
Not only does this atmospheric AIP horror-comedy feature Boris Karloff Vincent Price & Peter Lorre but it also stars a young Jack Nicholson Add a funny script by Richard Matheson & deft direction by Roger Corman & this is unbeatable fun a perfect Halloween film for the whole family Price stars as Craven a sensitive nonpracticing 16th-century wizard who begins the movie alone in his castle lamenting for the lost Lenore via the famed Edgar Allan Poe poem Naturally he's soon visited by a raven which in this case turns out to be a wine-swilling obnoxious fellow magician Bedlo (Lorre) who's been enchanted by the evil sorcerer down the road Dr Scarabus (Karloff) When it's revealed that Craven's presumed-dead wife Lenore (Hazel Court) was seen at Scarabus's castle Craven heads over to investigate along with Bedlo Bedlo's son (Nicholson) & Craven's attractive daughter Estelle (Olive Sturges) Once they arrive at Scarabus's gloomy cobweb-covered abode a wild night of horror & hilarity ensues highlighted by a climactic wizard's duel between Scarabus & Craven replete with colourful special effects & great comic timing Hardly a gloomy tale of woe as the title might suggest THE RAVEN is a hoot with the chemistry of the leads providing maximum alchemical yield