The Raven (1963)

The Film

"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Nameless here for evermore. "

Edgar Allan Poe - The Raven

Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) is relaxing in his castle when a raven enters the room and starts talking to him, it soon emerges that the raven is none other than the magician Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre) and after instructing Craven on how to release him from his raven image, tells him that none other than the notorious Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff) was responsible - Craven has no interest in joining with Bedlo in his plan for revenge, until the doctor reveals that he had seen Craven's long dead wife Lenore (Hazel Court), alive and well at Scarabus' castle. Scared that the evil sorcerer might have trapped the spirit of his dead beloved, Craven heads for the castle, along with Bedlo and his son Rexford (Jack Nicholson), but when they arrive, they discover that things are not quite as they seem....

For the fifth of his AIP gothic horrors, director and producer Roger Corman returns from the anthology storytelling of Tales of Terror (1962) to make a feature length film using the ever popular combination of Poe, Price and a screenplay from Richard Matheson. However, compared to the relatively straight-forward horror of the earlier feature films in the series, the story here is presented with a comic twist - Corman being worried that another straight forward horror would become overly repetitive.

While The Raven is probably the best known of Poe's works, it does not easily lend itself to filmic adaptations, so Matheson has taken the opening of the poem and created a completely new story - Universal did the same nearly three decades earlier with their 1935 film of the same name - however, while the Universal picture felt like an unrelated film with some Poe references shoehorned in for marketability, Matheson's script for the AIP picture boasts a much better Poe-style atmosphere. The storyline itself is very well written, with a lot of surprising twists and turns that are quite unpredictable, a good mix of characters (most notably the obnoxious Dr. Bedlo) and an effective build-up to the climax. Unfortunately, the comedy is rather less certain of itself, and although providing a few good laughs, the film does seem torn between some clever parody sequences (best used in the scenes inside Craven's lab) and some more slapstick style comedy, often leaving the humour feeling somewhat forced.

Corman's direction is as strong as ever, working again with camera-man Floyd Crosby who had provided the strong photography on all of Corman's previous gothic horrors. He doesn't get such a chance to show off here, unlike the dream-filled Pit and the Pendulum (1961), but still works very well. AIP's resident musician Les Baxter provides the score - generally typical of the AIP gothics, he adds a few cheeky touches to the comic scenes that work well, although rather dampen a few climactic moments.

For horror fans, The Raven boasts an all star cast. Top billed is AIP's own Vincent Price, who was rapidly becoming an American horror icon, having starred in four of Corman's five gothic works to date and a variety of sci-fi horrors in the late 1950s. As Dr. Craven, Price certainly seems to be enjoying himself, but keeps a straight face throughout, helping to keep the film away from becoming a pure parody production - his scenes with the raven at the film's opening are worth the admission price alone. Joining him is the original horror icon Boris Karloff and although looking quite aged, similarly seems to be enjoying the film and gives a strong and perfectly suitable performance. Peter Lorre, never quite a horror icon, but a very well known actor, gives a good show as Dr. Bedlo - managing to make him obnoxious, but never hateable and with some very effective comedy timing. As the infamous Lenore, Hazel Court (best known as the female lead in Hammer's Curse of Frankenstein (1957)) gives a good show and as Bedlo's son Rexford, a very young Jack Nicholson looks strong, with his trademark smile visible in a few shots.

Simply put, The Raven works. A clever twist on Poe's work, with a nicely written script, it benefits from strong direction and a splendid quintet of lead actors, although the comedy does seem a little uncertain at times. It is certainly superior to Universal's 1935 film and ranks well alongside the best of the AIP gothic horrors - recommended to fans of the series, it would make a good starting place for newcomers as well.

In Brief

The DVD

Summary

• Well written with some good humour and including some top notch acting from two of the biggest horror stars. Recommended.
  

• A generally good looking version of the film although not perfect, extras are interesting.

Links

• IMDB entry

• DVD Rewind - DVD version comparisons.

• Find more films starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Hazel Court or directed by Roger Corman.

• Find our reviews of other works inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.

• For explanations of technical terms, see the DVD Dictionary.

All text in this review written by Timothy Young - 7th November 2006.
Text from this review not to be used without authorization.

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