The Masque of the Red Death

This eerily apt adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic gothic horror tale The Masque of the Red Death marked a high point in the oeuvre of Hollywood maverick and relentless producer Roger Corman. Starring the inimitable Vincent Price and noted for its decadent colours, courtesy of Nicolas Roeg’s Technicolor cinematography, the timeless tale follows Prince Prospero, a Satanist, as he terrorises a village plagued by the ‘Red Death’, climaxing with a masquerade ball in stunning evil and beauty. Bathed in a lush artificiality bridging the Universal horror tradition with the atmospheric trepidation of European horror masters such as Mario Bava, Corman’s long fascination with Poe culminates here in a triumph of ‘B-movie’ ingenuity.

Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

7/10 (Tue): Film talk with Keeto Lam