The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
…………………………………………………
The Tomb of Ligeia Movie Review
The Tomb of Ligeia is a 1964 British horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price. It’s one of the weaker Corman Poe adaptations.
………………………………………………….
“The eyes, they confound me.
There’s a blankness, a mindless sort of malice in some Egyptian eyes.
They do not readily yield up the mystery they hold“
………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
A man’s obsession with his dead wife drives a wedge between him and his new bride. Firstly, ‘Ligeia’ isn’t one of my favorite short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. It has some interesting themes, but it’s far from his most memorable works. Similarly, the movie adaptation is far from the best that Corman created with Price in the lead. It’s pretty solid, but you would hardly call it engaging for today’s audiences.
Yes, the main issue here was its ridiculously slow pace. The movie dragged so much that it was very difficult to be engaged with it. In fact, it felt very long, which was an issue as its runtime is very short. A bigger emphasis on the horror atmosphere and thrills than dialogue would have made it more involving for viewers.
On the other hand, this is by far the most visually accomplished of Corman’s Poe adaptations. They actually shot this picture on location and what a location this was! Ancient ruins in Norfolk, England made for one unforgettable setting that enriched the entire movie for me significantly. It was gorgeous to behold and so pleasantly mysterious.
The score is also strong, the directing is solid and the acting performances are also fine. Yes, Vincent Price was probably too old to play this role, but at least he delivered another memorably hammy performance that was fitting this material like a glove. Elizabeth Shepherd in a dual role of Rowena and the titular Ligeia stole the movie from Price himself as she was competent and very memorable.
………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
The Tomb of Ligeia has a very memorable ending of total destruction and chaos. The black cat that was used here for horror was pretty striking and fun. However, in adding so many elements from other Poe tales, Corman here lost the themes of resurrection and deterioration that characterized this particular tale. The dialogue is strong throughout, but again too excessive.
The Tomb of Ligeia is one of the most visually accomplished Roger Corman Poe adaptations. The ancient ruins of Norfolk made for such a powerful, mysterious central location. The movie also has a memorable ending of total destruction and chaos. The problem here is twofold. The script is rather problematic at they adapted too many of Poe tales all at once while the extremely slow pace robbed the movie of any momentum that it could have had with less dialogue and more horror scenes.
My Rating – 3.5
Results
