The Raven (1963)

★ 6.3 1h 26m IMDb

A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help.

The Raven

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Cast

Vincent Price
Vincent Price as Dr. Erasmus Craven Died 1993 · Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and performances in horror films. His career spanned other genres, including fi...
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre as Dr. Adolphus Bedlo Died 1964 · Rózsahegy (now Ružomberok), Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia) Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial ki...
Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff as Dr. Scarabus Died 1969 · Camberwell, London, England, UK William Henry Pratt (November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969), better known as Boris Karloff, was an English-born actor who emigrated to Canada in 1909. Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror...
Hazel Court
Hazel Court as Lenore Craven Died 2008 · Warwickshire, England, UK Hazel Court (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress best known for her roles in horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s. Description above from the Wikipedia article Hazel Cou...
Olive Sturgess
Olive Sturgess as Estelle Craven Died 2025 Olive Sturgess (October 8, 1933 - February 19, 2025) was a Canadian actress who worked in films, television shows, and theatre in the 1950s and 1960s..
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson as Rexford Bedlo Age 88 · Manhattan, New York, USA John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is a retired American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholso...

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 6/10 Oct 14, 2021
_**The origin of the ‘Sorcerer Supreme’ (no, not Dr. Strange)**_

In 1506, a former sorcerer (Vincent Price) aids a lesser magician who has been turned into a raven (Peter Lorre) by a great wizard (Boris Karloff). When he learns that the ghost of his beloved dead wife (Hazel Court) has been seen at the castle of the great wizard, they venture there to find out, along with the sorcerer’s daughter and magician’s son (Olive Sturgess & Jack Nicholson).

Directed by Roger Corman and written by Richard Matheson, “The Raven” (1963) is a horror comedy inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, spoofing Corman’s Poe flicks that were popular at the time. It’s amusing in the manner of the future “Young Frankenstein” (1974), yet in lush color. The trained raven is effective while the stunning Hazel Court is a highlight on the feminine front. Meanwhile there’s Nicholson as a strapping young lad.

Despite being a comedy, fans of Marvel’s Dr. Strange might be interested in “The Raven” since some of the concepts clearly inspired Stan Lee & Steve Ditko in the creation of that comic book character. For instance, the idea of a sorcerer supreme and the look of Dr. Strange, who initially resembled Price, as well as the mystic mêlée of the sorcerers at the close, which features not only bolts of magic energy but ‘shields’ to thwart opposing energies. Dr. Strange’s debut in Strange Tales #110 was on the racks a few months following the release of “The Raven.”

After the film was shot in 15 days, the superbly eerie sets were still available for a few days before demolition. Thus Corman acted quickly to concoct a script via Leo Gordon and enlisted Karloff & Nicholson for the quickie project, which turned out to be “The Terror,” released five months after this one. Boris said it was amusing the way Roger dashed around with him & the other actors filming scenes just a couple of steps ahead of the wreckers.

Unlike the goofiness of this film, “The Terror” is a thoroughly serious Gothic Horror in the mold of spooky Hammer flicks, à la “Dracula, Prince of Darkness” (1966). So if you want to see a serious early 60’s horror movie utilizing the same superb sets, check it out. It’s impossible to compare the two since they’re so different in tone, but I favor “The Terror,” which features a young Francis Ford Coppola’s early directorial work in the formidable section shot in Big Sur, California.

The film is trim at 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-
tmdb76622195 2/10 Jul 15, 2023
Welcome to one of the few negative reviews of this film. There is a fine line between cheesy, campy, crappy horror film, and funny horror film. This falls into the former category. The plot concerns three sorcerers who try to outdo each other after they visit the gothic castle home of one. The plot gives way to humor that makes Adam Sandler at his worst look like Oscar Wilde. So many people find this stuff hilarious, but the lack of laughs makes this painful to watch. Corman did one masterpiece film, "Frankenstein Unbound," but his penchant for no budget and little thought to scripts have resulted in films on the level of Ed Wood. No one dares speak of this, however, because Corman is revered for giving up-and-comers their starts and always making a dime. Anyone can make a dime off a celluloid pile that costs a nickel. "The Raven" features Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre, and they are all terrible. They mug for the camera, and do not deliver one laugh. Jack Nicholson, young and fit, shows up in time to give no proof he would ever win Oscars. Corman's direction is standard, and Richard Matheson's screenplay seems like it was composed as the film progressed. I would put "The Raven" out for the night.

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