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Oct. 26: The Masque of the Red Death (1964):

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No survey of horror films could be complete without a mention of Vincent Price. He appeared in a lot of campy films, but Price himself was usually quite grave (pardon the pun). His presence was so compelling that he didn\’92t really need much of a movie around him for it to be interesting. Luckily, that theory wasn\’92t always tested. In the 1960s, Price appeared in a series of films based on Edgar Allan Poe stories for director Roger Corman. Perhaps the best of these was The Masque of the Red Death, a harsh, beautifully directed movie based on one of Poe\’92s best stories.

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Price plays evil Prince Prospero, a devil-worshipping European prince who terrorizes the peasantry while living in debauchery in his castle. When a plague, the Red Death, begins sweeping through his land, Prospero gathers a few dozen of the nobility in his castle for protection against the plague.

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The only peasant to make it into the castle is the beautiful Francesca (Jane Asher), kidnapped by Prospero for his amusement, but sadly not her own. While Prospero\’92s subjects die horribly outside the castle, the group on the inside immerses itself in depravity, confident that the Red Death could never ever get to them.

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It isn\’92t his subtlest performance, but Price is very intense here. He absolutely exudes menace and malignance. His Prospero is not merely a psycho, but someone who has arrived at his Satanism through what he feels is rigorous logic. With all the evil he has seen in the world, a benevolent God cannot exist. Thus, he turns to the alternative.

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With his Prince Prospero around, that\’92s all you really need for a scary movie, but the film surrounds Price with some wonderfully creepy atmosphere. Corman is known for making movies cheaply and on the fly, but this film, along with the rest of his Poe films, is very well produced, with Prospero\’92s castle being portrayed by some very beautiful sets. Corman\’92s direction is similarly elegant, setting an eerie tone and using moody lighting for maximum effect. The film\’92s cinematographer was future director Nicolas Roeg, who drenches the film in evocative, vibrant colors (check out Roeg\’92s Don\’92t Look Now for a similarly intriguing use of the color red). There\’92s a terrific scene in which a woman staggers from room to room, each of them bathed in a different color.

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Price makes virtually every movie he appears in at least watchable, but The Masque of the Red Death gives him worthy surroundings. It is one of the best, creepiest and most atmospheric movies of Price\’92s career.

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If you liked this, then check out:

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\’97\’a0\’a0\’a0 The Tomb of Ligeia (1964): In another of the best of Roger Corman\’92s Poe adaptations, Vincent Price plays a man who has lost his wife, but hasn\’92t gotten over her death \’97 he still stands watch over her tomb every day. After meeting a mysterious, beautiful young woman, Price falls in love again, but can he ever really shake his devotion to Ligeia? And will she let him?

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\’97\’a0\’a0\’a0 The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971): A little campier than his Poe films, but no less enjoyable, this flick has Price as the titular doctor, who was presumed dead but seems to be back from beyond the grave, murdering the nine people responsible for his wife\’92s death with the biblical plagues of Egypt.

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\’97\’a0\’a0Theater of Blood (1973): Now, this one is pure camp, and by God I love it. Price plays Edward Lionheart, a failed Shakespearean actor who is killing all the critics who panned him with methods derived from Shakespeare plays. Anyone who has seen Titus Andronicus can imagine what\’92s coming.\’a0

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