hrkepler 'The Masque of the Red Death' is one of the finest Roger Corman's movie and probably the best one in his Poe series. Definitely Corman's technically complete film ever, as his direction is precise with all the details falling at the right place, tight and intense screenplay written by Charles Beaumont (who also penned the screenplay for Corman's 'The Intruder') and rich cinematography by Nicolas Roeg (who himself went on to direct some cool movies like 'Don't Look Now'). Visually striking and more visceral with its rather philosophical angle than just simply getting out of scares with usual '60s horror stuff.Vincent Price gives one of his best and nuanced performances as Prince Prospero who is intelligently evil and suave. Rarely the great horror actor have had such a good opportunity to match his wits with good in equal strength - the village girl Francesca (Jane Asher) whose child like innocence is supported by strong inner confidence and will. She should be praised as one of the greatest heroins in film history as genuinely strong ladylike woman, not a butch badass who can kick ass. The great performances by these two actors are supported with other strong acting jobs by Patrick Magee (Alfredo), Hazel Court (Juliana), David Weston (Gino) and Skip Martin (Hop Toad).Colorful film not only because of its colorful scenery, but also because of its well written screenplay, fantastic characters and some brief but enriching subplots.

Tweetienator If you like Vincent Price this is a must-see, like the Pit and the Pendulum and the House of Usher. All these classics are directed by Roger Corman and Mr. Price just gives us some of his finest performances in these movies. In The Masque of the Red Death, an evil prince worshiping Satan and practicing Black Magic tries to lure an innocent beauty to the Left-Hand-Path. But in the end, the black magician is confronted by a force even more powerful than the Fallen Angel.Imho this is one of Roger Corman's and Vincent Price's finest moments. A must-see for the lover of classic horror movies.

Hitchcoc So many of Vincent Price's movies involve the master in so much pain, hurt by the world in which he lived. This one is one of the better of the Poe pastiches. Here he plays the Prince Prospero, who has wild parties at his castle, while the riff raff live outside, dying from some bloody plague. What is great is the overconfidence of Price as he taunts and maligns and hurts people for pleasure. The Edgar Allen Poe story "Hop Frog" has been incorporated into this one. Since it was released in 1964, Roger Corman uses some rather surreal psychedelic stuff with fish eye lenses and red filters. We all know what is going to happen, but Price is a precious quantity to emotes all over the place. In his case he is forgiven.

BA_Harrison Call me a philistine if you like, but I've always found Roger Corman's lavish adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death a little too pretentious for my taste, much preferring the director's more trashy B-movie output. Here, Corman is under the illusion that he is Ingmar Bergman, presenting his tale in an art-house fashion that might look visually impressive (the photography by Nicolas Roeg is definitely eye-catching) but which actually proves surprisingly dull overall, despite the debauchery and decadence on display.Nobody plays loathsome quite like Vincent Price, and here he at his most despicable, as Prince Prospero, a Satan worshipping aristocrat who delights in corrupting the innocent. In the confines of his castle, he and his fellow deviants enjoy extravagant parties while outside the locals are dropping like flies of the red death, a plague that has been ravaging the countryside. Unfortunately, Price seems to get caught up in the whole ostentatiousness of the production, and delivers one of the hammiest performances of his career, which might be seen as parody if only the actor didn't seem quite so earnest.The ending of the film is particularly painful to watch, as Corman's pomposity goes into overdrive with an extended scene of death and suffering portrayed through the medium of expressive dance, followed by a blatant rip-off from Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Give me Attack of the Crab Monsters any day of the week.