The Raven

Instead of trying to adapt Poe's poem, Roger Corman's The Raven is primarily about a trio of squabbling magicians played by Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff. Much like in Tales of Terror, Price and Lorre have great comedic chemistry together. While Karloff is mostly there to lend gravitas to the picture. Hazel Court is lovely as the devious Lenore and a young Jack Nicholson plays Lorre's son Rexford. Despite indulging in many of the same tricks and tropes, The Raven is much more of a straightforward comedy than any of Roger Corman's prior Poe pictures. There are plenty of jokes throughout the movie but the climactic magician's duel at the end of the film goes for broke with big, Looney Tunes energy.

Rating: 62%

(Image from Wikipedia)