Mask of the Red Death (Croatian: Maska crvene smrti) is a 1969 animated short film by Pavao Štalter (also main animator and main artist) and Branko Ranitović for Zagreb Film. It is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death.

Mask of the Red death Maska crvene smrti
Poster
Directed by	Pavao Štalter, Branko Ranitović
Written by	Edgar Allan Poe (original story), Branko Ranitović, Zdenko Gašparović
Cinematography	Franco Zambelli, Zlatko Sačer
Music by	Branimir Sakač, Arsen Dedić
Production company	Zagreb Film
Release date	1969 (1969)
Running time	10 minutes
Country	SFR Yugoslavia
Language	none

Development

The short film is notable for its use of texturized animation, which is difficult to execute convincingly. The authors themselves describe it as a mix of collage technique and "animated paintings".[1] The movie was two years in production.[2]

Reception

Film critic and historian Giannalberto Bendazzi cited it as an example of a movie which would make people genuinely afraid. He praised the painting abilities of Štalter and described the movie as the one which invokes both admiration and disturbance.[3] Some cite it as a potential influence for Terry Gilliam's Monty Python and the Holy Grail, specifically the plague ridden landscape.[4] Film critic Ralph Stephenson described it as "perhaps the most impressive translation of Poe's ghostly world into the cartoon medium".[5]

Due to its innovations in the use of background by mixing painting textures, collage and drawings,[6] it was included in the anthology Art in Movement.[7] It is regarded as among 10 best Croatian animated short films by Croatian film critics.[8]

References

External links

• Mask of the Red Death at IMDb