31 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 25: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

"Can you look around this world and believe in the goodness of a god who rules it? Famine, Pestilence, War, Disease and Death! They rule this world." — Prospero

In medieval Italy, Satan-worshiping prince Prospero (Vincent Price) rules over a village with an iron hand, making the lives of his subjects a cruel misery. While on her way back to the village after collecting kindling, an old woman encounters a mysterious hooded figure clad from head to toe in crimson, and he gives her a white rose that he turns red. The figure tasks the woman with presenting the flower to Prospero and alerting the cruel ruler that the time of the people's deliverance is at hand.

Prospero arrives in the village to announce a feast and masquerade in honor of the end of the peasants' harvest season, a bounty from which Prospero benefits while the townspeople starve. Rulers from nearby kingdoms will be in attendance and the members of the court will find sport in throwing table scraps to the peasants as if they were dogs. But while the rest of the town resigns itself to bear the ongoing degradation, a young man, Gino, and village elder Ludivico speak out against Prospero, and the prince immediately orders the pair to be garroted. But as the royal stranglers set to work, Francesca, the elder's daughter, begs for mercy. Prospero offers to let one of the men live, but the girl must choose who is to survive — her father, or Gino,  with whom she is in love. But before that dreadful choice can be made, screaming is heard from within a nearby hut, and when the prince interrupts his cruel game to investigate, he finds the old woman, who promptly dies, her face mottled with red blotches. Her demise indicates that a dreaded plague, the Red Death, has come to the area, so, having determined that his three victims have not had contact with the old woman, Prospero has the trio taken to his castle to further his entertainment, and orders his soldiers to burn the plague-besmirched village to the ground.

Upon arrival at Prospero's castle, Gino and Ludivico are imprisoned and trained in armed combat to serve as amusement for guests at the upcoming celebration, while Francesca is forcibly stripped and bathed. Striding in to observe the modest peasant in the bath, Propero notes that she wears a cross. When asked if the crucifix is mere decoration or if she is a true Christian believer, Francesca answers "yes" and is told to take it off immediately and never wear it in the castle again, at which the terrified girl hands him the cross. Prospero then takes his leave, but not before ordering his Juliana, his concubine, to dress Francesca in finery from the Juliana's own wardrobe and that she instruct Francesca in the ways of the court. Francesca agrees to cooperate, but if anything happens to her father or her lover, she will die...and so will Prospero. But Prospero aims to corrupt Francesca and usher her into his diabolical faith, with the masquerade ball designed as an orgiastic offering of souls to his dark master. But what of the mysterious hooded figure in red?

This seventh of producer/director Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations is a mashup of the titular short story and "Hop Toad," but I did not outline that second thread because it's best experienced with no foreknowledge. All one needs to know is that the film is a lush, colorful effort that affords Vincent Price one of his best opportunities to play unabashedly evil. His Prospero is a cruel and vile despot to whom the lives of his subjects are worth less than dog droppings on the street. He degrades all who cross his path, even his concubine, and he simply revels in the pain and humiliation he causes, so when he inevitably gets what coming to him, it's immensely satisfying.

For my money, this is the best of Corman's Poe wave, and it's a leisurely-paced effort that's not all that scary or gory, but it has the look and atmosphere of one of Mario Bava's films of the period. If you ever wondered why Vincent Price, a hammy actor if ever there was one, is a horror icon, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH will provide you with a solid answer.

Poster for the theatrical release.