This must-see Vincent Price and Boris Karloff horror comedy from 1963 has 83% on Rotten Tomatoes despite bombing with critics

The 1963 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic poem The Raven Starring some of the most iconic horror actors of the 1960s, it was one of eight Poe-inspired movies released in just five years. As Poe is most famous for writing horror, it may be surprising to learn that he also wrote comedy, which usually featured words. The Raven The film also mixed horror with humor, turning his gothic horror movie into an early horror comedy. While The Raven Bombed among critics of the time, it became a cult hit, earning an 83% Rotten Tomatoes score.

The Raven is about a trio of rival magicians. Horror legend Vincent Price plays Erasmus Craven, who is grieving the death of his wife, Lenore. Its titular raven is Dr. Bedlo, a sorcerer under a spell, and played by Peter Lorre, who often ad-libs the funny lines. Boris Karloff is the final member of the trio, playing the evil Scarabus, who casts the spell on Bedlo and possibly kidnapped Lenore. Writer Richard Matheson found it difficult to make a song into a movie, so he made it a comedy, and the resulting campy atmosphere makes The Raven A must-watch.

The Raven unites several horror legends

The Raven also features rising actor Jack Nicholson in an early role

Vincent Price is still one of the most iconic horror movie actors of all time, having acted in 37 horror movies, including other adaptations and movies inspired by Poe’s horror stories. Price was at the peak of his career in the 1960s And uniting him with Karloff, already famous for playing both The Mummy and Frankenstein’s Monster, ensured audiences of many ages would want to see The Raven. early”Shout Queen“Hazel Court played Lenore in her second Poe adaptation, and even a young Jack Nicholson appeared in The Raven In a very early role.

Jack Nicholson has acted in relatively few horror movies throughout his long career, but his performance as Poe-like tortured writer Jack Torrance in the psychological horror movie The Shining is often considered one of his most career-defining moments. Nicholson began his acting career in Westerns, low-budget films and the occasional horror film, and appeared alongside a cast of established horror film legends in The Raven Might have been daunting. But, he’s probably in good hands, like Nicholson was playing Rexford Bedlo, the son of veteran actor Peter Lorre.

The 1963 film is the second adaptation of The Raven starring Boris Karloff

Both of these Raven adaptations are worth watching, but completely different

In 1935, the director Lou Landers made his own use of the raven, Which, although very different from the later version, also starred Boris Karloff. Karloff plays a bank robber on the run from the policewho meets a very dangerous doctor. The doctor is a fae devotee who performs surgery on Karloff’s character, and he is played by veteran horror actor Bela Lugosi, who was best known for playing Dracula. The 1930s The Raven is still scary today, despite being 90 years old, and does not have the comedic elements later seen in the 1963 adaptation.

Not adaptation of The Raven is faithful to Poe’s song About a man who is visited by a talking raven while mourning the death of “The Lost Lenore.“1963s The Raven has a talking rob and a “Lost” Lenore, however, is a horror comedy, unlike the poem. The 1935 The Raven Features Poe staples like horror and mutilation, but no crow. Still, both The Raven Adaptations are creative and worth watching in their own right. The all-star horror cast of 1963’s The Raven is especially compelling for the young Nicholson’s look alongside so many horror movie legends.