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Title: The Raven by Lou Reed, Edgar Allan Poe, Julian Schnabel ISBN: 0-8021-1756-2 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: September, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (28 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: "I'm always fascinated by your utter lack of scruples."
Comment: Roger Corman directed many films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe. These films include: "Masque of the Red Death", "The Haunted Palace", "Tales of Terror", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Conqueror Worm", "The Tomb of Ligeia", & "The Fall of the House of Usher." "The Raven" is based on a poem from Poe. As the film begins, sorcerer, Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) is amusing himself with magic when he receives a strange visitor--a pesky raven. The raven, it turns out, is fellow magician, Dr. Bedlo (Peter Lorre). Bedlo has been stripped of his magical tools and turned into a raven by the evil Dr Scarabus (Boris Karloff). Craven turns Bedlo back into his human form and then learns that his wife--Lenore--who has supposedly been dead for two years--is alive and well and living with Dr Scarabus.
Craven immediately sets off for Scarabus's castle to discover the truth about Lenore. Bedlo's son and Craven's daughter are in tow.
The displays of magic are lots of fun to watch. Everything is campy and there's nothing very serious or frightening here--although young children may be impressed. The combination of Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff works very well. Vincent Price plays the noble, well-meaning Craven with tongue-in-cheek panache. Peter Lorre is the shady Bedlo. Karloff, naturally, is the evil magician, and together the three actors really feed off of each other's performances. A very young Jack Nicholson plays Bedlo's son. Nicholson's famous screen persona is absent, and in this film he plays a rather doltish character--displacedhuman.
Rating: 4
Summary: Corman directs Price, Karloff & Lorre in a Comedy-Thriller
Comment: Director Roger Corman figured that the Poe adaptations he had been making at American International starting with "House of Usher" had pretty much run its course, so in a final masterstroke he decided to start playing up the humor. The result might be more like "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" than "The Pit and the Pendulum," but you have to admit "The Raven" is one of the best comedy-thrillers ever made. The film begins "straight" with Dr. Erasmuc Craven (Vincent Price) intoning Poe's poem, to an actual raven. But then the raven responsds on cue...with Peter Lorre's voice! It turns out the raven is really another magician, Dr. Bedlo, who has been victimized by Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff). Craven turns Bedlo back into a human, and Bedlo agrees to help Craven find his beloved Lenore (Hazel Court). Going along on the journey are Craven's daughter (Olive Sturgess) and Bedlo's son (Jack Nicholson--this explains a lot, huh?). The film's climax is an epic magical duel between Price and Karloff (why even bother with the characters' names anymore?), where the two sorcerers keep trying to top each other.
Ultimately the credit for this one goes mainly to the script from Richard Matheson, who invariably was the screenwriter on Corman's best films. This is another one of those early films with Nicholson that must have been a great source of embarrassment to him once upon a time, but Price, Karloff and Lorre are having so much fun hamming it up in this one that you have little choice but to enjoy the indignities heaped upon the future Oscar winner. This 1963 film should not be confused with the film with the same name Karloff made in 1935, although they would certainly make a rather obvious double-bill for a Saturday night.
Rating: 2
Summary: DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB
Comment: Not a great read. Could be better with loud guitars.
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Title:The Pit and The Pendulum ASIN: B000038IFO Publisher: Goodtimes Home Video Pub. Date: 27 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $7.95 |
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Title:The Fall of the House of Usher ASIN: B00005AUK0 Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.01 |
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Title: Lou Reed: Emotion in Action by Lou Reed ISBN: 3882439238 Publisher: Steidl Publishing Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title:Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart ASIN: B000055WGT Publisher: Monterey Home Video Pub. Date: 19 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $24.95 |
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Title:Tales of Terror ASIN: 0792846893 Publisher: Mgm/Ua Studios Pub. Date: 27 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.46 |
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