Tomb of Ligeia

[will.15]

This was the last and easily the best of the Roger Corman-Vincent Price collaborations. Poe said he shot this one in England to get away from the studio sets, but I suspect the real reason was to get that British subsidy money (he gave up his producer's credit to qualify for it). Most of the Poe adaptations had former Twilight Zone writers Richard Matheson or Charles Beaumont working on the script, but this one was by Robert Towne (Chinatown) and the dialogue is superior to previous outings. Vincent Price is so good and so low-key in this film, it is baffling why Michael Reeves had a pissy fit about Price being cast in The Witchfinder General. Elizabeth Shepherd is also outstanding.

[moonfleet]

One of my favourite Corman / Price collaboration with The Haunted Palace, The Fall of the House of Husher, The Masque of the Red Death and Tower of London



M.

[Grey Wyler]

Ligeia is indeed very good, but for me The Haunted Palace takes quite a bit of beating. My favourite of all the Price/Corman/ Poes remains however Tales of Terror which i always watch at least once a year.



I always remember that Tomb of Ligeia was always the hardest one to get to see, as i recall it was only shown once on the BBC and turned up years later on ITV in the late 80's early 90's, but my memory is a tad rusty.



I just wonder where The Premature Burial would rate if Price had been in the lead instead of Ray Milland.

[vincenzo]

I enjoyed Ligeia though Masque Of The Red Death is still my favourite Price/Corman.

[fluddite]

I agree with Will - the Corman Poes constitute a remarkable run of movies given the budgets (tho' perhaps not given the talents involved), but Ligeia is clearly the best-structured, best-acted, best-scripted and (Nic Roeg's remarkable work on Masque Of The Red Death notwithstanding) best-shot of the lot....

[Robin Davies]

For me the star of this film was the maid.

Her insane grin in the dream sequence and what might be the most disturbing sneeze in cinema history have stayed with me since I first saw it many years ago.

[jaycad]

I'm yet to watch an adaptation of a poe tale that does justice to the original story-the best one i've seen is the 'mystery and imagination' version of 'fall of the house of usher',i'm not that keen on any of the vincent price films as they tend to make a 15 page short story into a 90 minute film by using major artistic license.

[will.15]

I'm yet to watch an adaptation of a poe tale that does justice to the original story-the best one i've seen is the 'mystery and imagination' version of 'fall of the house of usher',i'm not that keen on any of the vincent price films as they tend to make a 15 page short story into a 90 minute film by using major artistic license.

If you want, you can see part one of Tomb of Ligeia on youtube (only the first two parts are there). It's very different from the other Poe Corman movies, much more subtle and atmospheric, greatly benefiting from the on location shooting and exterior scenes.

[jaycad]

If you want, you can see part one of Tomb of Ligeia on youtube (only the first two parts are there). It's very different from the other Poe Corman movies, much more subtle and atmospheric, greatly benefiting from the on location shooting and exterior scenes.

cheers will-i'll give it a go! I'm a big poe fan and can't understand the lack of quality adaptations of his work? A series of shorts would be ideal!

[didi-5]

I enjoyed Ligeia though Masque Of The Red Death is still my favourite Price/Corman.

Exactly what I was going to say. The Masque of the Red Death is everything a good gothic horror should be, although The Tomb of Ligeia runs it a close second. Vincent Price was, for me, the greatest actor working in this genre.

[batman]

Some scenes of the film were shot at Castle Acre Priory here in Norfolk. It's open to the public and is well worth a visit, espcially if, like me, you are a fan of this film.