User Reviews

Dr Richard Vollin a retired brain surgeon gets a phone call from Judge Thatcher whose daughter Jean has been seriously injured in a car crash . Despite being somewhat reluctant Vollin agrees to operate on her and saves her life . Later on Judge Thatcher returns to Vollin's house and informs that Jean despite being engaged has developed an emotional attachment to him and forbids any contact with Jean , much to Vollin's resentment . Later on a man appears at Vollin's house , an escaped convict called Edmond Bateman who wants the doctor to change his face

Many , many years ago BBC2 used to show a horror double bill in the Summer months and this was shown alongside another Lugosi/Karloff film THE BLACK CAT . It wasn't until the era of the internet that I found out THE RAVEN was the cause of so much controversy on its initial release , so much so that it effectively killed off the Universal horror film for several years . That said there's several factors at play . One is the Hays Code had been brought out the previous year limiting what could be shown on screen and the pre-code film by Tod Browning FREAKS was banned in Britain on its release . Certainly compared to the Browning film THE RAVEN is relatively tame but like FREAKS it too was banned in Britain and THE RAVEN's relatively poor box office in America meant that Universal Studio's the prime producer of horror movies thought the bottom had fallen out of the horror market so concentrated on making other movies

The one aspect the film is very very good at it is its psychological undertones of horror . Watching it today it is slightly bizarre on how it remains restrained and yet it has a rather sadistic edge just waiting to surface . Dr Vollin is played superbly by Lugosi as a sadistic control freak with an obsession with both Edgar Allen Poe and torture devices , devices it transpires that he's all too ready to use when circumstances dictate it . Would a doctor in real life be capable of such cruelty ? Let's not forget in Germany the Nazis had risen to power and were making plans for the worst crimes in human history . The Nazi death camps were governed by medical sadists of which Josef Mengele was the most notorious and was not unique in his crimes . Just over ten years after THE RAVEN was released , a separate war crimes trial took place at Nuremburg called The Doctors Trial where those indicted were tried of conducting the most cruel medical experiments against fellow human beings

Where the film fails quite badly is on a logical level . Vollin is held at gun point by Bateman and agrees to operate on him but Bateman never jumps to the conclusion that Vollin might contact the police while he's under the anaesthetic and one wonders why Vollin never thought of this . Of course as it transpires Bateman is needed to carry out some dirty work . Again the problem is how does Bateman fit in to this plan ? Surely if Vollin wants to torture and kill Judge Thatcher , Jean and her fiancé then he doesn't need Bateman's help to do this and what is Vollin going to do with the other party guests ? Kill them probably because they're witnesses but how likely is it that these seven guests have not told anyone where they'll be staying at that weekend ? Surely if they all disappear that means the police will know where to look for them ? The more you think about it the more the plan starts falling apart . Surely a simpler plan would have been Vollin blackmailing Bateman in to becoming a hit man who goes to Jean's fiancés house to kill him and one wonders why Vollin didn't do this but I guess that means we wouldn't have had a story in that case

As I said this was made just after the Hays Code was introduced and its interesting in how the cinematic morals of the time are played out on screen . If you're about to get married this means you're still not allowed to have sex , you have to stay in separate rooms , get chaperoned by a parent and even if you are married you have to sleep in different beds . The code also stipulates that anyone doing anything bad has to be made to suffer the penalty for their crimes which means the body count of the entire film is rather low at two

Despite being a very flawed horror film THE RAVEN is a very enjoyable one too . You have to meet it on its own terms and constantly remind yourself of the context of when it was made but the film is carried by its two stars . It's also a film dealing with psychological obsessions and it's here the story works very well indeed

The reason this is so effective. In one of his finest roles as the mad Doctor Richard Vollin, the icon steals every moment of the show. Black Hearted, obsessed, demanding; Bela opens the flood gates and out comes a very memorable character that fully succeeds with a sickness. A key scene where he really displays the skills with Vollin is when Judge Thatcher tells him he musn't see his daughter ever again, and the mad Doc's eyes wince sharply together while he starts demanding to the Judge to bring him Joan.

Unfortunately, Karloff shows up twenty minutes into the story, which is a considerably long wait when the film just an hour. As the murderous Bateman, he's not given a whole lot of character, other than he's violent, angry and probably just as mad as Vollin. After his operation, he's turned into a wretched, two-faced freak. More uglier than ever before. This brings on one of the most involving moments for the two horror legends. After seeing his appearance through several mirrors, he jolts into a spastic rage, and all the mirrors are shattered from his gun a-blazin'. Boris still does a fine job with the more or less supporting role, but a little more would've been nice.

The movie spends so much time focusing on Bela and letting him work the magic, that everybody else is pretty lacking during many scenes. Even Irene Ware as Joan is pretty transparent, and so much more is expected from the character of the woman Vollin is obsessed with. Other than having the rage for Poe (though, not nearly on the level of the Doctor), her ability to dance and her hidden devotion towards the Doc, not much else is given about her. The segments with her and Dr. Jerry Holdon (Lester Matthews), her fiancé, are wasted by no real display of affection. The dialog seems false and forced, aside from a scant few genuine moments of Matthews making it believable. Samuel S Hinds as Joans' Father gives the secondary role all it needs. He's protective, doesn't trust Vollin for a second and never backs down from him. In character, Hinds shows more concern for his daughter's safety than her own husband. Disappointing.

The settings and environments are brilliant, especially Vollin's mansion of trap doors, secret rooms behind bookcases, rooms where the walls come together and some that descend into a lair where Doc keeps all kinds of demented torture devices; most importantly the massive swaying blade that slowly lowers itself down into a hapless victim from The Pit and the Pendulum. Several good scenes of eye candy here.

Not really as effective as The Black Cat, IMO. Karloff and Lugosi didn't have the chemistry, Lugosi was his own chemistry. The Raven sometimes just seems like it's living in the shadow of the Black Cat. Both movies are merely just respects to the Poe stories, and stray from following in their footsteps; though, The Raven definitely gives more nods. Not perfect, but it's still a very entertaining Uni/Bela/Boris outing.

One of the regrettably few horror films centred around the 'double act' of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.

Lugosi gets the main role on this occasion, playing Doctor Vollin, a brilliant surgeon. He has little interest in his work, however, as we quickly learn early on in the film when he is called on to save the life of a woman seriously injured in a car crash. Vollin, it seems, would rather stay at home and discuss his one true passion, nay obsession: the dark world of Edgar Allan Poe.

Ultimately Vollin is talked around and does indeed perform life-saving surgery on the girl, the beautiful dancer Jean Thatcher. Vollin finds himself attracted to her and keeps in touch. As a 'thank you' to him Jean bases her next stage performance around Edgar Allan Poe's work "The Raven". At this point, Vollin's attraction for her reaches the point of total infatuation. Unfortunately Jean is already engaged to another, Jerry Halden, and her father is also wary of Vollin's fascination and warns him off.

Enter Karloff as on-the-run robber/killer Edmond Bateman. Bateman wants to turn his back on crime but needs a new face so that he will not have to spend the remainder of his life in hiding. He asks Vollin if he can perform facial surgery but Vollin tricks him and gives him a hideous new look. Blackmailing Bateman by promising to restore his looks if he agrees to help him, Vollin now has the means to carry out his macabre plan of revenge upon Jean Thatcher and those around her...

Lugosi is given plenty to get his teeth into in this entertaining film and carries the proceedings very well with a convincing portrayal of a man gradually losing touch more and more with reality and sanity, giving in to his most sordid fantasies. As the tragic Bateman, Karloff is more low key and has considerably less dialogue but still puts in a good performance through his body language and use of his eyes, skills he had already put to good use more famously in "Frankenstein".

The rest of the cast are functionary, performing their roles quite adequately but not memorably. As always with films from this cycle of horrors from the Universal studios, excellent use is made of lighting, and there are some fine sets on display. It all holds up fairly well today, and is a well-paced entertaining yarn, let down only by occasionally flat dialogue, some humorous characters added inappropriately to the mix and, worst of all, a plot 'twist' at the climax that is so blatantly signposted well in advance that the gradual build up of tension in the latter third of the film is greatly diluted and Bateman's ultimate change of allegiance comes as no surprise at all.

Overall The Raven is above average but with a few too many weaknesses to be deemed a classic.

Because this is really Lugosi's film.

Lugosi plays a surgeon named Dr. Vollin, who falls in love with a dancer whose life he saved. Which would normally be fine, except that the dancer is engaged to someone else and the Doctor is crazier than bat guano. His other hobbies include Edgar Allen Poe and building torture devices in his basement, so you can really see where this is going.

Not surprisingly, when he doesn't get his way on the girl, he decides the best solution is to invite everyone over to his house for a night of murder and torture.

Karloff has kind of a minor role as a criminal who becomes the unwitting dupe of Lugosi's mad doctor. It was really interesting because at this point in their careers, Karloff was the bigger star (hence, why he got top billing.) Karloff would state later that Lugosi boxed himself in by never learning to speak English proficiently, and that was probably true to a degree, but this film along with the Black Cat showed he had some range as an actor.

The most infamous of the Karloff-Lugosi collaborations has to be the 1935 film The Raven. It is their second co-starring feature in which Bela runs roughshod over Boris onscreen while the movie itself was deemed so distasteful that it resulted in the British film ban which torpedoed the production of horror films for two years. Today it is frequently viewed as a companion piece to The Black Cat (1934) that lacks the former's atmosphere but serves up a faster pace while being equally gruesome.

Dr. Richard Vollin (Lugosi) is a brilliant surgeon and obsessed devotee of Edgar Allen Poe to the point he recreates many of the torture devices depicted in Poe's stories. Vollin saves the life of the lovely Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) and falls madly in love with her much to the disapproval of her father Judge Thatcher (Samuel S Hinds). After being forbidden from seeing her again Vollin concocts a plan to torture him, Jean, and her fiancé Jerry Halden (Lester Matthews) with the aid of escaped fugitive Edmond Bateman (Karloff). Bateman is initially unwilling to cooperate until Vollin promises to "fix his face" to avoid police detection; the deceitful doctor instead severs some nerves in his neck which hideously paralyzes half his face (another classic Jack Pierce makeup design). Pretty soon everyone is assembled in Vollin's home and during a driving rainstorm his evil scenario commences . . .

Clocking in at 61 minutes The Raven is a masterpiece of concise storytelling. So much information is succinctly conveyed via clever dialogue, quick scenes, and revealing closeups. Most of the action takes place in Vollin's labyrinthine home; the dwelling is the James Bond Astin Martin DB5 of houses with countless gadgets and means of creatively killing someone. The abode contains secret doors, a Pit and the Pendulum style descending knife, a room where the walls come together, a bedroom that is actually an elevator, and a switchboard that turns the entire residence into an impenetrable fortress. As the master of his lethal domain Bela Lugosi is having the time of his life enacting a raging, sadistic, egotist and the audience is easily swept away by his intensity. The film takes its cue from him and gleefully tosses subtlety aside while thoroughly embracing a wonderful lack of logic.

Bela Lugosi unleashes one of his most powerhouse portrayals as the batty Richard Vollin. Next to Dracula this character represents the most complete package of the Lugosi mystique. He radiates charisma while being both mesmerizingly deranged and possessing the sex appeal to beguile Jean. Vollin is clearly more charming and magnetic than her fiancé which could have led to all sorts of interesting possibilities. One of the most memorable bits in the film is the speech Vollin gives to his party guests regarding his interpretation of The Raven poem; he briefly betrays his homicidal intentions and Lugosi's fervor perfectly sells the moment. The final scenes, where Vollin is absolutely out of his mind, are so fun because Lugosi really goes for it with exaggerated gestures, line readings, and insane, cackling laughter. He dominates the film despite being second billed and receiving half the salary of his rival costar.

Reduced to a sidekick role, Boris Karloff doesn't appear until the 16 minute mark as the slow-witted Bateman. In yet another rendition of the disobedient servant he is consistently insubordinate to Vollin; it's actually quite amazing that the brilliant mastermind constantly trusts his lackey with tasks. Despite having few opportunities to shine Karloff manages some impressive moments and easily manipulates audience sympathy since, like the Monster, he is more misunderstood than evil. Boris even unleashes his monster growl in a couple scenes. He is at the center of a showpiece scene in the film wherein Bateman, wanting to see his new face, shoots out 6 full length mirrors that depict how monstrous he looks while Lugosi cackles maniacally from above.

The supporting cast is small and features some familiar genre faces. Irene Ware's piercing scream shatters the soundtrack in the opening scene and returns many times over the next hour. Miss Ware is undeniably sexy and contributes a superficially fine performance although the script should have further explored her infatuation with Lugosi. In this regard she comes off as a bit simple by underestimating his obsession with her (this is Lugosi, after all, and he's far from subtle) but she is most effective in her scenes with Karloff when she shows him legitimate kindness. Lester Matthews essentially plays an extension of his annoying, bland suitor role in Werewolf of London. He's not particularly sharp in deducing the scope of Lugosi's villainy, either. One man who is on the ball concerning the bats in Bela's belfry is Samuel S. Hinds as Judge Thatcher whose pleas fall on deaf ears until they're all nearly killed. Hinds is memorable as the one incisive character who nonetheless nearly manages to get bisected in his spiffy jammies.

The Raven is a nifty, clever, swift moving film that functions much like an old time serial than an atmospheric horror film. Never intended to be taken seriously it does nothing but entertain and provide Bela Lugosi with one of his signature roles. Unfortunately, in a supreme irony, the movie would derail the actor's career for several years once the British horror film ban kicked in. Lugosi rarely enjoyed good fortune in Hollywood but when the Tinseltown sun chose to shine on him he provided his fans with many memorable portrayals including Dr. Richard Vollin.

The Raven is the second teaming of Karloff and Lugosi, and this time it's Bela who's the black-hat bad guy, while Boris takes on the sympathetic brute-role he did so well. There's plenty of black humour to be had - the above dialogue is uttered by Karloff after Lugosi's mad surgeon has hideously distorted his face - and the last twenty minutes gives us serial-style thrills as the poor saps lured to Lugosi's house appear doomed to take the place of some of Poe's protagonists.

The Raven opens splendidly; a quick car-crash and we are soon off to Dr. Richard Vollin's (Lugosi) house, where we get a splendid short rendition of Poe's poem, Lugosi's profile wonderfully contrasted with a looming stuffed Raven. Judge Thatcher (Samuel S. Hinds) begs Vollin to save his daughter Jean (Irene Ware) who has suffered a serious head injury in the crash we witnessed at the beginning of the movie. Initially reluctant, Vollin gives in and saves Jean's life, developing a Poe-like infatuation for her in the process. Perhaps somebody saw the early rushes for Mad Love as the situation is almost identical.

Enter Karloff's San Quentin escapee Edmond Bateman, seeking a new face from Vollin, in a strange echo of one of his victims during a bank job. Unwilling to give Bateman the combination of the safe, he suffers an acetylene torch in the eyes for his trouble. Vollin, rejected by Judge Thatcher as a suitor for Jean, realises he can use Bateman in a scheme of revenge....

Lugosi was never more gloriously over the top than here. It's great fun to watch him put his murderous scheme into action, and Karloff, who surprisingly has a more limited part, does well too. Bateman wants to change his ways, but once made hideously ugly, is forced to do Vollin's will if he wants a cure. Actually Karloff's makeup is unintentionally funny. Poor Boris, second best again to Lugosi.

The Raven is great fun, complete with descending bedroom and the blade from The Pit And The Pendulum. Gone is the art-house decadence of The Black Cat; in its place is a blackly humorous horror-thriller...