History Film / TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath

* KillItWithFire: Hop-Toad does Alfredo in by making him wear a gorilla outfit, tying him to a chandelier, dousing him with brandy and then lighting him on fire.

* TheMasquerade: The climax of the film.

*** 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".

* PluckyGirl: Francesca

* CardCarryingVillain: Prospero doesn't even pretend that he's not the bad guy. In his speech before the masquerade, he celebrates the "triumph of good over evil". However, he also seems to operate on BlueAndOrangeMorality.

* GodIsDead: Invoked by Prospero.

* WouldntHurtAChild: One of Prospero's very few redeeming qualities, since he seems to value innocence. The Red Death is also seen at the end playing cards with a little girl who survived the village massacre.

*** 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 ".

* HollywoodSatanism: Mysterious rituals, hatred of God, sadism for personal pleasure, and even the branding of an inverted cross on Juliana's right breast.

* DepravedDwarf: Subverted; Hop-Toad deceives Alfredo into believing he is as depraved as the rest of the party, but he is secretly plotting revenge against Alfredo's abuse of Esmerelda. Because of this, Hop-Toad and Esmerelda are spared of the Red Death in the end.

* DarkIsEvil: Prospero, who is dressed entirely in black and is a avowed Satanist. He chooses to wall himself and a few choice guests of the nobility in his own castle and party instead of helping the infected villagers.

** When Alfredo backhands Esmeralda for accidentally spilling his wine, Prospero asks Hop-Toad to tend to her, and gets his own form of revenge for the insult by hurling a glass of wine into his face.

*** Prospero has some fondness for Hop Toad and Esmeralda, clearly angered when Alfredo strikes the latter for upsetting his wine when he himself didn't complainallowing Hop Toad to comfort Esmeralda. He 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 ".

** When Alfredo knocks down Esmeralda for accidentally spilling his wine, Prospero asks Hop-Toad to tend to her.

* WouldntHurtAChild: One of Prospero's very few redeeming qualities. The Red Death is also seen at the end playing cards with a little girl who survived the village massacre.

* LoveInterest: Gino for Francesca, Juliana for Prospero, and Esmerelda for Hop-Toad.

*** Prospero has some fondness for Hop Toad and Esmeralda, allowing Hop Toad to comfort Esmeralda after Alfredo strikes her and later taking pleasure in Hop Toad's revenge on Alfredo.

* DevilButNoGod: An unusual variant. Prospero believes that Satan has killed God and taken his place; the Red Death doesn't dispute this but tells him Satan shares rule of the universe with Death.

* AltumVidetur: The last spoken phrase in the film is by the Red Death: "Sic transit gloria mundi."[[hottip:*:"Thus goes the glory of the world."]]

* 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 spareed. He even plays cards with a little girl at the end.

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 ''{{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...

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 ''{{Becket}}''.

[[caption-width-right:300:"The way is not easy, I know, but I will take you by the hand and lead you through the cruel light into the velvet darkness." [[note]]Neither the catacombs of Kali nor the vengeance of Baal are actually mentioned in the film[[/note]] ]]

* 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 ''four year old girl''.

* VillainousCrush: Prospero for Francesca, much to the jealousy of Juliana.

''The Masque of the Red Death'' is a 1964 adaptation of the Creator/EdgarAllanPoe story of the same name, directed by Creator/RogerCorman and starring Creator/VincentPrice.

* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: Openly embraced by Prospero.

** He also specifically requests that the Red Death spare Francesca, which the figure notes is "a charitable request...a rare thing with you, Prospero."