The Tomb of Ligeia

For his final installment of the Poe cycle, Roger Corman takes inspiration from the poignant short story “Ligeia” (1838), producing a captivating Gothic horror film in which an airy, evocative natural landscape assumes a novel importance – an entirely unexpected turn, considering the director had accustomed us to films shot on a sound stage. Corman enjoys liberally drawing on recurring elements from the Boston writer’s works: black cats, nightmares about premature burial, Mesmerism, the power of the dead over the living.

Vincent Price once again demonstrates his skill in credibly portraying the torments and hopes of an emotionally tormented character, a powerless victim of an adverse destiny (among other things, his photophobia represents a variation on the theme of Roderick Usher’s hypersensitivity to sound in the earlier “House of Usher“, 1960). No less worthy is the beautiful Elizabeth Shepherd, this time cast in a double role.

As for the plot, after an excellent first act, the screenplay begins to show some signs of sagging, particularly in its hesitant next-to-last act, before everything becomes enveloped in the customary fiery finale.