Friday, October 28, 2011

THE LIGHTNING BUG'S LAIR and HORROR'S NOT DEAD talk about my favorite Vincent Price movie.

And that movie is MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

 

 

Lets start with what HORROR'S NOT DEAD had to say;

Price was a gift to directors like Roger Corman and William Castle, able to step into low-budget B-pictures and craft characters who carried genuine weight. Put Price in front of a cardboard wall, hand him a fishing pole that can control a skeleton and watch him not bat an eye: he knows exactly what kind of film he’s in and manages to find the perfect pitch, taking everything that happens completely seriously but elevating his performance to a level that can’t help but ooze a little self-awareness. They don’t make actors like this anymore, folks. There will never be another Vincent Price and his Prospero may be one of his greatest roles...

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And now THE LIGHTNING BUG'S LAIR;

Much of the credit for the film's success has to be given over to Corman and Price. Roger Corman is thought of as something of a hack, but looking at the lush color palette and the lavish sets (borrowed from the filming of Beckett), it has all the visual brilliance of Blood and Black Lace or Susperia. Corman knew how to get the right people for the job, and the film's look wasn't hindered by cinematographer and future film director Nicolas Roeg (Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell To Earth). Corman also got some great performances out of his cast. Price is at his menacing best as the lecherous Satanist. He's so delightfully slimy that he practically oozes around the screen. Jane Asher (who was Paul McCartney's gal pal at the time and brought the then unknown (to Roger Corman) Beatle to the set) is the picture of loveliness, and her decent into nihilistic numbness is well played and believable. The lovely Hazel Court appears as a would-be bride of Satan, but her plotline is disposable and the only part of the film that felt like padding. Skip Martin clearly has a good time playing the role of the vengeful dwarf, but it was Clockwork Orange's Patrick Mcgee who shines in their scenes. While Prospero seems the noble, refined devil worshiper, Mcgee's Alfredo seems only a hair away from being a snarling beast...

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