Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Raven Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 18, 2014

Note: This film is available in the bundle The Vincent Price Collection II.

Vincent Price’s career spanned everything from classic noir ( Laura) to somewhat questionable biographies (he played a rather unlikely Joseph Smith in Brigham Young in a film which always delighted this non-Mormon Utah native), but Price’s lasting legacy will probably always be the horror films he started making in the 1950s with the now iconic House of Wax 3D. Scream Factory, the horror themed imprint of Shout! Factory, gave Price fans a great Halloween present last year when they released The Vincent Price Collection, which included a gaggle of Price’s American International Pictures releases, often made in collaboration with Roger Corman. Scream is back now with a second volume just in time for this year’s Halloween festivities, casting a somewhat wider net that features some of Price’s horror themed outings for other production entities (as well as some AIP features). Once again generally strong technical merits and some fun supplements make this an enjoyable “treat” for horror fans.

Edgar Allan Poe hit the big time, in public recognition if not in piles and piles of cold, hard cash, when his now iconic poem “The Raven” was published in 1845. While the poem seemed to capture some previously unknown fancy on the part of the general public, and was soon being parodied or otherwise appropriated for various uses, it was odd enough that it seemed to defy any straightforward attempts to adapt it to other media like stage presentations. That same difficulty kept “The Raven” from ever being dramatized in any meaningful way, though from the earliest days of silent cinema and on through the first rush of Universal horror films in the 1930s, Poe’s best known poem continued to provide a certain amount of inspiration for various projects. 1935’s The Raven featured Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in a rather intense tale of revenge, one that was in fact so intense that it precipitated the decline of the horror genre which had been Universal’s bread and butter for at least the previous few years. Almost thirty years later Karloff was back for another go at The Raven, this time courtesy of Roger Corman and Richard Matheson, who (as with several other of Corman’s supposedly “Poe inspired” works) co-opted Poe’s title while leaving little of the original concept. The 1963 The Raven is a largely comic affair pitting two aging magicians against each other, while brief allusions to Poe’s poem float through the woodwork like, well, a raven gliding on a coastal breeze.

As repeatedly is the case in several of the Corman-Vincent Price outings from this general period, Price plays a man mourning his wife. In this case, he’s a medieval magician bearing the wonderful name of Erasmus Craven. Craven is surprised one evening when a raven comes knocking (and/or pecking) at his chamber window, and the intrigued sorcerer lets the bird in, at which point Corman and Matheson offer one of the greatest one liners in their entire Poe oeuvre. Without spoiling the surprise, let’s just say that this raven’s vocabulary consists of more than a simple “nevermore.”

The raven actually turns out to be an enchanted wizard named Bedlo (Peter Lorre), who is returned to his human form with a little help from the good (?) doctor Craven. Bedlo wants to exact revenge on the sorcerer who transformed him in the first place, a man named Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff). Craven is compelled to join Bedlo when Bedlo insists Craven’s supposedly dead wife Lenore (Hazel Court) is at Scarabus’ castle. Accompanied by Craven’s daughter Estelle (Olive Sturgess) and Bedlo’s son Rexford (Jack Nicholson), the two head off to confront Scarabus and get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Lenore.

By this point it should be more than clear that any ties to Poe’s poem are tangential at best, but if one overlooks that perhaps peculiar element, The Raven is one of the most enjoyable Corman outings ostensibly culled from the 19th century author. The humor here is not exactly sophisticated, but the film manages to be good, goofy fun almost the entire way. While Corman continues his penchant for sticking almost entirely to studio bound sets, there’s little of the psychological underpinnings of some of his other Poe entries, giving The Raven a kind of frankly simpleminded but still often ebullient ambience.

The Raven Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Raven is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Elements are in generally very good condition, with occasional dust and flecks dotting the premises. Colors are just slightly anemic but haven't radically shifted from the original palette. Grain is well resolved, spiking in some effects sequences. There are some minor image instability issues, but overall clarity and sharpness are very good to excellent. Fine detail can also be quite good in close-ups, revealing some of the textures of the well done costumes and sets.

The Raven Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Raven's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track easily supports the film's dialogue, score and effects. While slightly shallow sounding at times, especially with regard to some of the sound effects, there is no real damage to speak of, and the entire mix is well prioritized, with dialogue always cleanly presented.

The Raven Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Richard Matheson Storyteller: The Raven (1080i; 6:37) includes interviews with the legendary writer.


• Corman's Comedy of Poe (1080i; 8:13) features Corman discussing his approach to the film.


• Promotional Record (1080p; 5:41) is basically an audio supplement that plays to a photo montage.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:26)


• Still Gallery (1080p; 5:43)


• Audio Commentary with Film Historian Steve Haberman. Haberman contributes a very knowledgeable and informative commentary, getting into everything from actor biographies to some of the shooting conditions on the film.

Though it isn't officially listed as a supplement, this feature begins with:

• Introduction to The Raven (1080i; 3:45), produced by Iowa Public Television for The Vincent Price Gothic Horrors, featuring Price discussing the film.

The Raven Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This may not be Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," but taken on its own kind of wacky terms, The Raven delivers some decent humor and fun, and despite stories of some on set conflicts, the three iconic stars seem to be having a blast. Technical merits are very good to excellent, the supplemental package is excellent, and The Raven comes Recommended.