This is based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, one of several adaptations of Poe stories produced by producer/director Roger Corman in the 60's, most of which starred Vincent Price, as did this one. It's not by any means a perfect or even faithful adaptation of the Poe story. In fact, it actually combines elements of the Poe story of the same name with another Poe story named "Hop-Frog," although in this movie that dwarf character is named "Hop-Toad." Corman's movie follows the Poe story in revolving around the main character of Prince Prospero (Price). Prospero is an evil, sadistic prince, who takes great delight in cruelty, and in humiliating even the wealthiest and highest ranking of his subjects. Discovering that the "Red Death" (a form of plague) has entered a nearby village, he walls himself up (along with many of his wealthy subjects and a young lady from the village to whom he had taken a shine, and whose father and lover he had imprisoned in his dungeons) in his castle to stay clear of the pestilence.
What happens in the castle is actually a pretty good depiction of the darker side of human nature. Prospero is cruel and sadistic, and his subjects are greedy and selfish and concerned mostly with their own pleasure; willing to be subjected to Prospero's humiliations in order to curry favour with him. Francesca (the girl from the village, played by Jane Asher) tries to hold on to her essential goodness in the midst of the insanity she sees around her. While the movie stayed focused on this, it was interesting and at times even frightening. Where Corman went off base was in introducing a rather silly religious sub-theme to the movie (although in the end it turns out to be more than just a sub- theme) which I don't believe was present in the Poe story. So Prospero turns out to be not just cruel and sadistic, but is in fact a Satan worshipper. Francesca, on the other hand, is a rather innocent but faithful Christian who has to deal with the possibility of giving up her soul to the devil as a result of all that. Indeed, the religious sub- theme - to me at least - didn't work very well and added very little aside from an unfortunate element of silliness that detracted from what was otherwise a decent movie.
I will say that of the Corman films I've seen (not all of them by any means, but a few) this was one of the better ones. Because it dealt fairly seriously (in a Corman-esque sort of way) with that study of human nature at its worst, it didn't have as much of the "campy" feel that often takes over his movies, and Vincent Price offered what I considered one of the better performances I've seen him in. This is by no means a perfect movie, nor is it a good or faithful adaptation of the Poe story. It is, however, interesting and entertaining, particularly if you can let go of the whole "Satanic" theme and appreciate the study of that darker side of human nature that this really should have revolved around. (7/10)
What happens in the castle is actually a pretty good depiction of the darker side of human nature. Prospero is cruel and sadistic, and his subjects are greedy and selfish and concerned mostly with their own pleasure; willing to be subjected to Prospero's humiliations in order to curry favour with him. Francesca (the girl from the village, played by Jane Asher) tries to hold on to her essential goodness in the midst of the insanity she sees around her. While the movie stayed focused on this, it was interesting and at times even frightening. Where Corman went off base was in introducing a rather silly religious sub-theme to the movie (although in the end it turns out to be more than just a sub- theme) which I don't believe was present in the Poe story. So Prospero turns out to be not just cruel and sadistic, but is in fact a Satan worshipper. Francesca, on the other hand, is a rather innocent but faithful Christian who has to deal with the possibility of giving up her soul to the devil as a result of all that. Indeed, the religious sub- theme - to me at least - didn't work very well and added very little aside from an unfortunate element of silliness that detracted from what was otherwise a decent movie.
I will say that of the Corman films I've seen (not all of them by any means, but a few) this was one of the better ones. Because it dealt fairly seriously (in a Corman-esque sort of way) with that study of human nature at its worst, it didn't have as much of the "campy" feel that often takes over his movies, and Vincent Price offered what I considered one of the better performances I've seen him in. This is by no means a perfect movie, nor is it a good or faithful adaptation of the Poe story. It is, however, interesting and entertaining, particularly if you can let go of the whole "Satanic" theme and appreciate the study of that darker side of human nature that this really should have revolved around. (7/10)