Masque of the Red Death Review

(We open upon a castle in a dark and seemingly dead land. The Red Death ravages the land,

killing all outside of the castle walls. Inside, HttC holds a masquerade ball for his

friends whom he is keeping safe from the ravages of the Red Death, yet he refuses to let

anyone else in. The guests are dressed in costumes that range from the humorous to the

macabre. They dance, laugh and make merry, a cruel contrast to the wretched fate held upon

the peasants of the land. We see that HttC is a bit uneasy…)

HttC: Damn him, there he is again! That inconsiderate… Never mind. I shall find out who he

is soon enough, for now I must review the 1964 Vincent Price film, Masque of the Red

Death!


A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge

against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land. I love the work of Edgar Allen Poe,

really who doesn't? His tales are dark and scary, filled with great stories, characters

and horror. Through the years some of his work has been adapted to film, and for the most

part they really haven't been true to his tales. However, only man has come close to near

perfection, and that man is B-Movie Legend Roger Corman. Corman has adapted quite a few

works of Poe's to the silver screen, such as The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum and Fall

of the House of Usher. However, he's never 100% accurate with them, having to throw in

other Poe stories in as well as adding his own ideas or completely deviating from the plot

of the original tale in general. Though can we blame him? Masque of the Red Death, though

an excellent story, wouldn't transition well to the big screen, hell it probably wouldn't

even be an hour long if they got every little detail of it in the movie. So Corman has to

build upon the story, adding other Poe stories in as well as adding in new characters,

characteristics and themes. First thing most Poe fans will realize is that Prince Prospero

is vastly different here then the story. In the story Prospero was just cruel. That fact

remains, however he is now also a Satanist. I actually feel this works well in the movies

favor, giving us a sort of logical reason behind Prospero's immense cruelty other than

simply "He's royalty." It also makes his character more intimidating, seeing that his

Satanic beliefs make him incredibly sadistic and vile, taking pure joy in seeing people

suffer or die. It doesn't even matter who, his best friends could be suffering and

Prospero would just have a joyous time at his friend's unfortunate expense. Another new

addition is… Son of bitch, there he is again! Why that fiend, I swear if he offends

anyone… I'll get back to him… Anyway, another new addition is a subplot based on another

Poe story entitled "Hop Frog". Hop Frog was a story about a little person from a far away

land who was a slave to a cruel king who loved to play cruel pranks. One day when his

friend is insulted, Hop Frog goes about his vengeance on the king and his councilors. That

story, quite frankly, fits perfectly in with the main plot and feels just right. It moves

smoothly and doesn't veer off from the main plot at all. It even follows that tale almost

down to a tee. There are a few new characters as well, each actually serving a purpose and

contributing to the plot. First we have our three main protagonists: Francesca, her father

and her husband Gino. After destroying their village for shits and giggles, Prospero takes

Francesca and her family back to his castle, Francesca becoming a sort of lustful symbol

to Prospero. Francesca goes through quite a bit of character development through the story

as we see her spirit and faith are slowly breaking, up until she nearly accepts Prospero's

beliefs. Too me, Gino and his father in law don't seem to do all too much, and yet I

actually feel sorry for them at many points, perhaps it's Prospero's immense cruelty

towards them that does it. Lastly, we have Juliana, Prospero's… wife? Fiancé? I dunno, but

she's close to Prospero. She doesn't seem to serve too much of a purpose other than to get

the ball rolling a bit, although there is a really interesting scene in the movie when she

"marries" The Lord of the Flies and has a psychedelic dream about being knifed to death by

multiple men from different cultures from around the world. The acting is quite good in

the movie. Price, as always, steals the whole show, however I feel his acting is different

here. You know how in most of his movies he speaks with a sort of charm in his voice?

Making him seem like an incredibly kind and sophisticated man despite being (in his

villainous roles at least) a murderer. Well, he doesn't really have that charm here, which

makes sense. Prospero is a bastard and he damn well knows it, so he doesn't have to hide

behind some façade to seem like a nice guy to people who don't him. He's acts cold and

cruelly throughout the entire film, and he just does a wonderful job at it. Everyone else

does a fine job as well, but really they all do pale next to Price. The set pieces for

Masque are just incredible. The castle's interior looks nice, with Corman actually getting

Prospero's multiple colored rooms down correctly and beautifully, but it's the exterior I

that's truly grand. The outside world reminds me of the old days when Dracula and

Frankenstein were kings, with vast, dark and eerie landscapes and dead forests. It's a

wondrous sight to behold indeed. Another thing I like is in the beginning when we're first

introduced to the Red Death. We open with an old woman gathering sticks for fire wood. She

wears brown and gray clothing, which fits in the bleak, colorless world. However, when we

see the Red Death he truly stands out, with his bright red cloak being a marvelous

contrast to this lifeless world. All of it makes the world of Poe come to life. So in the

end, Masque of the Red Death is a great film. It doesn't get everything down correctly,

but what Corman adds to make the film longer works perfectly, creating a near flawless

film. I highly recommend it to any fan of Edgar Allen Poe.

Verdict: Full Price!

That was Rumor control and those… were… That bastard!

(We see the man that HttC has been fretting over the entire review. The man wear a bright

red cloak and a mask of a contorted corpse covered with blood, a symbol of the Red Death.

HttC finally loses his patience.)

HttC: That's It! Friends! Seize that man and make him reveal himself, so that we may hang

him for his insolence!

(HttC pulls a dagger and leads the chase after the mysterious figure. Somehow the figure

is able to move faster than HttC and all of his friends. The figure leads them through

multiple colored rooms, until at last it stops in the black room with the blood red tinted

windows. A grim smile slithers onto HttC's face as he knows the culprit is cornered. He

charges at the figure with the knife, only for the figure to turn and face HttC. HttC

falls down, dead at the figure's feet. HttC's friends are shocked and enraged by this and

all attack the figure at once. They tear away at his cloak and mask… only to reveal

nothing there. They all realize what is happening.)

Volts: Oh… Oh my God!

Burnout: That… That's not possible!

KingJames: Run! Run for lives!

(It's all for not however, as each and every one of them succumb to the disease of the red

Death. Soon, all have perished and the ebony clock strikes twelve, midnight. And Darkness

and decay and The Red Death held illimitable dominion over all!)