THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

• Director: Roger Corman
• Cast: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston
• Film: 84mins | UK & USA | Subtitles | Intermission
• Event: Doors 6pm | Intro + Film 6:30pm – 9pm [18+]
• Takes place in the Members’ Bar (membership not required)

“SHUDDER… AT THE BLOOD-STAINED DANCE OF THE RED DEATH!”

A prince terrorises the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the ‘Red Death’, a plague that stalks the land.

BAR TRASH celebrates our 3rd year and 10th sensational season with WE ARE TRASH!, a fan-made mixtape of cult and chaotic cinema (14 May to 20 Aug 2025).

Continuing our Vincent Price Sidequest — showing exclusively at Finsbury Park Picturehouse — we are stupidly proud to present ‘The Master of Menace’ in Roger Corman’s THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964).

Filmed in England, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH is the penultimate title in the much-loved ‘Corman-Poe cycle’ of eight films that saw legendary B-movie maker Roger Corman adapt the works of Edgar Allen Poe for the big screen. Based on Poe’s short story of the same name — with another story, ‘Hop-Frog’, used as a subplot — THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH was considered by Corman to be one of the best of the series (along with HOUSE OF USHER). 

For many, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH is quite simply Roger Corman’s finest film — “Elaborate sets and costumes and Nicolas Roeg’s lush technicolor photography make this as close as Corman ever came to real greatness” (Time Out New York) — and Vincent Price “the perfect interpreter, too, of the Poe character” (Variety). We are showing the 4K Restoration of this epic film.

“There is a genuine chill of intellectual evil, because Vincent Price, initiating horrible tortures with a characteristic air of sadistic glee, also conveys a genuine philosophical curiosity as to the unknown territories into which his quest for evil may lead him.”

The Monthly Film Bulletin

Polite notice: We are showing THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH with subtitles from the best available digital source. The film includes discriminatory language about and depictions of people with Dwarfism.

// BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo and friends. Films are served with introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles / captions where possible. Tickets £8 / £5 for PH members. Adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on Instagram for updates. //