The Big Picture

Edgar Allan Poe’s romantic side shines in the dark tale of Ligeia, a story of love, grief, and haunting spirits.
Vincent Price masterfully portrays a grieving widower in
The Tomb of Ligeia
, a gothic horror with psychological complexities.
The film blends romance and horror, exploring the destructive force of grief and the tragic consequences of unending love.

If you’re excited about Bridgerton Season 3 but missing The Fall of the House of Usher, craving a darker take on the period romance, you could do much worse than an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation for a mix of fear and feelings. Despite being known for his darker tales, at his core, Poe was a romantic who wrote as many sonnets as he did scary stories, and he was someone who knew the cocktail of love and grief as a powerful destructive force. This is shown in a depressingly prophetic way in Ligeia, a lesser-known short story in his catalog. Originally published in 1838, it follows a nameless man falling apart from the death of his wife, the eponymous Ligeia, a passionate yet strange woman whom he fails to move on from even after remarrying. Those who know their Poe will find this idea of being torn apart by grief extremely familiar. Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe would pass in 1847, with her husband following her to the grave only two years later. However, the waifish maiden nearing death is a classic Poe character trope present in some of his most famous works, including The Fall of the House of Usher, Annabel Lee, and the lost Lenore of The Raven.

This dour, low-key possession story is one not often adapted, mostly because it’s so short. Still, the best one is a 1964 classic by the icon of cult cinema,Roger Corman, who just sadly passed away.The Tomb of Ligeia is the final entry into Corman’s Poe Cycle, and by far the most obscure story he decided to adapt. He and writer Robert Towne ran into the issue of having to expand the story, so they took a tale of a man’s descent into grief and made a hidden gem with notes from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, and enough weird psychological complexes and Byronic hero shenanigans to enthrall anyone looking for a darker take on the regency romance.

The Tomb of Ligeia Vincent Price stars as a widower haunted by the memory of his late wife, Ligeia, who believed she could transcend death. Overcome by her presence, he remarries, only to find himself and his new wife terrorized by the possibility that Ligeia’s spirit still lingers.Release Date November 29, 1964 Cast Vincent Price , Elizabeth Shepherd , John Westbrook , Derek Francis , Oliver Johnston Runtime 81 Minutes Writers Robert Towne , Paul Mayersberg Studio(s) Alta Vista Film Production

What Is ‘The Tomb of Ligeia’ About?
Prince of Horror Vincent Price, who appears in most of the Poe Cycle, plays our bereaved husband, Verden Fell. His dour demeanor, fascination with Egyptian mythology, and cool dark glasses catch the eye of the courageous and independent Rowena (Elizabeth Shepherd). Breaking out of his mourning period, Verden marries Rowena, but it seems that something — or someone — is against this new union. Ligeia seems to haunt the abbey where she was buried, unwilling to go into the afterlife and release her husband — or perhaps Verden is unwilling to release her.

The film’s strongest element is undoubtedly the relationship between Rowena and Verden. At the time of production, Corman thought Price was too old to play the romantic lead and too well-known for being a creepy, kooky character actor. But if his performance as Roderick Usher showed us anything, it’s that Price is excellent at making the audience root for the weird ones. You do genuinely feel bad for him as he struggles through both his grief and the possessiveness of his wife’s spirit. There is a lot of back and forth as to where the malicious force is coming from, whether Ligeia is a real spirit, or if Verden has psychologically snapped from the grief of losing her and the vice-like grip she had on him when she was alive. It’s more likely that it’s a bit of both, but right in the middle is Rowena who, although capable and extremely charming, is at the end of her rope.

Related Watch the First Five Minutes of ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3: Part 1 It’s time to put on your fresh gloves and best gown because it’s time to crown the new diamond of the season.

Adding insult to injury is just how likable Rowena is as a love interest. She’s the one who decides to pursue Verden because he genuinely interests her, and if I had to choose between yet another milquetoast romantic lead in a period drama and Vincent Price, I know who I’d pick. Rather than just being the inferior second wife of the short story, a pale comparison to the magnetic powers of Ligeia, there’s potential for her to actually pull him out of this dark place, making it all the more devastating when she’s unable to. This was something Corman was so good at with his Poe adaptations. They are entertaining, campy gothic horrors, but they also get to the point Poe was trying to make. They’re as much tragedies as they are horrors, and while Corman was still bound to the confines of the pre-Hays code Hollywood happy endings, he also generates a lot of audience sympathy for the ones you least expect to sympathize with.

When grief consumes Verden, as whatever’s left of Ligeia takes him and the entire abbey with them, you almost feel like it’s unfair. That more could’ve been done to help Verden if he had just allowed himself to be helped, or if people looked at him with genuine concern at his deteriorating mental state rather than confusion or suspicion. But death isn’t fair, neither are the forces of grief and anguish. Lovelorn misery is a trait often used in darkly romantic heroes and villains you can’t help but feel for. That’s why The Tomb of Ligeia strikes a good balance not only in Verden Fell’s character but in the film as well.

‘The Tomb of Ligeia’ Is the Perfect Romance Horror For ‘Bridgerton’ Fans

Moving on from grief is a great setup for both romance and horror. Look at what’s to come in Bridgerton. The Bridgerton family’s departed patriarch casts a shadow over his eldest son, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), and his wife, Violet (Ruth Gemmell). It was teased a bit in the prequel series as the matriarch reveals her desire for it, but it’s clear that a plot thread in Season 3 is Violet Bridgerton finding new love after the loss of Edmund. Anthony vowed to never fall in love and to not feel the pain of losing it until he met Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) in Season 2, so a gothic romance such as The Tomb of Ligeia gives that grief a tangible form, one which threatens to not only ruin the grieving but drag down those who care about them. The thing that turns it into horror is the fact that it fails, that, unlike Bridgerton, true love doesn’t redeem or save anyone and is, in fact, what got the characters into this mess in the first place.

Every lover of period romances has at least one favorite that’s not exactly wholesome or even very healthy.Whether you dream of Manderley or have Mr. Rochester on the brain, as long as you don’t replicate what you watch and read in your relationships, then it’s not an issue. We get some characters who are sort of Byronic in Bridgerton, specifically Simon (Regé-Jean Page), Anthony, and especially George III (Corey Mylchreest), but someone can’t be blamed if they’re looking for some stronger, darker stuff. If that someone is you, then give The Tomb of Ligeia a look, because there’s something undeniably attractive about a love that never dies, even when the lover does.

The Tomb of Ligeia is available to stream on Prime Video

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