Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) hosts a lascivious gathering of his closest and dearest friends within the closed confines of his castle. Debaucherous entertainment and merriment reign inside the walls, while the outside world dies from a plague called the red death. A mysterious red cloaked figure makes an appearance at the midnight masque, and Prince Prospero will be shocked to learn the identity of this newest guest.

    The story starts with Prospero visiting a local village. He is only there to pick out some peasants to use for the depraved entertainments that he has planned for his guests; Francesca (Jane Asher), her lover Gino (David Weston), and her father Ludovic (Nigel Green) are forced to leave the village with him. When they get back to the castle Francesca is told by Prospero that he is going to initiate her into the ways of Satan, and then he shows her a series of rooms. Each room is a different color, and they all have matching stained glass windows; however, the last one is black and lit with blood red glass. It is in there that he holds his special satanic ceremonies. Juliana (Hazel Court), his wife, grows worried about the arrival of a competitor for her husband’s affections, so she reluctantly agrees to finally marry herself to Satan. Events turn tragic, but Prospero could care less about anything besides his own amusement.

    Meanwhile, the plans for a midnight masque have been announced. Prospero’s dwarf jester, Hop Toad (Skip Martin), persuades an oily courtier, Alfredo (Patrick Magee), to take part in a surprise performance for the guests. That night, while the ball is in full swing, a figure draped in red enters the ball room. Prospero thinks that it is Satan who has come to visit, but the red priest is not who he seems to be.

    This film was directed by cult film maker Roger Corman. It was only one of the many Poe adaptations that he brought to the screen for American International Pictures. Like most of his early horror films it was fantastical in aspect. In one sequence, Juliana was having a vivid nightmare; over and over again she was stabbed by different characters, while the screen undulated in blues and greens. It was stuck right in the middle of the movie and seemed like an acid trip gone bad. This is by no means a bad thing, and in fact shows the conflict that the character is going through as she gives herself to Satan. I feel that this is one of his better Poe films, because it really seemed to be set in a more seedy and promiscuous environment than his others. That was, of course, partially due to the subject matter of the movie, but he really made the overall feel of it more sexual. Some of his other Poe films were House Of Usher, The Raven and The Premature Burial.

    Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell incorporated two of Poe’s tales, The Masque Of The Red Death and Hop Toad, into the screenplay for this movie. I am guessing that they added Hop Toad into the mix because there wouldn’t have been enough of a storyline in the movie otherwise. I feel that their decision was a good one, because both stories compliment one another. The only problem that I have with the screenplay is the love story between Francesca and Gino, but that is only a minor quibble. Charles Beaumont was famous for writing the screenplays for over 20 classic Twilight Zone episodes.

    There were several performances in this film that I enjoyed. Vincent Price was especially diabolical in the role of Prospero. When he walked into the room where Francesca was taking a bath, and leered down at her naked body, he really embodied the character’s personality. In several different movies he played similar villains, but in this one he really seemed like he was enjoying himself. Patrick Magee’s turn as Alfredo was really fun to watch; his mannerisms, and abrupt speech patterns, made him a perfect actor to play the part. You may remember him from such classic cult movies as Clockwork Orange and Asylum. The only actor that I had a problem with was Jane Asher; her performance was weak and unconvincing. I had a really hard time believing in the travails of Francesca, because Ashton played her so woodenly. There was not enough emotion expressed in her voice or in her features, and she didn’t seem very comfortable playing the role.

    Despite a few minor flaws, I feel that this was a classic Vincent Price horror film. If you have not yet been initiated into the huge Price fan base that exists, you may be a member after watching this movie. This film is available on DVD from Midnight Movies (MGM) as a double feature package.