THE
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)/THE PREMATURE BURIAL
(1962)Director: Roger Corman
MGM
THE
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)/THE PREMATURE BURIAL
(1962)THE MASQUE OF
THE RED DEATH
"I beg you do not mourn for Giuliana. We should celebrate. She has just
married a friend of mine. Let the masque begin!" -- Vincent Price as
Prince Prospero
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH remains a personal triumph for Vincent Price as well as director Roger Corman. The first AIP (American-International Pictures) Poe film to be shot in England, it was an ambitious step for both men. Price relished his role as the satanic prince aided by an extremely intelligent script by Charles Beaumont, which would turn the role of Prospero into one of Price's darkest film roles.
Corman, who by this time longed for something a little different following the first six Poe outings, decided to pay homage to his own film idol, Ingmar Bergman, as well as Bergman's masterpiece, THE SEVENTH SEAL. The image of a robed Death had influenced Corman to the extent that, as MASQUE reaches its denouement, Death comes in many faces and many colors.
THE
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH was completed in just 15days in November of 1963. It
was during this time that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The day
of the funeral, Corman shut down the set out of respect. He later remarked,
"I never felt so far from home as I did that day."
Filming in the United Kingdom, however, afforded the director two great luxuries. He was able to utilize the magnificent sets and costumes left over from BECKET and several other epics, and he also enlisted the talents of master cinematographer Nicolas Roeg.
Roeg chose comic-strip colors
and décor to illustrate the debauchery of Prospero's court. Two of his
many exceptional set pieces include the four adjoining rooms (each resplendent
in its own bold color, climaxing in a satanic chapel bathed in black with one
red window), and Hazel Court's spectacular Black Mass Hallucination in which
she gives herself, body and soul, to Price's 
aforementioned
Friend.
Jane Asher, playing the young ingénue and object of Price's unwanted affections, was engaged to an unknown musician from Liverpool named Paul McCartney, who visited the set and invited Corman to what would be one of the first London performances by The Beatles. Court remembers advising Jane to "keep her head because of all the attention" and, as history would have it, she did.
As in his earlier THE HAUNTED
PALACE, Charles Beaumont employs the clever device of incorporating a Poe subplot
to increase narrative texture. Elements of "Hop Toad" are used to
fine effect, with superb Irish actor Patrick Magee's character bridging the
two
stories.
Corman's legendary penchant for thriftiness was due, during production, to return to him in a most Dickensian fashion. He had decided not to pay the extra British union fees for another day's shooting at Christmastime. Had he paid the money, the masque itself would have been a large ball sequence "with dozens of extras, plenty of fire, and lots of action. A tour de force instead of merely adequate choreography."
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH is one of the most fondly remembered of the AIP series, an epic of poetic scope that brings us the majesty and breadth of Poe's vision along with one of Vincent Price's madly perverse performances. His wicked sense of humor is kept at a distance, and malignant, growing horror pervades the entire picture.
THE PREMATURE BURIAL
As Roger Corman arrived for the first morning of work on his screen version
of Edgar Allan Poe's THE PREMATURE BURIAL, executive producers James Nicholson
and Sam Arkoff appeared on the set smiling ear to ear. "Roger," said
Sam as he shook the director's hand, "we just wanted to wish you luck.
We're partners again." Thus, however awkwardly, filming began on the third
in Corman's Poe series.
Having been in a dispute with American-International Pictures over the profits from PIT AND THE PENDULUM the year before, Corman "decided to film this one without their help. I had arranged financing through the Pathe Labs and since Vincent Price was under exclusive contract to American-International, my brother Gene recommended his then-client Ray Milland, who ended up starring in the only film in the series without Vincent Price."
When Arkoff threatened to pull all his lab work, however, Pathe reneged on their deal with Corman and THE PREMATURE BURIAL became the third Poe film from AIP.
Despite lackluster reviews at
the time of its release in March of 1962, the film snared over a million dollars
in rentals during the summer of that year alone. Now, some 40-plus years later,
there is still much to praise in the film, particularly as presented here in
its widescreen Panavision format. Cinematographer Floyd Crosby does some spectacular
camerawork in the dream sequences in which Guy Carrell (Milland) hallucinates
his own premature interment --- and where an amplified heartbeat against a dark
screen 
induces
the sort of claustrophobic terror which remains true to Poe.
The revelation of THE PREMATURE BURIAL is the presence of auburn-haired Hazel Court, who steals the picture with a performance of subtle darkness and seductive charm. She is the only actress to have appeared in three of the eight films in the series, the others being THE RAVEN (1963) and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964). When asked today about THE PREMATURE BURIAL, she fondly remembers the costumes, which included a gown worn by Vivian Leigh in GONE WITH THE WIND (cleverly redesigned here by Marge Corso). Of her co-star Ray Milland, Court recalls that one day, his scenes nearing an end, "Ray asked if I could give him a lift home. I explained that Roger needed me for two more setups, but after that I'd be glad to give him a lift home. The day wore on, and by the time I was finished, Ray was nowhere to be found. So, driving myself home, I turned on Melrose Avenue, only to see Academy Award winner Ray Milland, still dressed in his smoking jacket from the film, waiting for a bus. Only a Welshman would save his money to that degree."
The prologue is also of interest
to followers of AIP trivia, as the two gravediggers who bring to Milland the
terrors of catalepsy are played by Dick Miller (best known as the flower eater
in 
Corman's
earlier LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) and John Dierkes (Karloff's assistant in ABBOTT
AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE). The rest of the cast includes Richard
Ney (now a respected Wall Street consultant), Heather Angel (who horror buffs
will remember from THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD and John Brahm's THE UNDYING MONSTER)
and Alan Napier, who achieved fame as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler in the "Batman"
television series.
In addition to Hazel Court's villainy,
Ray Milland's macabre nightmares, and an excellent supporting cast, THE PREMATURE
BURIAL also boasts a haunting score by Ronald Stein, which makes effective use
of the popular ballad "Molly Mallone," Charles Beaumont, the gifted
writer of numerous "Twilight Zone" episodes and scenarist for AIP's
BURN, WITCH, BURN, co-scripted with Ray Russell, author of the screenplay for
William Castle's superbly creepy MR. SARDONICUS. The pair lent a hefty dose
of black humor to the proceedings, perhaps best illustrated by the scene in
which Milland demonstrates, to a 
startled
Hazel Court and Richard Ney, his foolproof trick coffin, a contraption one imagines
Harry Houdini would have been quite proud of, adding a bizarre touch that Poe
himself would most certainly have appreciated.
Both MASQUE and PREMATURE are
presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic widescreen. The transfers are culled from pristine
source prints, with only minor dirt that's evident in optical effects. The image
is very sharp with excellent contrast. Colors are genuinely bright and appear
accurate, and the detail level is excellent. The interiors are full of detail
and natural colors, while the darker outdoor scenes are
nicely rendered. Oddly, PREMATURE's title is different than from previous video
incarnations, but it seems as though this is what was on the original negative.
The Dolby Digital mono tracks are effective for both titles, and both include
French, English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
The main extras are a pair of video interviews Roger Corman. The one for MASQUE runs nearly 20 minutes, while the one for PREMATURE runs roughly 10 minutes. Both interviews are very solid, as the mild-mannered Corman sophisticatedly discusses the film's productions, the actors he worked with, as well as several fun anecdotes. Also included are the original theatrical trailers for both titles.
Again, MGM has done a wonderful job with their AIP/Poe titles on DVD, and let's hope that the rest of them are not far behind! (David Del Valle and Christopher Dietrich)