The Raven

The fifth film in Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe cycle, and the entry that slides into comedy. The source is Poe's poem, though there is almost no connection between the two; Richard Matheson took only the opening and built the rest himself. The subject is rivalry between three magicians. Erasmus Craven, a magician in retirement, gets a talking raven at his door; the raven turns out to be the magician Bedlo, transformed by the rival magician Scarabus. The three eventually meet in a duel. The pleasure is having the three actors together: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. Lorre improvised some of his lines and the other two had to answer, which is where the liveliness comes from. The young actor playing Lorre's son is Jack Nicholson, and several of their exchanges are plainly ad-libbed. An enjoyable choice for anyone who likes classical horror and films where three masters play together. For a viewer expecting horror, it is not serious; it is deliberately absurd, and the closing duel is close to cartoon.