Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

christopher-underwood Watching this again after many years and with such a wonderfully clear print is a revelation. The story is slight but well told with stunning cinematography and a most impressive set, cleverly lit with colour tints, inspired perhaps by Mario Brava. Vincent Price has the time of his life, as impressive in close up as in medium. If he overdoes the old acting bit we love him for it because he does it so well. Certainly he makes most of the rest of the cast look a little wooden and we long for the arrival of Barbara Steele. Of course the wait is worth while but perhaps we could have had some flash backs early on in the film when we are gradually being let into the true horror of the situation. This is a very good solid Corman production, helped by decent script from Matheson but much reliant on the aforementioned, Price and Steele.

GL84 Receiving notice of her death, a man travels to the castle of her husband to see his sister only to learn that his belief in her being corrupted by it's torturous past makes him believe that he has prematurely buried her and begins tormenting them to ensure his secret is kept hidden.This here was a pretty pleasant surprise. Like the majority of the film's in this series, what really makes for a great time here is the overwhelming and truly glorious Gothic splendor featured here, which is the generally prerequisite grand Gothic castle and it's usually elaborate surroundings. The castle itself isn't that bad, but the catacombs are it's best locations, with the cobwebbed walls, hidden rooms astutely located, and also features some great places within that manage to go for the usually grand spectacle of the overly large mansion. The second half here, though is what really makes it watchable with a spectacular series of actions. This all starts when the revelation is made about it being possible she's still alive and the torment undergone and it only gets better from there as this starts with the ploys about it being in the imagination from the childhood trauma and the evidence presented against it. Carrying on from the discovery of the personal items left behind, the ghostly voices and noises heard in the night and the trashed room, this is all quite fun and sets the stage for the group wandering into the crypt. The shocking discovery of the dead body is quite enjoyable as the one found is quite grotesque, looking realistic and freaky at the same time while the other really big scene, the resurrection, is completely eerie and creepy, with the bright spot of not revealing everything about the figure until the end. Only the body is shown, with the face kept in the shadows even during the ensuing chase through the catacombs, which is the bright spot about the scene. There's also an elaborate stalking chase right after it and a mystery as well where the complete identity of the figure is kept in the shadows and only a small portion seen throughout for a wonderfully brilliant scene. The final ten minutes, where the title comes into play, is simply fantastic done within a pretty creepy location and actually generates some really suspenseful moments where the closer it comes, the more suspenseful it is, and it really drives the scene. The location used for this scene is actually almost as good, comprising of an elaborate crystal design of weird structures along the outer edges and being a similarly beautiful and creepy place. This is all quite enjoyable since it doesn't have a whole lot of negatives. One of the most apparent is the slow build-up in the beginning of the film. This starts out incredibly slow, as the beginning is full of nonsensical dialog about what he's there for. It sets up a nice mystery, but there's nothing interesting in the characters wandering around spouting dialog about a character's battle with a disease. It tries to set-up a mystery, but it's not that interesting and never really means as much as it should due to the incredibly boring introduction and really doesn't do much for the film. It's also apparent that it's a low-rent version of the film film in the series and plays through many of the same features without doing much else differently. Otherwise, this here was pretty entertaining.Today's Rating/PG: Mild Violence.

Johan Louwet The second Poe movie was even a better experience for me than the first (The House of Usher). I doubted they could beat the atmosphere of House of Usher but they did. The torture room in the basement with all the gruesome devices covered in dust and spider webs, just great. The story and back story were here also better (deeper more elaborate) than House of Usher. The scenes from the past are shown in flash backs in blueish black and white while the rest of the movie is in color. The time setting is 16th century, the whole interior of the castle and the clothes it all seems true to its era. Those final scenes are marvelous with the elements named in the title being the central point. Not only breathtaking, edge of the seat stuff they are the perfect result of how Vincent Price's character was driven to insanity. Or how bad things that happened in the past get repeated again by future generations. I don't think anyone but Price could have played this role with such charisma as he did.

LeonLouisRicci After, some say, a slow start, this is a Creepy Gutwrench of a Film with Director Roger Corman, Cinematographer Floyd Crosby, Writer Richard Matheson, and Score Composer Les Baxter all contributing to the look and feel of this Gothic playground. Of course Vincent Price and Barbara Steele do nothing but enhance this to a Kinetic and Killer early Sixties Horror entry.The Final Act is full of disturbing and penetrating imagery and is bizarre and haunting. The last image on Screen is Legendary. From the opening Psychedelic liquidity, Years ahead of its Time, along with spine tingling Musical Chops, the Audience is Catapulted to another place and Time just this side of the Spanish Inquisition.A brutal and sadistic era of torture and mayhem. The residue remains and has scarred the Psyche of Protagonist Nicolas Medina along with a Freudian Frenzy of Mother and Father Shock. This is the set up and is Disturbing to say the least. It all leads to a Climax of Poetic Justice and for the Time this is Horror Movie Madness at its best. It still holds up quite well and is Low Budget Articism with "The" Low Budget Artisan Corman Directing this as though it were a Masterwork. Some say it is. The Masque of the Red Death (1964) aside, no argument here.