Review of Raven, The

Introduction

Béla Lugosi and Boris Karloff became icons of the horror genre with their performances as Dracula and Frankenstein`s monster respectively. In the following years they made dozens of horror films, mostly for Universal, appearing together no fewer than eight times, but never straying far from the roles in which they made their names.

Universal were responsible for some of the most influential and respected horror movies in the 1930s and `40s: `Dracula`, `Frankenstein` (and `Bride of...`), `The Creature from the Black Lagoon`, `The Invisible Man` and `The Wolf Man` - the list goes on. They also used their contract players Béla Lugosi and Boris Karloff to star in more psychological horrors that didn`t use monsters to have the audience squirming in their seats. `The Black Cat` and `The Raven` used the gothic terror of Poe - more his whole work than just the stories from which these titles were taken - to create atmospheric and unsettling films.

The plot for this film is outlined very well above, so I won`t elaborate and run the risk of spoilers.

Video

The fullscreen transfer has not undergone any remastering and is a grainy and flickery event. Despite this, the cinematography is terrific and creates a suitably gothic atmosphere.

Audio

A reasonably clear DD 2.0 mono soundtrack, which is fine for a dialogue dominated 1930s horror movie. There is no subtitling available.

Features

None.

Conclusion

Released the year after `The Black Cat`, Lugosi and Karloff played opposite each other again and again they were excellent. As Dr. Frankenstein`s creation, Karloff was able to evoke sympathy from the audience whilst playing a dangerous monster. Here he also plays a dangerous character - a man who turned an oxyacetylene torch on someone`s face because they raised the alarm in a bank robbery, and yet, when he encounters Lugosi`s Dr. Vollin, your sympathy turns to Karloff`s Edmond Bateman because of the sadistic treatment meted out to him by Dr. Vollin.

Using Poe-inspired torture devices, particularly the pendulum, Lew Landers is able to create nightmarish scenarios of the kind now found in the `Hostel` and `Saw` films, though more scary due to implication and suggestion.

It`s great to see that this film is finally available on DVD, but it`s a real shame that the disc is so bereft of extras and has not undergone any remastering. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys early horror films.