The Masque of the Red Death/The Premature Burial [DVD] [1962] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

For "The Masque of the Red Death," Corman had the advantage of Charles Beaumont, one of the scripters from "The Twilight Zone" who also wrote "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao," and science fiction author R. Wright Campbell, doing the adaptation for this 1964 film. What you have to keep in mind is that Poe's originally tale is barely long enough to be considered a short story in the first place, but it is a neat title and it did have a pretty good twist. Beaumont and Campbell come up with an elaborate story to set up how it is that the Red Death attends Prospero's masque. One of the things they did was incorporate "Hop-Frog," another Poe story, but another is to turn Prospero and his sister in worshippers of Satan (reformed, apparently, compared to what we would see from other Hollywood films such as "Rosemary's Baby" in the next decade).

When young Francesca (Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's muse in the early 1960s when he was writing songs for her older brother Peter of Peter & Gordon) begs for the lives of her father (Nigel Green) and Gino (David Weston), the young man she loves, Count Prospero (Vincent Price) tells her she can choose who will live and who must die. However, that is just a prelude to the main part of the film where Prospero and his court and holed up in his castle. The Red Death is spreading around the countryside and Prospero needs to find ways to keep himself amused. The result is a series of sadistic games and actions at Prospero's order. Meanwhile, a hooded figure in red comes to pay a visit.

Corman remade "The Masque of Red Death" in 1989, but he should not have bothered, because this is the better version. This is arguably the best looking of the Corman films and when you see some of these interior sets you can only marvel at how far Corman has come from the days of making movies quick and dirty for no money (the fact Corman was shooting in Britain for the first time had a lot to do with it as did the fact that they simply used the sets from "Becket"). Price gets to be relatively restrained, even when he is ordering people garroted or tossing a woman a dagger so she can kill herself, and this one ends with an appropriate whimper. But I think the best performance comes from Skip Martin as Hop Toad, who does a lot with the similarly sadistic subplot of this one.

"The Premature Burial" was made in 1962 and stars Ray Milland instead of Vincent Price. Emily Gault (Hazel Court) demands to know why Guy Carrell (Miland) has called off their engagement. Guy explains that ever since their discovered his father had been buried alive, he has been terrified the same thing will happen to him because he might also suffer from catalepsy. Emily and Miles Archer (Richard Ney), convince Guy to go along with the marriage, but he becomes so worried about premature burial that he even builds a special tomb that will allow him to escape. If you do not know that Guy's worst dreams are going to come true, then you are just not paying attention.

That is because the screenplay by Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell (who would script "X - The Man with X-Ray Eyes" for Corman and Milland) works in the idea that Guy's fear can be taken advantage of by someone who is after his money or his wife (or both). So Guy's fate has to do with more than the Fates really sticking it to him. This is a relatively short film (81 minutes), but it seems to drag a bit because it takes its time getting to what we all know is going to happen. The best scene comes when Emily tells Guy that he is so obsessed with his fears that for all intents and purposes he is dead already. But the ending is devoted way too much to telling the audience rather than showing us and ends the film on a down note.

The special features are limited to the trailers for the two films and a pair of featurettes in which Corman talks about each film, "Roger Corman Unearths 'The Premature Burial'" and "'Masque of the Red Death': Roger Corman Behind the Masque." There are some interesting insights into the films and you learn how it was that Milland ended up in the only Poe film Corman did for A.I. without Price. The first movie is a solid four and the second is at least a star below that, but the interviews with Corman are enough to justify rounding up.

The second film, Premature Burial, I'd never seen until this DVD. It is not as hypnotic at "Masque", but it is a fun, macabre journey into madness with a superb actor, Ray Milland, at the helm. Also starring the very sexy, very voluptious Hazel Court, which some Hammer Horror fans may remember from the up and coming dvd "Curse of Frankenstein", due out in October. The film is presented in widescreen. Both films, one on each side of the DVD, include very nicely produced extras with Roger Corman, giving some nice information on the creation and production of both films. If your a fan of Vincent Price, buy it for "Masque". If your a fan of Roger Corman, you will not be disapointed in either film.