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THE RAVEN (Roger Corman, 1963)

Posted By: cinefile
THE RAVEN (Roger Corman, 1963)

THE RAVEN (Roger Corman, 1963)
A Film by Roger Corman
1 DVD5 | 2.35:1 | Color | Languages: English, German, French, Italian | Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Flemish
86 min. | 1 single-layer full original DVD image (.ISO) | Region 2 | 4.3GB | 200MB RARs | RS

THE RAVEN is a classic of its kind for all the right reasons. First and foremost there's the inspired teaming of Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, the screen's then-current titans of terror. Price and Lorre had appeared successfully a year earlier in Corman's TALES OF TERROR, while Price and Karloff hadn't worked together in a feature since Universal's TOWER OF LONDON in 1939, THE RAVEN would mark the first teaming of all three of these screen villains. Sensing a Laurel and Hardy-style camaraderie between Price and Lorre, writer Richard Matheson concocted a medieval horror satire complete with wizards, sorcery and gleeful black comedy.

All of Corman's talented production team are on hand here. Daniel Haller's massive sets for Karloff's castle are at last allowed the full scope of their majesty in this Panavision presentation and the widescreen format also allows one to appreciate the fine camerawork of Floyd Crosby. Composer Les Baxter, by now a veteran of the POE series, fashioned a score with just the right mix of burlesque and bravado to keep pace with the on-screen antics of the trio of seasoned bogeymen.

Corman counted this fusion of horror and comedy among his favorite efforts. "The comedy was a gradually developing thing. Vincent was able to bring a great civilized and genteel air of horror with just a touch of humor that we began to play on a little more in each picture. It started with TALES OF TERROR, and then from that we did THE RAVEN as a feature-length comedy."

Co-star Hazel Court remembers that 26-year-old Jack Nicholson was always working on a screenplay during shooting, honing his skills as a writer in case his acting career didn't work out. She also got such a case of giggles working with Price and Lorre that Corman ordered them all off the set until they could regain their composure. "Vincent was always putting vegetables like carrots or asparagus under his cloak because he knew it would make me laugh."

Corman also recalls shooting the rather intricate climax: "There were some interesting optical effects used for the shafts of light shooting from their (Price and Karloff's) fingertips. Vincent was put in a crane and we had him floating over the set when he was supposed to be levitating. We set off a small cannon beside Boris. The duel of the wizards was carefully sketched and planned in advance for a film that was shot in two weeks."

His appearance in THE RAVEN gave Karloff a multi-picture deal with American-International Pictures, as well as securing his place as a horror star to yet another generation of movie fans. He had made only eight films during the previous decade, the last being his turn in 1958's FRANKENSTEIN 1970. He also delighted in working with old colleagues Price and Lorre, but when Lorre kept adding lines and unrehearsed physical action, Karloff, who worked from the script, made Corman very aware that improvisation was not his cup of tea.'' – David Del Valle

DISC FEATURES
  • Film
  • Scene selections
  • Original theatrical trailer

INFO
IMDB
DVDDrive-in

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