The Raven (1935)

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago at Jun 17 18:11

Another fantastic Universal classic horror film starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, and based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Actually the title card reads "suggested by Edgar Allan Poe's immortal classic". It would be nearly impossible to make a feature-length film based solely on a poem of 108 lines. So what the filmmakers do is weave elements of Poe's poem into the story. For example, Bela Lugosi's death-obsessed character, Dr. Richard Vollin, is an admirer and collector of Poe's works. In addition to his Poe collection, Dr. Vollin has an extensive collection of torture devices in his hidden "dungeon", including the device from Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" (which does get put to use in the movie). The scene which introduces Lugosi is cinematic gold: The huge shadow of a raven f...Read more

Rating : 8/10