31 Days of Halloween: The Masque of the Red Death

We revisit loose Poe adaptations today with producer/director Roger Corman's The Masque of the Red Death. This 1964 Vincent Price vehicle was filmed on the standing sets from Becket, the recently-completed film adaptation of the play of the same name. Hence, Masque has sets far beyond the usually meager Corman budgets would provide.

Prince Prospero(Price), an oppressive tyrant, holes up in his castle with dozens of friends and sycophants while the Red Death ravages the countryside. Peasant girl Francesca(Jane Asher), her lover Gino(David Weston), and her father Ludovico(Nigel Green) are drawn into Prospero's debauchery. As Prospero's schemes unfold, his mistress Juliana(Hazel Court), his "friend" Alfredo(Patrick Magee), and his jester Hop Toad(Skip Martin) all plot against him. Meanwhile, the  mysterious Man In Red lurks behind the scenes...

Vincent Price brings a charming, oily menace to Prospero that no one else could have managed. Like Karloff, Price's villains often had a sympathetic side that allowed us to relate to them on some level. Prospero is vile and despicable through and through, an absolutely rotten bastard any way you look at him. It's nice to see Price really cut loose with a truly evil character.

The rest of the cast is competent, with a few standouts in the form of Hazel Court and Jane Asher. Asher reportedly brought her boyfriend Paul by the set, where he met Corman and some of the cast and crew. They were surprised when they discovered that Paul was part of an obscure rock group called the Beatles; perhaps a few of you hardcore music historians have heard of them.

The Masque of the Red Death is only one of eight Poe adaptations Corman was responsible for, and it's among the very best. These films represent the high point of Corman's filmmaking career in the minds of many people; for the most part, they've aged well, and remain entertaining on their own merits to this day. For fans of Vincent Price, The Masque of the Red Death displays the actor in one of his most satisfying villainous roles. Unfortunately, the film appears to be currently unavailable on DVD, aside from some overpriced secondhand copies. The film appears regularly on TV, though, so keep an eye out for it. It's worth the trouble.

31 Days of Halloween: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

It's Werewolf Wednesday, and today's film features not only the Wolf Man, but Count Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and the truly terrifying Abbott and Costello!

By 1948, Universals' horror cycle had pretty much run out of steam. After 1945's rather lackluster House of Dracula, it seemed as if we may have seen the last of those classic monsters. Fortunately, someone hit upon the marvelous idea to give the classic monsters a sendoff with the screen's top comedy team, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The result is a truly hilarious comedy that is surprisingly respectful of its monster characters.

Baggage handlers Chick(Abbott) and Wilbur(Costello) receive large crates that have been imported by McDougal(Frank Ferguson) for his house of horrors. Skeptical of McDougal's claims that the crates contain the real Dracula(Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein Monster(Glenn Strange), the duo agrees to deliver them in person so that they can be inspected by an insurance agent. Dracula rises from his coffin, hypnotizes Wilbur, and leaves with the Monster, and Chick and Wilbur find themselves in jail for theft!

Wilbur quickly becomes a pawn in Dracula's scheme to give the Monster a new brain, while Larry Talbot(Lon Chaney Jr.), in hot pursuit of the vampire, tries to stop him. Wilbur also has to deal with the advances of Dr. Sandra Mornay(Lenore Aubert) and Joan Raymond(Jane Randolph), each of whom have their own motives. On top of everything else, there's a wonderful cameo by the great Vincent Price at the end!

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein--titled The Brain of Frankenstein during pre-production-- is a very satisfying film. The filmmakers made the wise decision to play the monsters straight, treating them with respect, rather than lampooning them. This careful balance makes the film a more fitting sendoff for the three featured monsters than the straightly-played House of Dracula. The film also features some terrific Dracula transformations provided by animator and Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lantz.

The cast does a very good job with the material. Abbott and Costello are wonderful, as usual, and even the monsters get a rare opportunity to display their comedic skills here and there(and be sure to watch for Glenn Strange cracking up during the scene in which Costello accidentally sits in his lap!). It's particularly wonderful to see Bela as Dracula one last time, still bringing every ounce of regal menace to the role that is expected. Unfortunately, this would be Bela's final role in a film at a larger studio; it was zero-budget quickie affairs from here on out. Thankfully, this film provides him a suitable swansong for his most famous role.

Despite its status as a comedy, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is every bit as satisfying for horror buffs as it is for viewers who are in it strictly for the comedic value. There is never a dull moment, and despite a few lapses in logic(a gigantic castle in Florida???!?!), the script is more than adequate, and always respectful of its monsters. It's a far cry from the Gothic horror masterpieces that originated the series nearly two decades earlier, but the film is a pretty good finale for them nevertheless. This one is highly recommended.

31 Days of Halloween: The Comedy of Terrors

The horror comedy is a tricky thing. It requires a delicate balance that can elude some very gifted filmmakers, and even one of the driving forces behind the finest example of the horror comedy (Young Frankenstein) can find it impossible to duplicate its success(look no further than Dracula: Dead and Loving It).

One film that gets it right is AIP's 1964 release The Comedy of Terrors. AIP had great success releasing films that were mostly independently produced, most notably with a seemingly endless stream of Roger Corman films. These included the fondly remembered Poe series starring the great Vincent Price.

The Comedy of Terrors boasts an all-star cast, some beautiful sets, and lovely cinematography by Floyd Crosby. Waldo Trumbull (Price) is a greedy, alcoholic lout who married his neglected wife Amaryllis (Joyce Jameson) just so he could take over the undertaking buisness owned by her elderly father, Amos Hinchley(Boris Karloff). With his abused assistant Felix Gillie(Peter Lorre), Trumbull saves money by re-using the same coffin over and over again, just tossing the bodies in the dirt after the families have left the funeral. All the while, Trumbull must dodge his Shakespeare-quoting landlord, John F. Black, Esq(Basil Rathbone).

Amaryllis has aspirations of being a great opera singer, unfortunately for Trumbull(and the viewer!).This provides several of the film's funniest moments, as do Trumbull's endless attempts to poison his father-in-law. Karloff is delightful as Hinchley. The eulogy he gives is one of the film's high points. Lorre's hapless, lovesick Felix is endlessly endearing, and Rathbone is wonderful as the energetic (and unbalanced) Mr. Black. Price is charmingly roguish, despite the rotten things he does over the course of the film.

Much of the humor in The Comedy of Terrors is rather broad, but there are many subtle moments as well. The film presents a nice mix, and the twists and turns as the plot races toward its conclusion easily hold the viewer's interest. The film is loads of fun through and through, and gives these great actors a rare opportunity to display their comedic talents. If you're in the mood for some more lighthearted Halloween-friendly fare, The Comedy of Terrors is right up your alley.