Satanas - The castle of the bloody beast
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Satanas - The castle of the bloody beast |
| Original title | The Masque of the Red Death |
 | |
| Country of production | UK , USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Roger Corman |
| script |
Charles Beaumont , R. Wright Campbell |
| production | Roger Corman |
| music | David Lee |
| camera | Nicolas Roeg |
| cut | Ann Chegwidden |
| occupation | |
| |
Satanas - The Castle of the Bloody Beast (Original title The Masque of the Red Death ) is an American - British horror film from 1964 . The film is the sixth of a total of seven Edgar Allan Poe adaptations by director Roger Corman and is based on Poe's short stories The Mask of the Red Death and Hopp-Frosch .
action
Italy in the 12th century. The cruel Prince Prospero visits a village under his rule to collect supplies for a festival. When Gino, one of the villagers, speaks disparagingly about the prince, both Gino and his fiancée's father are threatened with death by him. Gino's fiancée Francesca begs life for her fiancé and her father. Prospero takes a liking to Francesca and wants to have her, Gino and her father kidnapped to his domicile. In the village, some of Prospero's men notice the outbreak of a deadly disease, the Red Death. Prospero has the three captured and burned down the village.
The prince retreats to his castle with a group of nobles and his prisoners to be safe from the plague. The feasts of the nobles degenerate into a decadent and depraved orgy. This leads to the point that a young girl who is shown as a dancer and accidentally spilled the cup of the noble Alfredo, is hit by the same. Francesca is dragged into one of the rooms and prepared for the high-ranking guests with a bath and new clothes. In the course of time at the castle, Francesca discovers the dark secret that surrounds Prince Prospero and his lover Juliana: both of them have forsaken God and henceforth only worship the devil. Finally, Prospero also tries to convert Francesca to Satanism . She desperately holds on to her Catholic faith. Gino is supposed to compete against her father in a fatal competition in front of assembled guests. Life is given to the winner. Francesca's father tries to kill Prince Prospero during the competition. However, he suspected the attack and stabbed Francesca's father before he could kill Prospero. Since, in his opinion, the competition did not end properly, Gino is thrown out of the castle to find its end in the wilderness polluted by the Red Death.
Gino wanders through the woods when he finally meets half a dozen villagers, the only ones who could save themselves from the Red Death. They want to travel to the castle to ask Prince Prospero for forgiveness for their wrongdoings and for shelter. They ignore Gino's warnings about the prince's madness and when they arrive at the castle, Prospero kills all but a small peasant girl. Meanwhile, Gino hurries on through the woods until he encounters a gloomy figure dressed entirely in red in a clearing. With the help of questions, this figure explores Gino's conscience and then gives him his “mark”, which he is supposed to carry over the prince's castle walls.
Prospero gives a pompous masked ball for his guests. During the costume show, the noble Alfredo comes to a cruel end, who is persuaded by the small partner of the little dancer to disguise as a gorilla, to terrorize the guests. Pulled up on a chandelier with a whip, Alfredo is doused with oil and finally burns alive, amid the laughter of the guests. Francesca, increasingly traumatized by Prospero's devilries, now accepts this cruel spectacle calmly and apathetically. Prospero believes he has reached the goal of his desires. After the jealous Juliana was torn to pieces by ravens during a dark prayer, Francesca is now supposed to take her place and go to hell by his side. However, during a dance, Prospero was angry to discover that one of the guests was apparently completely dressed in red, a color that he had expressly forbidden. He follows the figure through the whole castle, past the lascivious goings-on of his guests and can finally pose them. Prospero initially considers the figure to be his master Satan, until the stranger reveals himself to him as Red Death. Suddenly all the guests of the festival are afflicted with the fatal disease, and the prince himself dies in the face of the red death that bears Prospero's face. In the confusion of events, Gino and Francesca manage to escape. You leave the castle while the eternal funeral dance of the red death continues.
In the epilogue, the Red Death meets his companions, who are also wrapped in colored robes, the Black Death , the Yellow Death, etc. They exchange information about their cruel deeds and how many victims they have claimed. The film ends with a faded-in text quote from Poe's short story The Mask of the Red Death : "And darkness and decay and the Red Death hold dominion over all!" (Original: "And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all." )
background
Corman shot Satanas - The Castle of the Bloody Beast from November 1963 within five weeks in the Elstree Studios near London. It was the first film he shot in England and the longest-running Poe film under his direction. Corman worked here with British cameraman Nicolas Roeg instead of Floyd Crosby , who had shot all of Corman's previous Poe adaptations.
The scene in which Juliana lies on an altar in an almost transparent dress while she is plagued by hallucinations was removed from the British version of the film, as were other scenes with depictions of violence or erotic allusions.
Satanas - The Castle of the Bloody Beast opened in American cinemas on June 24, 1964 and in German cinemas on February 5, 1971 .
criticism
“Superficial Poe film adaptation, mediocre staged; but excellent in decor and color photography. "
“Of the seven Poe adaptations by horror specialist Roger Corman, this is the most magnificent. Conclusion: Nostalgic horror at its best. "
Web links
- Satan - The Castle of the bloody beast in the Internet Movie Database (English)