I saw this movie for two reasons: I love Edgar Allan Poe and Adrian Paul. In the first place, this film is a remake of the Vincent Price film, but it is not close to Poe's short story about Prince Prospero who locks all of his aristocratic friends in his castle for all night partying and debauchery while keeping a village plague out to the poor villagers. He has his men round up the most beautiful young women in the town and he falls in love and in lust with the lovely, pure Julietta. She, of course, wants nothing to do with him and his determination to win her over while keeping the plague and the poor out drives him into insanity leading to his fall. The movie is guilty pleasure right up there with "Embrace of the Vampire" and "Nine and a Half Weeks." There are scenes involving incest between Prospero and his beautiful sister (played by the daughter of Penny Marshall and Rob Reiner, Tracy Reiner) that are not really that sexy or even remotely close to being shocking like the incestuous scenes in "Caligula." Adrian Paul, however, is the main reason I saw this film: I mean, come on, who could possibly resist looking at this incredibly gorgeous example of a man? His scenes with the sexy Claire Hoak are passionate and I for one wish I was in her shoes as he tries to seduce and win her over. The film is guilty pleasure at its finest for those who are looking to find a film that is naughty while at the same time not wanting to be shocked or grossed out.
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bondgirl678113 December 2006
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poolandrews11 September 2006Masque of the Red Death starts with Prince Prospero (Adrian Paul) waking up from a nightmare, next to him in bed is his sister/wife Lucrecia (Tracy Reiner) who comforts him. The plague, also known as the red death, is spreading across Prince Prospero's kingdom & as such he has invited all the noblemen & rich to his castle where he intends to hold a masque & thinks they will be safe inside from the plague. In anticipation of the festivities Prospero has his friend Claudio (Jeff Osterhage) go to a local village & round up some birds, Claudio forcibly takes the good looking young women from the village including a tasty looking blonde named Julietta (Clare Hoak). Back at the castle & Prospero instantly falls in love with Julietta, this doesn't go down well with Lucrecia though & jealously sets in. Meanwhile the noble have gathered & are preparing for the masque when a guest dressed completely in red suddenly turns up, a guest with a sinister motive for being there...
Co-written & directed by Larry Brand this is one bad film, maybe it wouldn't feel as bad if not for the fact that it's a remake of Roger Corman's (who sold his soul & acted as producer here) splendid The Masque of the Red Death (1964) with Vincent Price as Prospero. Believe me when I say Adrian Paul sure ain't no Vincent Price! The ultra boring script by Brand & Daryl Haney is based upon the short story by Edgar Allan Poe & is a complete mess, the film takes itself extremely seriously with 'period' dialogue that is simply terrible to listen to. The character's are poor, underdeveloped & have no real motivation for what they do including the whole incest relationship between Prospero & Lucrecia while for some bizarre reason it shy's away from any sort of exploitation that could have saved it as a viewing experience. There are two lame torture scenes & only one sequence with any nudity as the film concentrates on the dull love triangle between Prospero, Lucrecia & Julietta along with some moral soul searching about the villagers outside. This is really dull stuff & the final 'twist' at the end just adds insult to injury, everything which made the '64 version so good is totally absent from this turgid, tiresome & rubbishy remake.
Director Brand films things like a TV film, it's incredibly dull, flat & instantly forgettable. The style & visual flair of the original is missing here, the wonderful production design, bright colours, lavish sets & costumes are also nowhere to be seen. The best, most glaring, example of this is during the climatic masque ball during which time the two version can't even compare. The best part of the film is the opening credit sequence as there are various slow pans across medieval torture equipment hanging up, pity they're never used in the film. There is zero atmosphere, no tension or excitement & nothing to get excited about at all. Forget about any gore, there is a tame scene when a prisoner has a torture device screwed into his forehead, there is a slit throat at the end & that's it.
Technically Masque of the Red Death is OK, the costumes & sets look cheap but it's competent at least. The acting wasn't great & Paul as Prospero was awful, he puts in a really dour, one dimensional & frankly dull performance. Patrick Macnee really should know better & he looks embarrassingly camp in his bright red outfit complete with flowing Superman cape!
Masque of the Red Death '89 is rubbish & can't even begin to compete with the original when it comes to simple entertainment value. For Edgar Allan Poe completeists only, all others should do their best to avoid it, dare I say it, like the plague (ho, ho, ho). Yet another Masque of the Red Death (1990) came out only a year after this staring, believe it or not, Frank Stallone. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. -
daffydory28 June 2001Compared to some versions, this one I thought was pretty good. The costumes were well done and it was done more in the classic vein of the story. Sure, it doesn't have Vincent Price ;-) but that didn't stop it from being well done and with a lot of emotion. (much better than the one with Frank Stallone!!)
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Bored_Dragon7 August 2017I thought I would be bored to watch a remake of Corman's classic from 1964, but, although this movie was produced by Corman, it is not remake at all, but a completely new adaptation of Po. Sure, the essence of the story and some basic points of the plot are more or less the same, but the screenplay is very different, more complex and much better. There are less monologue and more dialogue, and good ones too, and visually this movie is more convincing than Corman's version. Still, although this movie is in every aspect better than its predecessor, it lacks impressibility Corman achieved by skillful use of vibrant colours, and of course, legendary Vincent Price. To be fair, Adrian Paul nailed the role of Prospero, but Price has that something, that "X factor", that makes all of his appearances, even in bad movies, unforgettable. And it does not matter that Paul may be better Prospero than Price, he simply is not Price. Price is Price and, once you see him in any role, no one will ever be able to fill his shoes in remakes to come.
7/10