The Raven (1963)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Thanks for the memories!

A different way of telling a story

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

My review is many a year too late to be of much use to anyone but oh well, I just watched it on my local oldies channel. This fun farce includes a really (surprisingly) heavyweight cast of instantly recognizable stars such as Vincent Price (the Thriller voice over guy as my daughter pointed out), Bella Lagosi (the Grinch thanks daughter!) and even Jack Nicholson looking quite young. The plot is played for fun and the cast mostly does well with the limited acting asked of them. Perhaps I had Harry Potter on the brain but (spoiler alert) final showdown between wizards seemed remarkably like The Order of the Phoenix fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort - right down the the medieval theme of the Ministry of Magic.

The writers for this film had a heyday playing on words in connection with Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem, "The Raven." This was the earlier of two comedy-terror films released in 1963 with much of the same leading cast. The second film, "The Comedy of Terrors," had many more laughs. Still, this is a fun film to watch Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre in their haunts. Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven – the first obvious wordplay. Lorre is Dr. Adolphus Bedlo. Since he spends half of his time turned into a raven, the writers might have switched their names. Karloff is Dr. Scarabus. A young Jack Nicholson plays Lorre's son, Rexford Bedlo. The rest of the cast are good. The Price and Karloff characters are antagonists with magical powers in "The Raven." With a rather lame script and not much humor in the dialog, many may find the movie dragging. Fans of the great fright masters of the past should enjoy it.

I doubt very much that Edgar Allen Poe had laughs in mind when he wrote The Raven, but that's what screenwriter Richard Matheson and director Roger Corman aim for with this supernatural comedy that stars three of horror's greatest icons, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff.The film opens with a raven tapping at the window of sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Craven (Price), who lets the bird into his chamber and is surprised when the creature begins to talk to him, demanding to be returned to its rightful form. In reality, the bird is magician Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre), who has been transformed by Dr. Scarabus (Karloff) during a duel of magic. Craven helps to return Bedlo to his human form, and learns from his guest that there is a woman in Scarabus' castle who resembles his dead love Lenore (gorgeous Hammer babe Hazel Court). Believing that Scarabus has Lenore's spirit held captive, Crane and Bedlo travel to Scarabus's Gothic abode, accompanied by Crane's daughter Estelle (Olive Sturgess) and Bedlo's son Rexford (Jack Nicholson).I imagine that if I had seen The Raven as a child, I would hold far more affection for it, the comedy and special effects most likely to impress an undemanding pre-teen. Viewing the film for the very first (and probably last) time as an adult, I cannot help but be extremely disappointed watching three legends of horror indulging in such childish tomfoolery, none of which tickled my funny bone (Peter Lorre with wings for arms: sheesh!). And although the inevitable finalé, a magical showdown between good and evil sorcerers, sounds like a promising idea, the reality is severely underwhelming, the action inhibited by a low budget that only allows for very cheap and unconvincing visual effects.

Perhaps the most popular of the Corman Poe movies. Certainly the funniest. If you're new to the world of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe movies, let me tell you upfront that this is only related to Poe in the loosest sense. They stick a raven and a woman named Lenore in there but beyond that it's a completely new story dreamed up by Richard Matheson. Meek magician Vincent Price is approached for help by a colleague (Peter Lorre) who has been turned into a raven by evil magician Boris Karloff. Once restored to human form, Lorre informs Price that his wife, believed to be dead, is actually alive and living with Karloff. He rushes to Karloff's castle, which is just what the evil magician had hoped for.The cast is excellent and the script tongue-in-cheek. Peter Lorre is especially fun. Jack Nicholson plays Lorre's son. Lovely Hazel Court plays Price's wife Lenore and is clearly enjoying herself. There's a certain degree of cheapness about the production (it was Corman, after all) but it kind of adds to the film's charm. I enjoyed this one a lot. It's one of Corman's best. Fans of his or the stars involved will surely love it.