That was an excellent one.

Best movie ever!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

'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.

This is a horror movie and there is not one thing even to think it could be scary. What is wrong with people rating this high for a horror movie. It is like a dramatized play on a movie. I for one as using this movie an example of Price movies, it terrible and boring as heck. I can't see what people would rate this movie so flipping high, and rate actually more talking and action, lower than this movie.This one is not even a bother of watching all the way through. I never liked any of Price movies. Just can't see the fetish of Price. Same goes with John Wayne, and also Elvis Presley and so on. Well, to each their own. Good luck with liking these kind of movies.

Certainly colorful and demonic, this is the most disturbing adoption of an Edgar Allan Poe short story that's been done by the American International producers Roger Corman and Samuel of the arc off. Vincent Price, a gentle artist of a man in real life, probably saw an artistic quality in the story of Prospero, but there is sadly a pretentiousness to the whole proceedings. Frankly, there's really very little story. Prospero isn't evil leader of an ancient countryside, and the tortures that saves his people seem to please him more than disturb him.nothing really happens until a masked ball where he orders everybody in the area to come in costume, wearing anything but read. This seems to be greatly influenced by some of the new wave foreign films, particularly Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. there are some disturbingly violent scenes, including one where one of the poor women under prices power is attacked by a fierce Falcon. Although gloriously shots in striking colors, it truly has gaps where nothing really seems to be happening other than shots of the gratuitous decadence and unbelievable torture. something tells me that this story would make a gorgeous ballet, but with what little substance there is in the film as an actual full story, it truly lacks a purpose. While watching this, I was thinking of some of the films that Nicholas regulator did is a director, and imagine my surprise in the end credits when his name came up as photographer. so perhaps it did have an influence after all, it just left me as a viewer of classic horror rather cold and unimpressed.

First time I saw this on TV on February 9th 1974 when young I thought it one of the best films I'd ever seen; after many repeat viewings over the decades since it's slipped down the list somewhat but is probably still in there somewhere. No doubt courtesy of the Spectacle Of The Rose Tint. Roger Corman directed a handful of memorable cod Poe horror films, I think this was his best, certainly the one for which I have the fondest memories.While the deadly Red Death disease rages in the countryside the weird guests of Count Prospero's castle think themselves safe, including the pure young girl her father and her lover who were abducted for pleasure from their village. Most of the human foibles and perversions portrayed passed me by until a bit older and unwiser, but by God they were all an ugly rotten bunch, even the goodies! Vincent Price as Prospero was at his prime hammiest, Jane Asher as the ingénue suitably straight and dull, Hazel Court even more outstanding than usual, the only downer was David Weston playing the dashing young wet rag. The photography and colour were superb, and using second hand sets and UK tax breaks all belied Corman's usual fairly low budget.Poe's very short story was excellent in its own way – this has very little in common with that but sorry I've always preferred to read Elsie Lee's official novel of R. Wright Campbell's and Charles Beaumont's marvellous screenplay. The film and the book of the film also have many amusing differences for instance the film inexplicably has six survivors to include an old man in the village and keeps Poe's parting words. The story concludes on orthodox moral lines but is a wonderful, sometimes disturbing ride. Corman's finest hour and a half by far.