A magician (Peter Lorre) is turned into a raven by an evil magician (Boris Karloff). He goes to get help from a kind magician (Vincent Price). Price and Lorre go off to battle Karloff.
Not much of a plot--but with Lorre, Price and Karloff do you need one? Not a great movie by any means--it got more than a little silly at times,the score was dreadful and the special effects are terrible (even by 1963 standards) but I enjoyed this. Some of the lines are fun and the sets look great but it's the acting that puts this over. Price overacts (as always) but in a fun way; Lorre deadpans most of his dialogue and it works; Karloff looks great--relaxed and just having a great time in his role. Also a very young Jack Nicholson is in this--he's terrible and he later admitted that he hated this film. Also Hazel Court (looking stunning) is great in a small role. The script is good but, purportedly, Lorre ad-libbed most of his lines (I did see Price fighting not to laugh a few times). The climatic duel is a definite highlight. Worth catching.
See a letter-boxed print. I saw it on a full frame print on TV with washed-out color. Half the time I couldn't tell what was going on because of the absence of the wide screen.
Not much of a plot--but with Lorre, Price and Karloff do you need one? Not a great movie by any means--it got more than a little silly at times,the score was dreadful and the special effects are terrible (even by 1963 standards) but I enjoyed this. Some of the lines are fun and the sets look great but it's the acting that puts this over. Price overacts (as always) but in a fun way; Lorre deadpans most of his dialogue and it works; Karloff looks great--relaxed and just having a great time in his role. Also a very young Jack Nicholson is in this--he's terrible and he later admitted that he hated this film. Also Hazel Court (looking stunning) is great in a small role. The script is good but, purportedly, Lorre ad-libbed most of his lines (I did see Price fighting not to laugh a few times). The climatic duel is a definite highlight. Worth catching.
See a letter-boxed print. I saw it on a full frame print on TV with washed-out color. Half the time I couldn't tell what was going on because of the absence of the wide screen.