The Raven

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Alex K Universal wound up being quite infamous in 1935 with this film that effectively killed the horror genre for almost 5 years. In an effort to capitalize on the popularity of their last Karloff and Lugosi pairing the studio took another Edgar Allen Poe title, and made up their own story to go along with it. In this case the story is about a talented but unhinged brain surgeon (Lugosi) who saves the life of a young woman injured in a car accident (Irene Ware) and proceeds to become dangerously romantically obsessed with her much to the concern of her family and friends. In the meantime a wanted criminal (Karloff) approaches Lugosi about changing his appearance so he can get away, but the evil doctor has other intentions, he horrifically disfigures the man and forces him to help in his plot to torture and kill all who stand in his way of marrying Ware. Directed capably but unimaginatively by Lew Landers the film has a brisk pace and features several disturbing ideas and set pieces. The supporting cast including Ware, Lester Matthews and Samuel S. Hinds are solid but again its' a vehicle for Karloff and Lugosi. Karloff for the only time in their pairings gets the short end of the stick in an underwritten role but he makes the most of if even acting convincingly in his cheesy makeup. The star of the film however is Lugosi giving one of his best performances. He plays the dementedly unhinged and devilishly over the top Dr. Vollin to perfection dialing up his performance to an 11. He chews through his character and seems to be having an incredible time doing it and he's truly a great movie villain and since Lugosi is a brilliant actor it makes him a pleasure to watch. The Raven wasn't the best of the pairings but it had some great ideas and some great acting to keep it always entertaining Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/22/24 Full Review Jay W Karloff and Lugosi are two names forever synonymous with horror. And yes, they are not playing their iconic roles of Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster, but these two deliver great performances. Lugosi as Dr. Vollin is in top form as the over the top villain. Him combined with Karloff as his disfigured muscle would make an excellent duo as Bond villains. Vollin, especially towards the end, delights in every bit of villainy he can do. He loves torture and is "The sanest man alive!" The "haunted" house is also the best one I've seen. All the trap doors, switches, torture devices and the big ol' elevator, make the setting just as fun as the villains. It is a shame that all the other characters are as dull as dirt. They threw in some extra characters that do nothing in the story, and only served to confuse me on who was who. For the horror icons and setting, I feel it is worth the sacrifice of one hour. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/21/24 Full Review Lucas C The Raven is an underrated masterpiece. Bela Lugosi is great as Dr Richard Vollin and Boris Karloff is really good as Edmond Bateman. Its a really great movie and I highly recommend it. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/19/23 Full Review Steve D Some ridiculous elements but overall it is a lot of fun. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/12/23 Full Review Brad P The Raven (1935), another loose retelling of a Poe classic. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member I intended to give "The Raven" only a two star rating. However the performance by the late Boris Karloff convinced me to up my rating slightly. I have always felt that it was unfortunate that the late Bela Lugosi fell victim to typecasting and changing times because I always felt he was a very good and talented actor. However, "The Raven" is not one of his better acting performances. He overdoes it in the role of Dr. Richard Vollin. A retired surgeon with an obsession with the late Edgar Allen Poe (Hence the title of the film.). The scenes at the movie's climax when he reveals his plans to torture and murder his houseguests were just way too cornball to be taken seriously. On the other hand, the late Boris Karloff plays the part of escaped fugitive Edmond Bateman well. Not the best performance of his career, but he does well in the role. The supporting cast does well also for the most part. The late Lester Matthews gives in my opinion, the best performance of the supporting case as Dr. Jerry Halden. Asa far as the story itself is concerned, it's good. That's all. I think it was plausible and it was well written for the most part. In the end, "The Raven" is a good and entertaining movie, but it is not without its flaws. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Raven

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