Though MASQUE is one of Poe's best known stories, it doesn't offer a lot of surprises. The plot-action resembles a lot of Poe's simple "life gives way to doleful death" tales, but unlike those lesser tales, this one plays on class distinctions, as seen when Prince Prospero-- one of the few Poe characters with a proper name-- tries to give himself and his noble friends sanctuary from the ongoing plague of the Red Death.
One interesting visual effect that I've rarely seen in cinema: that the Red Death, attacked by the nobles, simply collapses into a pile of empty clothes, showing that the being that wore them was nothing but an intangible plague-spirit.
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