The Raven

Worth watching for the stellar cast alone (including a very young and somewhat bewildered Jack Nicholson). The light tone is welcome, and there are several good laughs (including the raven's first line, which isn't what we're expecting). The pace drags a bit towards the middle with a lot of pointless running around, but the final wizard's duel is a hoot. All in all a good time - only this and nothing more.

A great time that was introduced to me by my father, and something I was able to introduce to my son. Next up it's hemophilia.

This was a lot of fun, mainly because of the interactions between the key players. Overall it's quite light in tone, and the premise of the titular poem is stretched paper thin; this is actually quite refreshing after the more po-faced (pardon the pun) examples of the genre. It's entertaining to see see a young Jack Nicholson show up as well. Likeably daft.

A nice flip on the Raven atmosphere and general stuffiness of those regal horror flicks. Of course Corman had done this thing with price a bunch of times and I'm just a sucker for it. For the sets. For Price's voice and his cadence. Peter Lorre is one of cinema's greatest cucks

Price, Lorre, Karloff, Nicholson. Really that's reason enough to watch this silly movie that turns The Raven into a film about wizards and magic duels. It's completely absurd but fun to watch because while no one is taking any of it seriously they're still doing just enough to give us good campy fun.

Oh my god, this was fucking fantastic. Back in the day, this must have been every horror fan's (with a sense of humor) dream; Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff (and a young Jack Nicholson who does a pretty awful job), all in the same movie and all doing a fantastic job! I had a massive grin on my face the entire time, especially during the duel, which was fantastic. It's a shame it wasn't a serious adaptation of Poe's poem though. 'What's that?' 'Entrails of troubled horse..'

Price. Karloff. Lorre. Nicholson? Damn funny and it's obvious the actors had a lot of fun making this.

Uneven but enjoyably silly horror-comedy can't quite compensate for some sluggish pacing (especially once the gang arrive at Karloff's castle), but the good-will generated between Price, Karloff and a hilarious Lorre, all playing into their iconic screen personas, makes this a treat nonetheless - baby Jack Nicholson is also fun to have around. Typical cheapie Corman production definitely doesn't show, with beautifully, lushly appointed set and costume design.

Buncha really good actors hard-selling the most ridiculous premise.

Roger Corman goes for a straight horror comedy in this adaptation of the famous Poe poem, "The Raven," and it works like a charm. It's filled with wonderfully cliche gothic sets and themes which make you feel right at home when watching it during Halloween season. The cast is wonderful and is filled with cinema legends; Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Jack Nicholson all play key roles in this film. Very funny and very tongue-in-cheek, "The Raven" is sure to entertain.

Wonderful cast and a fun story, nothing more.

Roger Corman is definitely the king of B movies.

Cheesy horror-comedy featuring three Hollywood veterans, this movie is really only entertaining on a novelty level.

Nice old-fashioned and comfortable horror comedy with a very young Jack Nicholson, and also a Karloff who was obviously long past his prime. Lorre is his usual grumpy joker self, and he and Price never fail to entertain. Special effects are laughable, which is fine since this is mostly a comedy, if a rather slow-paced one.

Corman returns to the well here, making the inspired choice to make a parody of his first five. This has nothing to do with the Poe poem (save a raven), but it's a nice contrast to the others, which get a bit formulaic if watched consecutively. The cast is great, with Price, Lorre, Karloff, and Nicholson all appearing. The wandering eyes in the casket gag is GREAT. It overstays its welcome a bit and loses steam as it moves along and might have been even better at around an hour.

OK, so if I had known there was such a thing as horror comedy, maybe I wouldn't have dismissed the whole horror category. The movie really is terrible, but there's a sense of fun that permeates throughout (maybe the kooky special effects) with such an all-star cast. It left me wanting more, which I thought I'd never say about the genre.

The tone is light and naïve, to the point I was tempted to consider it a kid's movie. Interesting cast and direction too

Great cast, funny and delightful Gothic horror comedy from Corman. Price vs Karloff is worth viewing this alone.

An enjoyable goof, with little Poe and little horror, but lots of classic actors bouncing off each other. Could easily be shown to kids who want something a *little* scary. (Though damn, that's a hell of a retcon on the poem's Lenore.)

An adaptation of Poe by an extreme stretch, The Raven is solely of interest for the horror all star cast assembled, who do their best under Corman's typically limited direction. The sets, costumes and effects aren't bad for their time and budget, and it is clearly tongue in cheek. Pity it isn't funnier or more faithful to its source.

There are some funny moments throughout (Lorre is especially good) but the middle drags on for far too long. The highlight is probably the magical duel at the end which still manages to be very entertaining despite the extremely dated sfx.

66.1.

"Just because Corman is incapable, which he is, of making a Bergman film, it's unfortunate that that didn't happen." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/12/episode-84-edgar-allan-poe-adaptations.html

Roger Corman #8

Afraid he was starting to repeat himself, Corman injected this one with some comedy. And it is actually indeed funny, especially Lorre as the raven. It also has Karloff as the charming antagonist, who faces of with Price in the end in an enjoyable sorcery battle (with dated sfx). Plus a very young Jack Nicholson who holds his own very well among his more famous older peers.

79.000

Epic sorcerer battle. Long time since I've seen this. [edit: re-watched 10/31/15; kept the same rating].

I think this is the movie by Corman I enjoyed less. Apart from the usual good points of his movies, the lack of a really good humour (note: it's a comedy) spoils it and didn't work for me, it even made me sleepy. Corman has made better things, even better bad things.

Pretty funny with some dry spells.

Starts off rather terrible with completely unfunny Price and Lorre with a bumbling Nicholson. It doesn't get any better until Karloff enters the picture; what they really needed was a straight man and Boris is one of the best. This film gets much more interesting when finally the ravishing Hazel Court appears in a darker role. The old school wizards' duel is awesome in a cheesy but secretly always wanted to see sort of way. Overall disappointing but the final act is satisfying.

Three veterans of horror team-up with a young Jack Nicholson for this silly old thing.

Better than the Corman's usual Poe stuff--perhaps because it bears almost no relation to the poem itself. The magician's duel between Price and Karloff is enchanting (pun intended).

And people complain about movies having nothing to do with their source material now. Still a cute movie.

This movie is fun to watch, it's exciting, funny, and the actors are great to watch.