History Film / TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath

* {{Main/Foreshadowing}}: Hop Toad convinces Alfredo to dress as a gorilla for the masquerade party, who complains a bit that the costume is uncomfortably warm; Hop Toad says that it will get warmer than that, but it won't other him anymore by the end of the night. This is all a scheme by him to kill Alfredo by setting him on fire.

* Foreshadowing: Hop Toad convinces Alfredo to dress as a gorilla for the masquerade party, who complains a bit that the costume is uncomfortably warm; Hop Toad says that it will get warmer than that, but it won't other him anymore by the end of the night. This is all a scheme by him to kill Alfredo by setting him on fire.

In medieval Italy, Prince Prospero (Price) is a wealthy, tight-fisted despot who rules over his land with cruelty, justifying his behavior through his devout faith in Satan. When he discovers that the Red Death--a plague that causes its victims to bleed from every pore of their skin--has arrived in a local village, he takes captive three poor but healthy individuals--Francesca (Jane Asher), her father Ludovico (Nigel Green), and her lover Gino (David Weston) -- and orders the rest of the village to be burned to the ground. He sends out invitations to other nobles in the area to attend a masquerade ball at his castle, devoted to vice of all sorts, in an effort to stave off the Red Death, unaware that it has plans of its own.

* PluckyGirl: Francesca is quite a proactive character - who first begs Prospero to spare her father and brother, refuses to let him see her naked while bathing and tries to save her loved ones multiple times.

In medieval Italy, Prince Prospero (Price) is a wealthy, tight-fisted despot who rules over his land with cruelty, justifying his behavior through his devout faith in Satan. When he discovers that the Red Death--a plague that causes its victims to bleed from every pore of their skin--has arrived in a local village, he takes captive three poor but healthy individuals--Francesca (Jane Asher), her father Ludovico (Nigel Green), and her lover Gino (David Weston--and orders the rest of the village to be burned to the ground. He sends out invitations to other nobles in the area to attend a masquerade ball at his castle, devoted to vice of all sorts, in an effort to stave off the Red Death, unaware that it has plans of its own.

* BadBoss: Prospero likes to force his guests to grovel before him and humiliate themselves as everyone watches on and laughs. At the end, he views the spread of the Red Death in his castle as an offering to Satan and casually weaves his way through the crowd when he's infected.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Prospero displays a cruelty and folly that his literary counterpart lacks.

** The Red Death helps Gino and spares Francesca's life. In the epilogue, he's seen playing cards with a little girl and both seem to be having fun.

-->Why should you be afraid to die? [[TheSoulless Your soul has been dead for a long, long time.]]

* SelfInflictedHell: According to the Red Death, "Each man creates his own God for himself: his own Heaven; his own Hell. ''[...]'' ''Your'' Hell, Prince Prospero...and the moment of your death."
* TheSoulless: Prospero, as invoked by the Red Death.

* VillainousCrush: Prospero for Francesca, much to the jealousy of Juliana. Alfredo also lusts after Esmerelda, which is made doubly creepy by the fact that Esmerelda's actress was a ''seven-year-old girl''.

* WouldntHurtAChild: One of Prospero's very few redeeming qualities, since he seems to value innocence (though his carriage does nearly run over an infant). The Red Death is also seen at the end playing cards with a little girl who survived the village massacre.

* BadassBaritone: The Red Death himself has one to rival Creator/ChristopherLee.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The Red Death, more or less. He still serves his original purpose as in the original book, but he also spares those who he thinks have good character and worthy of living.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Prospero displays a cruelty and folly that his literary counterpart lacks.

* KillEmAll: Only ''six'' people survive this film.
-->'''Last lines:''' ...and Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

** Prospero has some fondness for Hop Toad and Esmeralda and is clearly angered when Alfredo strikes the latter for upsetting his wine when he himself didn't complain. He allows Hop Toad to comfort Esmeralda and then expresses his anger at Alfredo's actions by taking a glass of wine and hurling its contents into the man's face, totally unrepentant. He later taking pleasure in Hop Toad's revenge on Alfredo, even asking that the said dwarf be rewarded for his "entertainment".

* VillainousCrush: Prospero for Francesca, much to the jealousy of Juliana. Alfredo also lusts after Esmerelda, which is made doubly creepy by the fact that Esmerelda's actress was a ''seven year old girl''.

* VillainProtagonist: Francesco and Gino are the heroes, but most of the film's focus is on Prince Prospero, his wickedness, and his eventual downfall; it's his face on the poster, after all, and Vincent Price was by far the biggest name in the cast. None of this is surprising, since in the original short story, Prospero was the ''only'' human character of note.

In medieval Italy, Prince Prospero (Price) is a wealthy, tight-fisted despot who rules over his land with cruelty, justifying his behavior through his devout faith in Satan. When he discovers that the Red Death--a plague that causes its victims to bleed from every pore of their skin--has arrived in a local village, he takes captive three poor but healthy individuals--Francesca (Jane Asher), her father Ludovico (Nigel Green), and her lover Gino (David Weston--and orders the rest of the village to be burnt to the ground. He sends out invitations to other nobles in the area to attend a masquerade ball at his castle, devoted to vice of all sorts, in an effort to stave off the Red Death, unaware that it has plans of its own...

In medieval Italy, Prince Prospero (Price) is a wealthy, tight-fisted despot who rules over his land with cruelty, justifying his behavior through his devout faith in Satan. When he discovers that the Red Death -- a plague that causes its victims to bleed from every pore of their skin -- has arrived in a nearby village, he takes captive three healthy individuals -- Francesca (Jane Asher), her father Ludovico (Nigel Green), and her lover Gino (David Weston) -- and orders the rest of the village to be burnt to the ground. He offers solace to other lords in the area to join a gala devoted to vice of all sorts in an attempt to stave off the Red Death, unaware that it has plans of its own...

''The Masque of the Red Death'' is a 1964 adaptation of the Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath", directed by Creator/RogerCorman and starring Creator/VincentPrice.

The film greatly expands upon the original tale and combines it with another Poe work, "Hop-Frog", as well as aspects of the French tale ''Torture by Hope'' by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. It has been praised as one of Corman's best works (and, in fact, remains one of his favorite films to work on); while notorious for cutting corners, Corman maintained a high production value by filming in Britain (which gave him a British government subsidy) and using sets left over from the production of ''Film/{{Becket}}''.

Prince Prospero (Price) is a tight-fisted ruler that rules over his land cruelly, justifying his behavior through his devout faith to Satan. When he discovers that the Red Death -- a plague that causes its victims to bleed from every pore of their skin -- has arrived in a nearby village, he takes captive three healthy individuals -- Francesca (Jane Asher), her father Ludovico (Nigel Green), and her lover Gino (David Weston) -- and orders the rest of the village to be burnt to the ground. He offers solace to other lords in the area to join a gala devoted to vice of all sorts in an attempt to stave off the Red Death, unaware that it has plans of its own...

* WouldntHurtAChild: One of Prospero's very few redeeming qualities, since he seems to value innocence (though his carriage does nearly run over an infant). The Red Death is also seen at the end playing cards with a little girl who survived the village massacre.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Hop-Toad's revenge plan centers around getting Alfredo to don a gorilla outfit for his costume.

* VillainousLineage: Prospero boasts that he comes from a long line of tyrants, and it's safe to assume that all of them were as decadent as he is; his own father imprisoned a man in the yellow room for three years. While Prospero's devil worshipping might seem a bit too on the nose in terms of characterization, he states that one of his earliest ancestors was a [[CorruptChurch fanatical Christian inquisitor]], so his heritage is messier than it looks.

* InstantExpert: Gino has never fought before, but proves very skilled when given a sword (although the guard is under orders not to kill him).

* RedIsHeroic: The Red Death. Yes, his job is to infect people with his designated plague, but he also does in [[AristocratsAreEvil Prospero and his guests]]; those who survive encounters with him do so because they had good character, and so are spared. He even plays cards with a little girl at the end.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion:
** When praying to Satan, one character calls him 'Belial'. This is traditionally the name of a demon, not the devil himself. Of course it could be intentional too.
** The inverted cross as a symbol of Satanism, notably which Juliana brands herself with. This comes from Christianity actually; Saint Peter, one of the Twelve Apostles, was to be crucified and asked to have it done upside down (believing himself to be unworthy to die the same way as Jesus). The symbol is known as the Cross of St Peter, and was seen as a holy symbol - unlikely to be used by a Satan worshiper.

* DiesDifferentlyInTheAdaptation: In the short story, Prospero died before all the guests, who only succumb to the disease after discovering his body. Here, the guests drop dead first - and Prospero is the last to die.