth movie in the series, "Tales of Terror" from 1962, "The Masque of the Red Death" pulls away from the usual formula of all these other Poe movies. And it's the darkest one yet. 

The movie begins as the disease referred to as "red death" spreads across medieval Italy. An old peasant woman wandering through the country comes face to face with the red death in the form of a hooded figure dawning red cloak. 

He presents this woman a white rose which turns blood red just before he hands it to her. He then tells her to take the rose back to her village and tell everyone there that, "the day of their deliverance is at hand." I guess fictional medieval plagues are notorious for being vague and nonsensical. 

That village is ruled by a pretty sadistic and evil prince named Prospero (Vincent Price). He pays that same village a visit with his entourage and is met with two poor villagers, Gino (David Weston) and Ludovico (Nigel Green). 

Meanwhile, that old lady from the beginning is found dead from... the red death! Her face is covered in blood oozing from her pores. Hence, the name "red death." 

So, Prospero orders his people to burn the entire village down. In the midst of the turmoil and cries of the villagers, he invites them to a feast at his palace in his usual condescending tone. This is where the audience is supposed to yell, "Don't do it! Don't go!" at the T.V.  

Gino doesn't take the mockery kindly, nor should he, and criticizes Prospero remarking he'll probably treat everyone like dogs and feed them nothing but table scraps. He then says that someday, Prospero's reign of terror will come to an end. 

This threat doesn't sit well with Prospero. Gino's father-in-law, Ludovico, backs him up as Prospero forces both men to their knees for his own amusement. 

Then he forces both of them, along with Gino's lover, Francesca (Jane Asher), to go with him back to his castle for his own amusement. 

Back at his castle, Prospero holds a bunch of parties with a ton of wealthy self-absorbed guests who are just as debauched as he is. 

He takes pleasure in humiliating his guests such as making them imitate as animals in front of everyone else.

Francesca is shocked to find out that Prospero is a Satanist. He certainly fits the part with his love of watching people humiliate themselves. For instance, he tricks a companion of his, Alfredo (Patrick Magee) to dress as a gorilla during a masquerade party. He then has his dwarf-jester, Hop-Toad (Skip Martin) to set Alfredo on fire, which he does for a laugh. 

But the red death comes uninvited to one of Prospero's parties. "The uninvited - there is much to fear." as Prospero observes earlier in the movie. 

He thinks the red-hooded figure is the devil. Well, it's not the devil but it's going to take Prospero to him. It doesn't take much time before Prospero realizes his time on Earth is at an end, and his fate is nothing but death. 

The story ends on a dark note as other plagues and diseases (tuberculosis dressed in a white hood, yellow fever in a yellow hood, scurvy in an orange hood, cholera in a blue hood, influenza in a purple hood, and the bubonic plague in a black hood) gather around the red death to discuss how many lives they've each given to death during that night. 

As I mentioned, this movie doesn't follow the same formulas and tropes that the previous Poe movies do. The story follows Prospero's complete surrender to evil and how that not only completely corrupts him, but it also corrupts those around him. Instead of ending with a huge estate burning down in flames which is common in these Poe movies, Instead, it all ends with Prospero begging to be spared from death which he brought upon himself, and shouting "no, no!" 

There's a contrast between the darkness of the subject matter and the colors which cover Prospero's evil world covered in the façade of vibrancy and care-free false security. 

The glamour of evil is precisely that. A façade. How else will the devil entice souls? With it's more serious and darker tone, I bet it takes inspiration from Ingmar Bergman's 1957 Swedish film, "The Seventh Seal." 

In one scene, one of Prospero's guests, Juliana (Hazel Court) wants to be in this cult of his. She gives herself over to the devil in a manner reminiscent of Lady MacBeth calling upon evil spirits to "unsex" her in Shakespeare's tragedy, "MacBeth." 

Vincent Price as 'Prospero' in 'The Masque of the Red Death.'

In fact, Corman claims he had some reluctance in actually releasing "The Masque of the Red Death" because of similarities to "The Seventh Seal." In an interview with Lawrence French, published in the introduction to "The Masque of the Red Death" novelization, Corman says, "I kept moving 'The Masque of the Red Death' back, because of the similarities, but it was really an artificial reason in my mind."

In his book, "Top 100 Horror Movies" writer Gary Gerani also quotes Corman from a 1970s interview.

"I had seen Igmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal' and thought there might be a horror movie application for it." (142) 

He definitely nailed it, especially as death appears in a red hood. And the final scene has six other hooded figures dawning a different color to symbolize their deathly touches. 

There's some depth to this picture that's sharply felt more than Corman's other movies. He takes on a different approach and it works well for a Gothic horror movie. 

It's worth mentioning that Jane Asher was dating former Beatle Paul McCartney at the time. I heard in various commentaries about this movie that McCartney visited the movie set. 

Anyways, I've considered myself a fan of Vincent Price, which is part of the reason why I wanted to watch all of Corman's Poe movies, all of which (except "Premature Burial" star Price. I think his performance here really solidified my fandom for Vincent Price. This performance of his is the most intimidating and frightening I've seen yet.
Gerani also points out that the set for "The Masque of the Red Death" is borrowed from the 1964 historical picture, "Becket" which is about the tumultuous friendship between St. Thomas Becket and King Henry II that ultimately led to Becket's martyrdom.
Evil is certainly not glorified in this movie. The villain is truly Prospero. The darkest of Roger Corman's Poe movies yet, with a real intimidating Vincent Price performance! One more to go after this one.
It's no revelation that pacts and dedication to the devil, whom Prospero always accurately refers to as the "Lord of the flies," end with screams and despair. As the movie claims, "thus passes the glory of the world." Prospero turned his back on God. So, God accommodated him.