The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) – R. Corman

The last of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations (this one drawn from an early 1838 tale), again starring Vincent Price but this time written by Robert Towne (later famous for Chinatown).  Price plays Verden Fell who we meet when he is still grieving the death of his wife, Ligeia; he wears strange sunglasses due to a recent attack of light sensitivity. Fell lives in a dilapidated abbey with just his manservant for company, aside from a stray black cat (of course!) who acts as though she owns the place.  The cat may be possessed by the spirit of Ligeia – and certainly acts jealously when Fell starts a new romance with The Lady Rowena Travanion (Elizabeth Shepherd, who also plays Ligeia). After a whirlwind courtship, the two marry, travel Europe for their honeymoon, but return to the abbey, where Fell begins to act mysteriously, disappearing at night when Rowena is asleep. When a family friend digs up Ligeia’s grave to find it empty, all signs point to necrophilia (!!!). Things get pretty crazy from that point and it’s hard to know whether Fell is hallucinating or something supernatural is going on. At any rate, it doesn’t end well.  But, as with Corman’s other Poe releases, it’s a handsomely mounted B-film with that creepy feel.