The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

A man's obsession with his dead wife drives a wedge between him and his new bride.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (short story), Robert Towne (screenplay)

Stars:

Vincent Price, Elizabeth Shepherd, John Westbrook

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vincent Price	...	Verden Fell
Elizabeth Shepherd	...	The Lady Rowena Trevanion / The Lady Ligeia
John Westbrook	...	Christopher Gough
Derek Francis	...	Lord Trevanion
Oliver Johnston	...	Kenrick
Richard Vernon	...	Dr. Vivian
Frank Thornton	...	Peperel
Ronald Adam	...	Minister at Graveside
Denis Gilmore	...	Livery Boy
Penelope Lee	...	Lady Rowena's Maidservant

Storyline

Some years after having buried his beloved wife Ligea, Verden Fell meets and eventually marries the lovely Lady Rowena. Fell is something of a recluse, living in a small part of a now ruined Abbey with his manservant Kenrick as the only other occupant. He remains infatuated with his late wife and is convinced that she will return to him. While all goes well when first married, he returns to his odd behavior when they return to the Abbey from their honeymoon. The memories of Ligea continue to haunt him as well as her promise that she would never die.

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Plot Keywords:

19th century | exhumation | black cat | tombstone | secret passage | 

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Taglines:

Even on her wedding night she must share the man she loved with the "female thing" that lived in the Tomb of the Cat!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

House at the End of the World

Filming Locations:

Castle Acre Priory, Swaffham, Norfolk, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alta Vista Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French censorship certificate: - 13.

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Goofs

Position of Ligeia's arms when lying in bed. When Rowena fall on her her arms are in a position like holding something. Few minutes later, when Verden take a look on the bed hidden by the black curtains, their arms are in other position.

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Quotes

Verden Fell: 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.

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Connections

Referenced in Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's the Fantastic Four (2015)

User Reviews

Stylish but ponderous

"Ligeia" is one of my very favorite E.A. Poe stories, a masterpiece of suspense that doesn't reveal its secret until the very last word. Like a lot of Poe's stories, however, the transformation to the screen isn't always an easy one. A great deal of the action in the short story takes place in the narrator's head, and to make a feature length movie out of it there must be some added action and characters.

The screenwriter here, Robert Towne, would go on to bigger and better things and garner fame and awards while doing it. But this early script of his is a rather modest one. The action drags more and more as the film goes on and the sense of horror and tension dissipates rather than builds as the film progresses. Plus there's that annoying black cat (left over from another Poe story, perhaps?)

What points this movie does get are for style. Roger Corman wasn't a schlock director by any means; he had a great eye and and gave his films a distinctive look and feel. The cast is a very good one as well. Vincent Price does the usual fine job we expect from him and I liked actress Elizabeth Shepard as the Lady Rowena, Price's wife who succeeds Ligeia. I wasn't familiar with her before seeing this movie and I found her very watchable. But 'The Tomb of Ligeia' is hardly classic Poe or a memorable horror film. But fans of Corman and the Hammer Films type of productions may want to see it.