The Raven (1963)
Screening as part of the Brattle's Roger Corman: King of Cult series!
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!