Chillichap's Review - The Raven - Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff & Jack Nicholson 1963 Comedy Horror Movie - A Film I've Just Watched

Hello!

I've just finished watching this film on YouTube. The film has been digitally restored and is in colour. Heads up-whenever there is music playing, the sound is broken up and this can be a little annoying. I would urge anyone who watches this film to try and get past this annoyance, as I feel it's worth it.. There are quite a lot of ads too. This is the price we can pay these days for the opportunity to see some of these hidden/nearly lost gems.


It begins with the main character of Dr. Erasmus Craven a Magician of the dark arts played by Vincent Price. Living in his dark mansion with his beautiful daughter Estelle (Olive Sturgess) Dr Craven is lamenting over his lost love Lenore ala the famous Edgar Allan Poe poem. Erasmus draws a raven and a raven appears knocking at his window. To the doctor's surprise, the raven can talk and is none other than Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre) turned into a raven by arch-enemy Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff). Dr Craven removes the enchantment on Bedio with comical consequences. Bedlo tells Craven that Lenore is held in bondage by Scarabus.

There's a great comedy moment where Scarabus' manservant is under a spell and attacks everyone with a large axe. Bedlo acts as a toreador in fighting the man and covers him in a black robe.

Bedlo's son Rexford (Jack Nicholson) arrives and accompanies his father, Erasmus, and his daughter to go in search of Lenore at Scarabus' castle. There is an instant attraction between Rexford and Estelle.

They arrive at Scarabus' castle. Bedlo and Scarabus duel - another great comedy moment is when we realise Bedlo is a poor magician and Sarabus makes mincemeat of him or rather raspberry jam-you'll see! The remaining trio stays the night at the castle. Estelle goes exploring and meets Rexford who tells her Scarabus has killed his father. Lenore appears at Craven's window during a storm (created by Scarabus). It transpires that Lenore betrayed Craven faking her death to go and live with a richer, more powerful magician. It turns out Scarabus is really after stealing Craven's magic. 

Price's performance of Dr Craven is fantastic-he's whimsical, a tad cowardly, yet powerful and somewhat fatalistic. Lorre's portrayal of Dr Bedlo is great too with lots of comical moments and a a fantastic interplay with his son, where there is always tension. Karloff's portrayal of Dr Scarabus is dark and menacing whilst appearing to be an affable old man who is merely misunderstood by everyone. Hazel Court plays Lenore who turns out to be a manipulative, treacherous character with the ability to do magic of her own. Nicholson doesn't get a lot of lines, but everything he says or does is flawless and packs a punch. Sturgess plays a great damsel in distress too.

Towards the end, there's a kind of Yoda vs The Emperor moment (you'll see why I said this) followed by a long comical duel. I'm not going to ruin the ending for you. Suffice to say, there's a lot of double-crossing. I really enjoyed the film. Sadly, they don't make films like this anymore. It's a treat and I will definitely watch it again.


Thanks for reading

Matt AKA Chillichap

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