THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

Jane Asher and Vincent Price

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964). Produced and directed by Roger Corman.

When the loathsome and cruel Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) realizes that the plague of the Red Death is beginning to ravage the countryside, he holes up in his castle with his wealthy sycophants and holds a masked ball. Unwilling participants include Francesca (Jane Asher), her father (Nigel Green) and her beloved, Gino (David Weston of Becket), all of whom are toyed with by the devil-worshiping  Prospero even as the prince tries to mold the pious and faithful Francesca into a wanton more suitable for his needs. This does not sit well with Juliana (Hazel Court of Premature Burial), Prospero's lover, who decides to become a bride of Satan instead and pays the ultimate price. In a sub-plot, the dwarf Hop Toad (Skip Martin) gets a diabolical vengeance on Alfredo (Patrick Magee), who dared to strike Esmeralda (Verina Greenlaw), the lovely little dancer and friend of Hop Toad's. When the masked ball begins, Prospero discovers that he has a very unwelcome guest in his midst ...

Verina Greenlaw and Skip Martin 

The Masque of the Red Death is based on two Edgar Allan Poe short stories, the title story and "Hop-Frog." Enough time has gone by since its release to reassess the film and see its true strengths and weaknesses. No, it is not a masterpiece: the screenplay is hokey and pretentious at times; the falcon attack on Hazel Court sort of falls flat; and a tiresome dream sequence for Court's character stops the film dead in its tracks. Still, it is a wonderfully colorful picture, photographed by Nicolas Roeg and with Daniel Haller as production designer (both men later became directors), and the performances across the board are excellent, with even Price's florid, epicene approach working for the character. David Lee's [The Very Edge] score is effective enough but seems derivative.

Verdict: Doesn't quite hold up as well as expected, but still an entertaining picture. ***,

COUNTESS DRACULA

Sandor Eles and Ingrid Pitt

COUNTESS DRACULA (1971). Director: Peter Sasdy.

After her husband dies, Countess Elisabeth (Ingrid Pitt) bemoans her fading beauty, but accidentally discovers that fresh blood acts to rejuvenate her skin. Before long she can impersonate her own daughter, Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down), whom the countess has imprisoned in a cottage when she shows up in town. Elisabeth begins a passionate affair with Imre Toth (Sandor Eles of And Soon the Darkness), and he proposes. But each time her beauty fades she turns into a more hideous hag, and she needs to continually bath in the blood of virgins. Sooner or later this will catch up with her  ... Countess Dracula is loosely based on the life of the historical 16th century Hungarian figure Elisabeth Bathory, who apparently did murder and torture numerous servant girls, although other acts are shrouded in legend and there have been attempts to salvage her reputation and blame it all on men. (In one interview Ingrid Pitt claimed Bathory "was a wonderful mother. All this stuff they say about her I do not believe." Well ... ) Filtering her story through Hammer studios, you come up with an absorbing and very well-made Gothic horror tale that has handsome settings and excellent acting, especially from Nigel Green [The Face of Fu Manchu] as Elisabeth's long-time lover, Captain Dobi; Patience Collier as her generally loyal and complicit  lady-in-waiting, Julie; Maurice Denham as the scholarly Fabio, who seems deceptively gentle; Eles; and others. It is hard to judge Pitt's performance because she was dubbed by British actress Olive Gregg, which seems strange since Pitt's Polish accent would not have been out of place and she was a competent actress -- in any case, she is quite effective in the lead. Countess Dracula reminds one of earlier films in which women killed to regain their youth and beauty such as The Leech Woman and The Wasp Woman. Harry Robertson's (aka Harry Robinson) score also adds to the picture's impact. Some viewers were disappointed that the film wasn't gorier and didn't have many more murders.

Verdict: Excellent Hammer horror production. ***.

THE FACE OF FU MANCHU

Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu: check out those nails!

THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965). Director: Don Sharp.

A number of bodies turn up dead in the Thames, and Sir Denis Nayland Smith (Nigel Green) of Scotland Yard figures his old adversary, Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee), is responsible.  Fu has developed a poison from the Black Hill poppy, a holy flower in Tibet, and uses it to kill off the entire population of a town. (This has an effective scene when two likable soldiers in the town suddenly drop dead.) This is just a demonstration of what he is capable of. In his HQ near the Thames Fu has a "drowning chamber" where he places people he wishes to kill or extract information from. His daughter, now called Lin Tang (she was Fah Lo Suee in the novels) and played by Tsai Chin, is arguably nastier than he is, and seems anxious to whip any employee who disobeys her or her father's orders. Other characters include Professor Muller (Walter Rilla of the Dr. Mabuse films) who works on the poppy formula; his daughter, Maria (Karin Dor of You Only Live Twice); her boyfriend Carl Janssen (Joachim Fuchsberger of Dead Eyes of London); Dr. Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford); and a museum director (James Robertson Justice, less irritating than usual), who insists that his establishment is impregnable, even to Fu Manchu; of course he's wrong. As usual, Sax Rohmer's famous character is less dimensional than in the novels, and Christopher Lee, oddly, makes absolutely no attempt to play him as an actual Oriental. At the very beginning of the film, Fu Manchu escapes justice by substituting someone else to be beheaded, a notion carried over from Fantomas. Whatever its flaws, The Face of Fu Manchu is fast-paced and entertaining, and has the correct period setting. Lee is suitably creepy, and the versatile Nigel Green makes an excellent Nayland Smith. The movie doesn't quite capture that certain fiendish atmosphere of the books. This was the first of five Fu Manchu/Lee films produced by Harry Alan Towers. Followed by The Brides of Fu Manchu.

Verdict: Reasonably suspenseful fun. ***.

THE RULING CLASS

Peter O'Toole

THE RULING CLASS (1972). Director: Peter Medak.

When the Earl of Gurnsey (Harry Smith) dies in a grotesque, kinky accident involving a tutu and a hanging, his son Jack (Peter O'Toole) becomes the new Earl. The problem is that Jack has been institutionalized for years and is convinced that he is Jesus and/or God. In spite [or because] of this, his Uncle Charles (William Mervyn) decides to marry him off to Charles' mistress, Grace (Carolyn Seymour) so that they can re-commit him once he's delivered an heir. But Jack, whose persona is definitely becoming darker, has different plans in mind. Coral Browne is Charles' wife, Claire, and the great Alistair Sim (Belles of St. Trinian's) is cast as the befuddled Bishop, "Bertie." The entire cast is splendid, including Michael Bryant as Jack's psychiatrist; Nigel Green [Let's Kill Uncle] as another nutcase; James Villiers as Jack's cousin, Dinsdale; and especially Arthur Lowe, who [along with Sim] nearly steals the picture as the family butler, who has inherited money from the late earl and feels free to tell everybody what he really thinks of them even as he waits on them. The first half of this zany movie, which roasts British class distinctions, religion, conservative values and the like, is very, very funny, with madcap musical numbers, such as "Varsity Drag," interspersed to complete the fun and lunacy. Alas, there's too much of a good thing, the movie goes on way too long, blunting its satiric points, and before long you're just wishing it were over. O'Toole is excellent, but his obnoxious, screeching Jack gives you a headache after a while. Some moments are painfully obvious, such as when Jack addresses the House of Lords and they are depicted in quick cuts as skeletons awash in cobwebs. This was filmed in  Harlaxton Manor, a huge, impressive [but rather ugly] house in Lincolnshire. which is now actually the British campus for the University of Evansville in Indiana.

Verdict: A little too surreal and self-indulgent for its own good. **1/2.

LET'S KILL UNCLE

LET'S KILL UNCLE (1966). Director: William Castle. 

Young Barnaby Harrison (Pat Cardi) goes to stay with his Uncle Kevin (Nigel Green) after his father is killed, and learns that the man fully intends to kill him -- as he even tells him -- for the five million dollars he inherited. Barnaby and his friend Chrissie (Mary Badham) decide it might be a good idea to kill Uncle Kevin first. What ensues is a game of cat and mouse as the kids try to outwit and murder the adult and vice versa. Unfortunately, the rather light, almost comic, tone of the picture works against the suspense and strips the film of needed tension. Cardi makes an appealing protagonist, Badham is a little creepy, Green is okay in an impossible part but radiates little menace. Robert Pickering and Linda Lawson are, respectively, a sergeant who accompanies Barnaby to his uncle's island home, and Chrissie's pretty Aunt Justine. At one point Barnaby gets into a small plane with his uncle, which makes no sense at all. A ramshackle, abandoned hotel and a shark in a swimming pool also figure in the action. Poor musical score and an incredibly flat ending. Castle directs by the numbers. 

Verdict: Despite an intriguing situation, this is pretty boring. *1/2.