The Raven (1963)
Runtime: 86 mins
Synopsis: Not only does this atmospheric AIP horror-comedy feature Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre, but it also stars a young Jack Nicholson. Add a funny script by Richard Matheson and deft direction by Roger Corman and this is unbeatable fun, a perfect Halloween film for the whole... Not only does this atmospheric AIP horror-comedy feature Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre, but it also stars a young Jack Nicholson. Add a funny script by Richard Matheson and deft direction by Roger Corman and this is unbeatable fun, a perfect Halloween film for the whole family. Price stars as Craven, a sensitive, nonpracticing 16th-century wizard who begins the movie alone in his castle, lamenting for the lost Lenore, via the famed Edgar Allan Poe poem. Naturally, he's soon visited by a raven, which in this case turns out to be a wine-swilling, obnoxious fellow magician, Bedlo (Lorre), who's been enchanted by the evil sorcerer down the road, Dr. Scarabus (Karloff). When it's revealed that Craven's presumed-dead wife, Lenore (Hazel Court), was seen at Scarabus's castle, Craven heads over to investigate, along with Bedlo, Bedlo's son (Nicholson), and Craven's attractive daugter, Estelle (Olive Sturges). Once they arrive at Scarabus's gloomy, cobweb-covered abode, a wild night of horror and hilarity ensues, highlighted by a climactic wizard's duel between Scarabus and Craven, replete with colorful special effects and great comic timing. Hardly a gloomy tale of woe as the title might suggest, THE RAVEN is a hoot, with the chemistry of the leads providing maximum alchemical yield. [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court, Jack Nicholson
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Reviews
The Raven takes Poe's most famous poem and doesn't so much adapt it as dress it up in a clown nose and silly hat.... it's hard to shake the cognitive dissonance of Jack Nicholson posing like Burt Ward...
Anything to do with Poe other than hearing The Raven poem read aloud is non-existent.
A classic AIP horror-comedy; Lorre is priceless; Price has tongue firmly in cheek. And a young Jack Nicholson to boot!
News
posted by April 17, 2008
English actress Hazel Court, famous for her many terrible onscreen deaths in horror films of the '50s and '60s, has...


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