The Premature Burial (1962)

The Premature Burial is the only Roger Corman film based on an Edgar Allen Poe story that does not feature Vincent Price in the lead role. Before principal photography started, Corman had a spat with American International Pictures, the studios responsible for the rest of Corman’s Poe pictures. Corman decided to take The Premature Burial to another studio, but because Price was in an exclusive contract with AIP, the lead went instead to Ray Milland. Before filming began, though, AIP re-acquired the production.

The Premature Burial is certainly not the best film from Corman’s Poe period, but that is definitely not due to Milland replacing Price. The story itself seems stuffy and dragged out, and not even the stunning gothic visuals can save it.

The film tells the tale of wealthy Guy Carrell (Ray Milland), a man obsessed with his fear of being buried alive. He is convinced that his father suffered from catalepsy (a catatonic-like state where one appears dead and has no reaction to stimuli, but in actuality is still alive) and was buried alive. Furthermore, he believes catalepsy runs in the family and that he will end up just like his father. His sweetheart, Emily Gault (Hazel Court), convinces Guy to marry her even though he suffers from these peculiarities and his sister, Kate (Heather Angel), disapproves of Emily.

For a while, Guy appears okay until strange circumstances surrounding his mansion force him to face his old phobia. He then constructs an elaborate mausoleum with enough bells and whistles to allow him to escape and alert people should he be interned while still alive. Emily and her doctor friend, Miles Archer (Richard Ney) convince Guy that his behavior isn’t healthy and make him destroy the tricked-out mausoleum. Soon after, Guy suffers a heart attack after a distressing discovery…is he really dead or will he be buried alive?

As stated above, The Premature Burial is definitely not the best Roger Corman had to offer during his Poe period of filmmaking. Overall, it’s a bit drab and boring compared with his other films like The Masque of the Red Death. The story doesn’t capture the terror of Poe’s original story and even devolves into silliness most of the time.

The best part of the film certainly involved the unveiling of Guy’s fool-proof mausoleum. Should he be buried alive, the crypt featured a collapsible coffin, a way to unlock the front door, a rope ladder up to the roof, a large bell to alert others of his presence, food, alcohol and even poison as a last resort! This was definitely a pimped out palace of the dead! The rest of the film just dragged, though, and the “reveal” ending really made no sense, especially since there was absolutely no mention or even suggestion of it throughout the rest of the film. The last few minutes felt very tacked on and unnecessary.

As for the actors, they did a commendable job moving through the stiff story. Ray Milland is certainly no Vincent Price, but he played a wonderful Guy and really made his phobia believable. Hazel Court, a regular in Corman’s flicks, also did a good job as the concerned wife Emily, even if the script gave her little to do but run after her husband and nag at him all the time.

The atmosphere of fog-shrouded cemeteries, eerie woods and a stuffy mansion was wonderful, but just wasn’t enough to support the entire film. Though I loved the scenes in the graveyard, in the woods and in the crypt, the gothic visuals just weren’t enough to make The Premature Burial a film worth watching again.
The Premature Burial certainly isn’t a horrible film, but it doesn’t have the same heart and spirit that many other Corman flicks from his Poe heyday have. You’ll find yourself wishing that the movie would prematurely end if you find yourself watching it!

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The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

The 1960’s brought us a plethora of Edgar Allen Poe stories that were adapted for the screen. Behind these was the “King of the B’s” Roger Corman, who brought audiences Poe titles like The Fall of the House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven (1963) and, of course, The Masque of the Red Death. The Masque of the Red Death is arguable the best of Corman’s Poe adaptations. It is an ambitions film, featuring lavish sets, period costumes, Bacchanalian indulgences and a strong performance by the prince of horror himself, Vincent Price. Though the film takes a few liberties with Poe’s original story, namely adding some Satanism to the mix, it remains fairly faithful to the short story and certainly stands heads above other Corman films.

Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) is a wicked ruler, leaving the peasants to die from a strange plague called the Red Death that is sweeping the land while he and his noble friends wall themselves up in his castle. They ignore the outside world and indulge in every kind of debauchery available while breaking all the seven deadly sins of greed, gluttony, lust, sloth, envy, pride and even wrath. Prince Prospero is a Satan worshipper, though, and enjoys watching the corruption of his guests. He is baffled by peasant Francesca’s (Jane Asher) steadfast faith, and is determined to corrupt her pure spirit. Meanwhile, the Red Death creeps closer and closer to the castle, and no amount of brick and mortar or weapons can keep Death away.

The Masque of the Red Death is one of my favorite Poe stories, and Corman’s film is like watching it come alive. The stunning visuals and vibrant colors are all captured in the film. I especially liked the set design and how the different colored rooms in Prospero’s castle were presented. The contrast of light and dark is well represented within the visuals of the film; even the order of the rooms goes from bright to dark to bright to dark again. The good vs. evil theme was supported by the color schemes, including the fact that Francesca wore white in her first appearance of the castle and Prospero’s garb was always dark.

Besides the obvious color symbolism, the medieval and gothic visuals are striking. This is one of Corman’s most colorful films, and the large palette used seems decadent and sinful in itself! The bright, bold interiors of the castle are quite a contrast to the bleak peasant village and fog-shrouded countryside. The theme of class struggle within the film can be seen not only in the actions of the nobles, but also in the gaudy colors they parade around in. Of course, all, both peasant and noble, are made equal by the Red Death! This is another theme the film explores. It doesn’t matter what you believe or how much money you have because no one escapes death.

Moving on from the abundant themes found within the film, I must say that Vincent Price’s performance as the cruel Prince Prospero is a joy to watch! He is absolutely perfect as the villain, even forcing his guests to behave like animals at one point!! He does everything for his own amusement and entertainment and his lavish, non-stop ball is just a means for him to further corrupt his guests. His cold, detached demeanor makes you shiver in anticipation, but his maliciousness makes you want to keep watching what he’ll do next! On the contrary (because the film is all about contrasts), the peasant Francesca, played marvelously by Jane Asher, does things for others instead of herself. She basically sacrifices herself to save her father and the man she loves from Prince Prospero, all the while infuriating and fascinating Prospero with her acts of love and kindness.

In a film all about juxtaposing good vs. evil, it’s odd to note that though Prospero is obviously evil, Price gives him a charming subtext that is almost irresistible. No matter how evil we see him as, we can’t help but want to know more about him. It’s hard to say if this is because of how the character is written or because of how Price played him, but this temptation to follow Prospero remains.

Overall, The Masque of the Red Death is probably the best adaptation to date of the Edgar Allen Poe story. It stays faithful enough to the story but holds the audience’s interest by adding a satanic subplot to the proceedings. It also explores the sharp contrasts between good and evil through use of symbolic use of colors, costumes, sets and other visuals. The Masque of the Red Death is Corman at the top of his game during his “Poe” period, and I encourage anyone who is a fan of the “King of the B’s” or Vincent Price to check out this lavish production!

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Death Race 2000 (1975)

In preparation for its upcoming remake, helmed by the Paul W.S. Anderson, I decided to finally get around to seeing Death Race 2000, the Roger Corman produced, Peter Bartel directed cult classic.

The film is set in the futuristic “United Provinces of America” where the most popular sport is the ultra-violent Death Race 2000, a cross-country car race where mowing over unsuspecting pedestrians is a quick way to rack up extra points. The five contestants include the fan favorite (and S&M-clad) Frankenstein (David Carradine), his #1 competition the macho Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone), cowgirl Calamity Jane (Mary Woronov), Nazi Matilda the Hun (Roberta Collins) and conceited Nero the Hero (Martin Kove). All the racers also have a navigator riding alongside them, and Frankenstein’s new navigator, Annie Smith (Simone Griffeth), might be harboring a few secrets.

Meanwhile, the anti-race resistance will stop at nothing to see that the race is canceled…for good! They plan to overthrow Mr. President (Sandy McCallum) and cancel the extremely gratuitous and gory national sport, even if it means killing off the racers.

Will anyone be left ALIVE to cross the finish line in Death Race 2000?

I cannot believe I hadn’t seen this spectacularly entertaining B-movie until just recently! It just goes to show that even though you may think you’ve seen it all, something will always pop up to prove you wrong! Death Race 2000 was an absolute delight to watch. Sure it could be cheesy and lame in parts, but it was riotous nonetheless!

The film is a bombastic piece of trash cinema treasure, lewd and crude, large and in charge! While it is not as gory as I thought it would be, some of the special FX are particularly satisfying. Cars plow through pedestrians, smashing, smooshing, squishing and squashing any annoying body parts that get in the way. And, of course, who can forget the high-octane action of the actual car race? Yes, fiends, there are good times to be had watching this flick.

And of course you wouldn’t watch this for Oscar-worthy performances (you won’t find any here), but there are some very fun, recognizable faces that put on, ahem, memorable performances! Of course you’ve got Stallone here throwing his hissy man-fits, gunning down crowds and running over people with gusto as Machine Gun Joe, but the show truly belongs to David Carradine and his stoic, mysterious Frankenstein character. Of course, the woman drivers, Mary Woronov as Calamity Jane and Roberta Collins as Matilda the Hun, do a bang-up job and have their fair share of the fun as well.

The underlying message of rebellion against a big bad government was a little too Star Wars for me, but I think the simplistic and silly approach to the subject was what the film was going for in the first place, so I can’t really complain. The film was well-paced, and kept my attention throughout, except for maybe the love scenes, which I giggled through.

Fans of outrageous and over-the-top B-movies will definitely love this film…don’t wait for the remake, check this film out NOW!

Death Race 2000 is fast, furious and finishes first in my book.

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