The Raven

The Raven - a fine nostalgic trip back in time where making a movie was still magic and vision and not all CGI. Based on a poem of Mr. Poe, directed by Roger Corman, including the great actors Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and even young Jack Nicholson, The Raven is a fine mix of horror and comedy made in great colors. Great.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's been more than 50 years since this one was released, so it seems a good time to offer up some thoughts and observations. Let's start with the fact that you probably read Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" in high school. Director Roger Corman and writer Richard Matheson take Poe's work as a starting point in a most unique story of their own.

If you aren't familiar with Roger Corman, he is one of the most prolific and entertaining "B" movie makers of all time. His writer here, Mr. Matheson, is best known for his work on numerous episodes of "The Twilight Zone". Poe - Matheson - Corman would be enough, but we also get Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Jack Nicholson. Price is always a treat to watch (especially in horror films), Lorre appeared in 3 of the greatest movies of all-time (M, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca), Karloff is the master of monster, Ms Court was one of the first stars of Hammer Films, and of course, Nicholson (fresh-faced here) went on to become one of the most successful actors in movie history.

Price, Karloff, Lorre and Nicholson offer up four of the most unique voices ever heard in movies, and they each partake in the fun provided by Corman here. Yes, I said fun. This is almost slapstick comedy, and at a minimum, it's a parody of the much darker series of Poe films. If you consider it as an influence of the 1960's "Batman" TV series, you wouldn't be wrong. Even the music (heavy on the tuba) has an air of comedy.

Watching Peter Lorre as a matador is pretty funny, and some of the back-and-forth with he and Nicholson as father and son is clearly ad-libbed, but the classic comedic sequence occurs when Price and Karloff take their wizardry duel to the death and turn it into a special effects highlight reel.

This may be the only time you hear the phrase "precious viper" used to describe a woman, and if that, combined with all of the above reasons, isn't enough to motivate you to seek this one out, then maybe you will never discover why so many adore the films of Roger Corman. Compared with films of today, this style is nevermore.

Any time you get to see a film with Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Vincent Price in it, don't ever pass it up. You may nevermore get a chance to see this.

Suggested by the classic poem by Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven is set in Medieval Times and in the tongue in cheek spirit of the film, that could mean the theme park. Magician Vincent Price lives in his castle with his daughter and memories of his second wife Lenore who departed a few years back.

As the poem says a rapping came at his chamber door and The Raven enters and it talks like Peter Lorre. When Price restores it to human form it is Peter Lorre. Lorre wants Price to go challenge the chief magician of the society who is Boris Karloff. And as an inducement he tells him that the late Lenore is not so late and that she's alive and living in sin with Karloff.

Who could resist that, but also their children seem to be bonding and that would be Lorre's son Jack Nicholson and Karloff's daughter Olive Sturgess. The four of them go calling on Karloff and indeed find Hazel Court as Lenore very much alive. She's a magician groupie and Karloff's got the biggest wand.

This film is positively infectious, three great players indulging in a contest as to see who can chow down fastest on a living room set. That final magic duel lasting fifteen minutes with no dialog between Price and Karloff is alone worth seeing this for. And remember those two have some of the greatest speaking voices ever in film.

Roger Corman produced and directed a real classic here, don't miss this one when it's broadcast.

There was period of time in the late 50s to mid 60s where the horror/comedy movie became quite popular. These Karloff/Price/Lorre productions were excellent examples of this tongue-in-cheek genre and The Raven may been the best of them.

As others have noted, the only commonality with Poe's work is that there is a raven in the movie (I guess it could be a crow, who can tell the difference). There are enough shock scenes to keep a 10 year old on the edge of his seat and enough cheesy comic relief to keep him from getting creeped out.

By far the best part of the film comes with the lead actors who manage to blend the sinister with the silly in just the right balance to make the whole thing enjoyable.

Very dated by today's standards, most kids wouldn't be impressed by the scares or the laughs. But for old folks who once spent a lot of Saturday afternoons at the local theater it's a wonderful visit to the past.

Amusing , delightful film produced by American Iternational , James H. Nicholson-Samuel Z. Arkoff , with a monumental team of terror all-star-cast as Price , Lorre and Karloff . This supreme adventure in terror and humor deals with a magician (Peter Lorre) who has been turned into a raven and turns to a former nobleman sorcerer (Vincent Price) for help in this film loosely based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem , though takes only the title . Lorre asks Price to change his raven form into human and he helps him by a mixture of jellied spiders , bat's blood and dead man's hair . Then the two sorcerers , Price hypnotized by the memory of his dead second wife (Hazel Court) and his unfortunate associated go to a storm-surrounded castle inhabited by a rival wizard (Boris Karloff excels as an old sorcerer ) , the wickedest one of all . It gets funnier when our two friends along with their sons (Jack Nicholson as secondary in an enjoyable acting though you'd never guess he'd end up a superstar from his interpretation here , he had previously played ¨Little shop of horrors¨ in another comic performance ) pitting their magic wills against the nasty wizard . And the end takes place a funny duel between Price and Karloff including primitive but effective FX .

This is more of a satire than a true terror movie , it is immaculately staged , stylishly realized , very literate , confidently made and plenty of eye-popping scenes . Terror has strangely been more skillfully spoofed than in this agreeable horror/comedy Corman directed . The picture packs usual Corman's striking scenarios including mists rise the ground , lugubrious castle , shrieks come from gloomy coffins , waves pound open the shore and vague shapes move behind the dismal mansions gone to the bad . Despite the original and incredible X certificate , most children will like this enormously fun film . Colorful cinematography by the series usual , Floyd Crosby . Frightening and atmospheric musical score by Les Baxter .

The motion picture is well directed by Roger Corman and based on Richard Matheson's screenplay . It belongs the successful adaptation Edgar Allen Poe series . After his poverty-budget horror stories deemed many of them minor cult , Corman made the cycle of ¨Tales of Terror¨ which gave huge profits from minimal budgets . This Corman terror period during the 60s with classical horror adaptations also includes writer as H.P. Lovecraft with ¨The haunted palace¨ and result to be the following : ¨Tales of terror¨ , ¨The premature burial¨ , ¨Pit and pendulum¨ , ¨House of Usher¨ and on the sets and leftover from ¨The raven¨ was directed ¨The Terror¨ also with Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson . All of them with a great sense of characterization and period , eerily staged , specially in the scenes where heroes and heroines are lured by spirits , spectres or black cats . In these movies repeat the same technicians , assistants as Monte Hellman , musician composers as Ronald Stein and Les Baxter , Daniel Haller as production designer , cameraman as Floyd Crosby , among others . They were realized as vehicles for Vincent Price with the exception of ¨The premature burial¨ with Ray Milland and Hazel Court which was less successful . The last two pictures in the series , ¨The masque of death red¨ and ¨The tomb of Ligeia¨ were filmed in England to combat rising costs . Corman shot some exciting movies after these , but nothing remotely as interesting .