The Masque of the Red Death
A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.
Critics Sentiment
Prospero tears off the Red Death's mask to find his own blood-spattered face and dies
Ludovico attempts to kill Prospero at the feast and dies, Gino is cast out to the Red Death
The film climbs sharply from its weakest mid-section stretch around the feast and executions (6.0) to the transcendent masked ball arrival of the Red Death and its devastating unmasking finale (8.5 to 8.8), a swing of nearly three points driven by the payoff of all the film's atmospheric and thematic buildup.
The film opens with strong atmospheric momentum powered by Price's commanding villainy and Roeg's vivid color photography, then settles into a slower mid-section where the castle intrigue and prisoner subplots earn mixed praise for mood but weaker marks for narrative construction. The final act delivers a decisive upswing, with the masked ball, the Red Death's entrance, and Prospero's unmasking landing as genuinely celebrated set pieces that justify the film's reputation as the finest entry in Corman's Poe cycle.
Full cast
Vincent Price
Prince Prospero
Hazel Court
Juliana
Jane Asher
Francesca
David Weston
Gino
Nigel Green
Ludovico
Patrick Magee
Alfredo
Paul Whitsun-Jones
Scarlatti
Robert Brown
Guard
Julian Burton
Señor Veronese
David Davies
Lead Villager
Skip Martin
Hop Toad
Gaye Brown
Señora Escobar
Verina Greenlaw
Esmeralda
Doreen Dawn
Anna-Marie (as Doreen Dawne)
Sarah Brackett
Grandmother
Brian Hewlett
Senor Lampredi
Jenny Till
Dancer
John Westbrook
The Man in Red
Crew
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