The Masque of the Red Death 1964 Watch Free

The Masque of the Red Death Watch Free

On a mountain in medieval Italy, an old woman meets a red-cloaked figure shuffling Tarot cards. The figure gives her a white rose, which then turns red and dappled with blood.

Prince Prospero’s Reign

Prince Prospero, a Satanist, visits the village he rules, and is confronted by two starving villagers, Gino and Ludovico. Meanwhile, the old woman dies, infected with a deadly plague known as the Red Death. Upon discovering her, Prospero orders the village burned and abducts Gino, Ludovico, and Francesca, who is Ludovico’s daughter and Gino’s lover. He then tells the local nobility to come to his castle.

Dark Events Unfold

At the castle, Francesca is finely dressed by Prospero’s consort, Juliana, and the gathered nobility are entertained by two dwarf dancers, Esmeralda and Hop-Toad. When Esmeralda accidentally knocks over a goblet of wine, one of Prospero’s guests, Alfredo, strikes her. Meanwhile, Juliana tells Prospero she wishes to be initiated into his Satanic cult.

Imprisoned in the castle, Gino and Ludovico are taught armed combat so that they can kill one another as entertainment for the nobility, which they refuse to do. Juliana performs a ritual in the Black Room, pledging her soul to Satan, and then gives Francesca the key to Ludovico and Gino’s cell. During their escape attempt, Gino, Ludovico, and Francesca are recaptured by Prospero.

The Final Dance

At a feast, Prospero summons Gino and Ludovico. During his execution, Ludovico attempts to kill Prospero. He fails and dies at Prospero’s hands. Prospero then casts Gino out of the castle to be killed by the Red Death. In the Black Room, Juliana undergoes her final initiation ceremony, drinking from a chalice and suffering hallucinations of figures who stab at her as she lies on an altar. Awakening from her dream, Juliana is killed by a falcon. As the nobles gather about her body, Prospero comments that Juliana is now married to Satan.

Outside the castle, the remaining villagers beg Prospero for sanctuary, and he orders them to go away. When they refuse to move, he has them shot down with crossbow bolts, deliberately sparing only one small girl.

Wrath and Despair

Meanwhile, Hop-Toad, enraged by the striking of Esmeralda, persuades Alfredo to wear an ape costume to Prospero’s masked ball, where no one is allowed to wear red. In the guise of the ape’s trainer, Hop-Toad ties Alfredo to a lowered chandelier and raises him above the assembled guests. He then soaks Alfredo with brandy and fatally sets him on fire before fleeing.

During the ball, Prospero notices the entry of the mysterious, red-cloaked figure. He and Francesca follow the figure into the Black Room, as Prospero believes it to be an ambassador of Satan. He asks to see its face, to no avail. At the ball, all of the nobles die of the Red Death, but their corpses keep dancing. Prospero asks for Francesca to be spared and given the same high status in Hell as he believes he himself will receive. The figure complies, and Francesca sadly kisses Prospero before leaving. The figure turns out to not be a servant of Satan, but the Red Death itself. Prospero rips off its mask to reveal his own blood-spattered face beneath. Horrified, he attempts to flee through the now-infected crowd, to no avail. Cornering Prospero in the Black Room, the Red Death notes that his soul “has been dead for a long time” and kills him.

The Red Death’s Legacy

The Red Death (Anthrax) later plays with the surviving girl, using the Tarot cards. Other similarly cloaked figures gather around the Red Death, each wearing a different color: white (Tuberculosis), yellow (Yellow Fever), orange (Scurvy), blue (Cholera), violet (Influenza), and black (Bubonic Plague). They discuss among themselves how many people each of them “claimed” that night. When asked of his work, the Red Death notes that only six are left: Francesca, Gino, Hop-Toad, Esmeralda, the little girl, and an old man from a nearby village. The Red Death declares “Sic transit gloria mundi” (Latin for “Thus passes the glory of the world”) and the cloaked figures walk into the night. Over the procession are Poe’s words: “And darkness and decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”.

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