Prospero then casts Gino out of the castle to be killed by the Red Death. During his execution, Ludovico attempts to kill Prospero. During their escape attempt, Gino, Ludovico and Francesca are recaptured by Prospero.Īt a feast, Prospero summons Gino and Ludovico. Juliana performs a ritual in the Black Room, pledging her soul to Satan, and then gives Francesca the key to Ludovico and Gino's cell. Imprisoned in the castle, Gino and Ludovico are taught armed combat so that they can kill one another as entertainment for the nobility, which they refuse to do. Meanwhile, Juliana tells Prospero she wishes to be initiated into his Satanic cult. When Esmeralda accidentally knocks over a goblet of wine, one of Prospero's guests, Alfredo, strikes her. He then tells the local nobility to come to his castle.Īt the castle, Francesca is finely dressed by Prospero's consort, Juliana, and the gathered nobility are entertained by two dwarf dancers, Esmeralda and Hop-Toad. Upon discovering her, Prospero orders the village burned and abducts Gino, Ludovico and Ludovico's daughter, Francesca. Meanwhile, the old woman dies, infected with a deadly plague known as the Red Death. Prince Prospero, a Satanist, visits the village he rules, and is confronted by two starving villagers, Gino and Ludovico. The figure gives her a white rose, which then turns red and dappled with blood. On a mountain in medieval Italy, an old woman meets a red-cloaked figure shuffling Tarot cards. It is the seventh of a series of eight Corman film adaptations largely based on Edgar Allan Poe's works made by American International Pictures.

Another subplot is drawn from Torture by Hope by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. Wright Campbell, was based upon the 1842 short story of the same name by American author Edgar Allan Poe, and incorporates a subplot based on another Poe tale, ' Hop-Frog'.

The screenplay, written by Charles Beaumont and R. The story follows a prince who terrorizes a plague-ridden peasantry while merrymaking in a lonely castle with his jaded courtiers.

The Masque of the Red Death is a 1964 horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price.

The masque of the red death story