Producer-director Roger Corman had already made seven profitable pictures with plots derived, sometimes very loosely, from works by Edgar Allan Poe before closing the series in 1965 with this moody gothic-inspired by the 1838 short story "Ligeia." As expanded by Corman and screenwriter Robert Towne, it is a tale of obsessive love that transcends even death. This classic horror title would make a fine addition to your library's DVD collection.
It opens with Verden Fell (Vincent Price), an aristocrat with vision problems that require him to wear dark glasses, somberly burying his wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd). A black-haired beauty, she was an atheist who believed that death could be overcome by sheer force of will, and the local priest objects to her internment in consecrated ground.
The ceremony is also disrupted by a screeching black cat that seems to take possession of Ligeia’s spirit. Soon afterward, Lady Rowena (also played by Shepherd) takes a fall from her horse while out riding with her fiancé Christopher Gough (John Westbrook), and is rescued by Fell. They fall in love and marry, but their life together is soon upset by what appear to be interventions from Ligeia, first through the cat and then via creepy apparitions. Traumatized, Rowena suffers hallucinations as she stumbles about the manor house, and eventually suspects that her increasingly distraught husband is hiding a secret from her—as indeed he is.
Its revelation leads to a finale that takes the film into the more conventionally horrific territory of Corman’s previous Poe adaptations, with flames consuming the house and timbers crashing down from the ceiling. Until that point, however, The Tomb of Ligeia opts for a more subtle, impressionistic style, in keeping with the fever-dream atmosphere of Poe’s original tale. The picture is also distinguished by Corman’s decision to shoot at a real location—the ruins of Castle Acre Priority in Norfolk, England—rather than on obviously artificial sets in studio soundstages, which gives it a look very unlike that of the earlier films in the series.
The overall effectiveness of the result is undermined by the age differential between Price and Shepherd, which makes their whirlwind courtship rather implausible, but given the limitations both do well, Price—at least until the finale—toning down the hamminess to which he was prone and Shepherd bringing admirable energy to her dual role; there is also a fine turn by veteran character actor Oliver Johnston as Fell’s ever-loyal butler.
With extras that include the theatrical trailer, an excerpt from director Joe Dante’s Trailers from Hell series, and no fewer than three audio commentaries (the first by film historian Tim Lucas, the second by Corman, and the third by Shepherd), this can be warmly recommended for developing your classic film collection. This title could be a part of a Vincent Price film retrospective or any Edgar Allen Poe library programming.