Spread some gravel on the floor, pour yourself some watered-down Coke, tear open a bag of stale convenience store popcorn and turn your home theater speakers to their tinniest to relive the drive-in pleasures of two killer classics from Roger Corman's famed cycle of films based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The "A" picture of the first double-feature is The Masque of the Red Death (1964), starring Vincent Price as the debauched Prince Prospero, who orgies with the Devil as the plague ravishes the countryside. The Premature Burial (1962) starring Ray Milland, is the slightly lesser of two evils, but still effective in playing upon the primal fear of being buried alive. And, that's not all: this already crowded double-feature disc also contains two nearly 20-minute interviews with Corman, who discusses his lifelong love of Poe and the production of each film. Once dismissed as drive-in fodder, Corman's Poe films have gained respect over the years, especially as Hollywood no longer makes horror films so elegant as these Grand Guignol guilty pleasures. Recommended.Unfortunately, the second double-feature is not up to snuff. Horror fans drawn by the dream-team pairings of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee in The Oblong Box, and Price, Lee, and Peter Cushing in Scream and Scream Again (both from 1969), will be disappointed in their lack of shared screen time in this cheesy double bill. The Oblong Box, based on the story by Edgar Allen Poe (but not directed by Roger Corman) stars Price as a plantation owner whose terrifying family secret is confined not to the closet, but to the attic. Price is a real cut-up in the, to say the least, confusing serial killer and spy thriller Scream and Scream Again as a modern day Dr. Frankenstein, assembling composite humans "piece by piece." Not much fun outside of the small, but devoted circle of genre buffs, this one--which is not in the same league with The Masque of the Red Death/The Premature Burial--is not recommended. (K. Lee Benson)
The Masque of the Red Death/The Premature Burial; The Oblong Box/Scream and Scream Again
MGM, 169 min., not rated, DVD: $14.95 Volume 17, Issue 5
The Masque of the Red Death/The Premature Burial; The Oblong Box/Scream and Scream Again
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