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Summary: More creepy goings-on, courtesy of Roger Corman
Review: An amazing deal here: For a very economical price you get two full-length movies from the famous American International Pictures Poe series; trailers; and two modest but informative documentaries, one on each film. "The Premature Burial" is the more involving of the two, but "The Masque of the Red Death" is the more complex and artful. Both of these early Roger Corman efforts, however, are worth the time of anyone who enjoys glimpses into some of the more obscure pockets of film history, or just wants to enjoy a good movie. An additional plus: both movies are letterboxed and feature sharp, clean prints.
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Summary: What a bargain
Review: Anyone who loves Vincent Price (and who doesnt) will be pleased with the DVD treatment of The Masque of the Red Death. Price is at his humorous, and diabolical best in this gothic great. As for the Premature Burial i was very pleased with this horrific version of the Poe classic. Ray Milland was wonderful as the haunted man in fear of the ultimate horror. I dont know how anyone could go wrong getting these two classics at such a great price. The picture and sound quality are excellant.
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Summary: Edgar Allen Poe, Roger Corman and Hazel Court --Times 2!
Review: Call me old-fashioned, but whenever I revisit a pair of A.I.P. Poe Classics like MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH & THE PREMATURE BURIAL, there are plenty of similarities that might have been missed 40 years ago! Like many of you, I saw both of these in a movie theatre (back in the 60s) and enjoyed the atmospheric quality, the music and the occasional scares. Those 'quick character cuts' married with Ronald Stein's music always made the pictures seem creepier than they actually were! Corman's dream sequences were probably the strongest part of all of the Poe films that he directed. On this DVD, there are two short interviews with Roger where he explains how he managed to give these films an "A" quality look. With the use of excellent camera work (by Floyd Crosby) along with recycled sets from films like "BECKET", Corman definitely went beyond his "B" picture budget! In both of these movies, you also get to watch Hazel Court..an excellent under-rated actress..get her comeuppance. She has a dream sequence with four demons in MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, which ultimately leads to her demise by an angry raven! In THE PREMATURE BURIAL, her phony devotion to her husband (played by Ray Milland) turns into an exercise of being buried alive! [Hopefully--MIDNITE MOVIES will eventually release the 1963 version of THE RAVEN where Court has great chemistry with Boris Karloff, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre). All in all, the idea of pairing these two A.I.P. classics together is interesting. Purists will probably hate PREMATURE BURIAL in favor of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, but there are strong points in both. Hopefully, you've got a good monitor or television set capable of bringing out the color on these? I noticed that both films looked somewhat dark on a bad TV monitor! Fortunately, the transfers were done in letterbox so you get to see ALL of the scenes with ALL of the cast members. (Local TV stations who used to run these would usually show full flat prints eliminating cast members, or at least part of their bodies). How about formatting more of these DVD double-features? I'd enjoy a pairing of THE RAVEN & A COMEDY OF TERRORS? Or perhaps THE HAUNTED PALACE and THE CONQUEROR WORM?
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Summary: Macabre Masque
Review: Finally! A mystery has been solved. I saw MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH when I was a kid and it made a lasting impression on me. However, as an adult I could not remember which Vincent Price/Roger Corman movie had affected me so much. I recently purchased HOUSE OF USHER, hoping that it was the movie I remembered. It wasn't. (And it's a slow, inferior film compared to MASQUE).So, I sat down and watched MASQUE this weekend and as soon as I saw the mysterious man in the red cloak, I knew I had found the film from my childhood. What had impressed me so much? I remembered two things: the men in multi-colored cloaks at the end of the film. And the sets: there were rooms in the castle that were decorated in one color scheme. This is an awesome film! It walks a fine line and succeeds in so many ways. The line it walks is the line between cheesiness and sumptuousness; macabre and camp; sexiness and tastefulness. The rooms I remembered were there! And gorgeous! There is a yellow, purple, white, and black room. The mysterious cloaked men show up in the last scene. And there is a subplot with a dwarf character named Hop Toad that I had completely forgotten about. Some scenes are hilarious - for instance, Hop Toad's girlfriend is a dancer and meant to be another little person. But director Corman could not find an appropriate actress so he cast a young girl. However, an older, sultrier actress dubs her voice. So it's very funny to see this little girl speak and sound like Kathleen Turner. The sets and costumes are sumptuous, though. The script is very good. The print of the film used for the DVD looks very good to my eyes, although a couple of splices/tears are very obvious (especially in the climax as Price walks up the stairs to face the man in red -- a big splice tears across the screen. Ewww.) It's nice to see MASQUE after all these years. I haven't watched the second feature on this disk yet. To me, it's simply a bonus since MASQUE was so pleasing to watch.
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Summary: great transfer, bad movies
Review: First off, Masque of the Red Death isn't as good as The Premature Burial like some reviewers here would lead you to believe. Secondly, Masque just doesn't make any sense. Sure, it is one of Roger Corman's most elaborate productions, but the story outright stinks. Vincent Price, as he does in all of the Corman adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories he stars in, shines, this time as the evil Prince Prospero. However, the plot line is convoluted and really doesn't make sense. Prospero, a devil worshipper and murderer, hides from the Red Death in his castle with other members of the dark ages' privileged upper crust while the poor villagers succumb to the disease. Cosmetically, the picture is superb, but like I said, the storyline is contrived.The Premature Burial with Ray Milland in the lead at least has an interesting plot that makes sense. Although this movie isn't as aesthitically pleasing to the eye as Masque, it is certainly more respectable.The DVD rendiions of these two films are great and MGM deserves credit for that. However, if you want to see a good Roger Corman movie, get a copy of The Pit and the Pendulum. It's a masterpiece of the macabre.
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Summary: Corman's the man...
Review: I just bought this double-movie DVD and am most impressed. The films, themselves, are entertaining, but the greatest feature is that on each film, Corman has an interview describing his motivations regarding each film. This in itself is wonderful, as I've always admired Corman...indeed, he is one of our finest to create a substantial body of work as somewhat of an "indpendent", not relying on studio politics. I found his observations as riveting as the films themselves. FOR EXAMPLE: I always wondered why "The Premature Burial" starred Ray Milland instead of Price. Corman explains that he wanted this as an independent break from AIP, and Price was under contract with AIP. That it was ultimately made by AIP is another interesting point (see for yourself). ALSO: Floyd Crosby was the cinematographer for most of Corman's Poe films; he was ruined by the McCarthy witch-hunt, though an oft-decorated war hero, and Corman didn't care. All he saw here was a talented photographer. ALSO: He tried out a new and up-coming cinematographer for "Masque", the wonderful Nicholas Roeg, whose reputation now speaks for itself. ALSO: "Masque" was supposed to be the second in the Poe series, but Corman's favorite and most-admired director, Ingmar Bergman, had just released "The Seventh Seal", and Corman thought there might be comparisons. I don't want to tell you too much about these wonderful interviews with Corman, but I would recommend you watch these before each film. The insight is most profound. "The Premature Burial" has never been released on VHS or DVD, so this is a first. The transfer is excellent, and the use of color is quite stunning...the reddist reds, deepest browns, and the usual Corman eeriness, i.e., lots of fog. I liked this one, though it was never my favorite of the Poe films. It's definitely worth your attention, with a twist ending. "Masque" is one of Corman's most admired Poe films. Corman admits that it's the only screenplay that required re-writes, adding the "Hop-Toad" sequences. Jane Asher is gorgeous, as is Hazel Court (in both films), and there's a wonderfully nasty featured role by Patrick McGee. Corman also had a bigger budget and more time to make this. Here again, the use of color is prevalent, but not red as you might think. The greens and blues seem to represent bad guys. Both films are presented in a good Panavision 2.35:1 LBX, which is great, especially in "Masque", which borrowed the sets from "Becket" and "A Man for All Seasons". (You COULD do worse...). They're gorgeous. This is a great package, not only for the very reasonable price. The interviews with Corman are essential to the ultimate appreciation of these films. Watch them first; then, enjoy! ALSO NOTICE: Maybe it's just me, but the vivid colors of the candles in the candlabras (in both films) seem to stand out. Great color photography!
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Summary: Ray Milland Fan
Review: I like the movie "Premature Burial". Ray Milland is excellent. It is one of my favorites.
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Summary: Ray Milland Fan
Review: I like the movie "Premature Burial". Ray Milland is excellent. It is one of my favorites.
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Summary: CORMAN, COURT, & POE DOUBLE FEATURE
Review: I started looking for a copy of The Masque Of The Red Death on DVD well before Halloween this year. When I finally tracked it down, I was pleasantly surprised to find it teamed up with The Premature Burial on the same disc. For the price (no pun intended) of a single movie, I got a double shot of Corman, Court, and Poe (O.K., 3 Poes if you count the Hop-Frog subplot). While Vincent Price isn't in both tales (not from lack of trying on Corman's part), it was a nice bonus to get a second Poe tale starring Ray Milland (that I'd never seen before). All in all, a great Halloween treat from MGM's Midnite Movies series.
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Summary: Two of Poe's Tales
Review: In the Masque of the Red Death, one of Edgar Allan Poe's tales, Vincent Price plays Prospero, a devil-worshipping prince. He is a sadist that stays within his castle, with his aristocratic friends, while the plague rages. Prospero practices cruelty in his castle, until "Death" enters and his guest start dying of the plague. In Premature Burial, another of Edgar Allan Poe's tales, Ray Milland is terrified of being buried alive and has put in many escape route incase he is buried alive. There is an excellent sequence in which Milland has a vision of being buried alive. After falling into a cataleptic-state he is buried alive, once revived and released, he is takes revenge. The movie has gloomy graveyards, spooky mansions, fog, spider webs, and bats for atmosphere.
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