The Raven (1963)
The legendary “Triumvirate of Terror”—Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff—star in this twisted tale of sorcery most fowl. Director Roger Corman and screenwriter Richard Matheson deliver a tongue-in-cheek take on Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poem.
Dr. Craven (Price), the son of a great sorcerer (now dead), was once quite skilled at the profession but has since abandoned it. One evening, a cowardly fool of a magician named Bedlo (Lorre) comes to Craven for help—the evil Scarabus (Karloff) has turned him into a raven and needs someone to change him back. He also tells the reluctant wizard that Craven’s long-lost wife Lenore (Hazel Court), whom he loved greatly and thought dead, is living with the despised Scarabus. Featuring Jack Nicholson in an early screen role, this Corman-Poe classic about two wizards dueling for magical supremacy is utterly bewitching!
