The Tomb of Ligeia [PG]

After the death of his wife Ligeia, Verden Fell has become maudlin and lives like a hermit in the abbey. That is until he meets the Lady Rowena and he falls in love with her. But as soon as they are married and return to the abbey from their honeymoon, strange things begin to happen. The death date on Ligeia’s tomb disappears, no certificate of death can be uncovered, Verden goes on mysterious ventures at night, and a vicious black cat begins stalking Rowena. Are they strange coincidences or has Ligeia’s will to live given her strength beyond the grave? 

Another tacky but thrilling adaptation of an Edgar Allen Poe story as depicted by Roger Corman, The Tomb of Ligeia contains all the decadent gothic tropes that one could want in a cult movie. We’ve got romance, madness, murder, and the hint of the supernatural, all wrapped up in Corman’s recognisable style of filming. It seems that Corman and Price did a whole string of these cult Poe-inspired cult films together. 

Similar to House of Usher, The Tomb of Ligeia is characterised and made real by its gothic decadence in setting and costumes. The sets are lavish and beautiful and the costumes equally so, being a little camp and clichéd in their period-ness, but nonetheless enjoyable and pretty. 

The performances and the characters themselves are a little clichéd, but still work pretty well together. We’ve got the eccentric, dapper, and maudlin widow played by Vincent Price who really just swans through this film without even trying it seems, so set in the ways is he. Of course, he’s still wonderful to watch. Elizabeth Shepherd plays the wilful and headstrong heroine tormented by the ghost of a character very similar to her. She plays the role well, but that kind of character is a little bit hard to warm to I find. But of course, that could just be a personal thing. Then we have the charming alternative love interest that is invested in uncovering a truth that he doesn’t really believe just to prove in some way his love for the married heroine. John Westbook does the role well with a predictable but working dapperness. 

Also starring Derek Francis, Oliver Johnston, Frank Thornton, Ronald Adam, Dennis Gilmore, and Penelope Lee, The Tomb of Ligeia is a cult movie characterised by its gothic decadence. Filled with romance, action, madness, and drama, it’s nothing special but it’s still very enjoyable.