The Raven (Lugosi and Karloff)
 

I saw the Raven last night and it changed my perspective on Lugosi as an actor. I'm impressed by how he handles the jilted doctor and how his menace has a real emotional undercurrent that really comes out. I think this might have been his best performance. His Dracula was strong and he was very good in White Zombie, but I think this might have been his time to shine. There were serious shades of Peter Lorre in Mad Love.

My second favorite Lugosi film, after Dracula. This remains one of my cherished memories of movie-watching.:)

This is indeed a great role for Lugosi and a masterpiece film all around.

I really like Lugosi as Ygor as well, in Son of Frankenstein, it's a very sly portrayal.

I can't believe I have not seen this...it's on Netflix queue now.

I think you'll really dig it.

Great film. Still have this on VHS - got to get the DVD one day soon.

It's one of the first films I ever saw - atmospheric and wicked. :D

Apart from Lugosi and Karloff, I think Lorre was exceptionally creepy in that one too!

You're mixing up two different films. The 1935 film had Karloff & Lugosi.

The 1963 film (a comedy) had Karloff, Vincent Price and Lorre.

I was just testing to see if everyone was awake!!!!





<Shaz slinks away quietly> :o

The 1963 Raven was a ton of fun, though.

It really was- it's one of my favorite horror comedies- and Lorre WAS great as the raven. Not to mention the appearance by a young Jack Nicholson.

I read a wonderfully humorous review on the 1930's "The Raven" - albeit a little negatively critical!! But it did make me laugh!

http://monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/Monster9.html

The Raven from 1935 is one of my favorite horror films of the era especially pitting Karloff & Lugosi together.

Another great one with Karloff and Lugosi together again was The Black Cat.

Both of these have been reissued on DVD by Universal in The Bela Lugosi Collection which also contains Murders In The Rue Morgue, The Invisible Ray & Black Friday.

This is a great collection for horror fans!

Yeah, I just picked it up the other day at Deep Discount store. It's really good stuff, but I was most impressed by the Raven.

I LOVE this film! Though The Black Cat is still my favorite Lugosi/Karloff film.

I never cared for the '63 film , though I love Lorre and Price, I just couldn't get into it.

I had always found Bela overly dramatic in his roles, though Bride of Frankenstein and Raven were enjoyable precisely because of this. There was always this curious flair about him. On hindsight, why not when one has to memorize one's lines phonetically. It sure added a unique touch to his intonations, making his performances that much more eccentric.

Last I saw him playing a tiny role in Bodysnatchers with Karloff. A treat! :)

Lugosi was not in Bride of Frankenstein.

I believe he means Son of Frankenstein. The biggest name besides Karloff in Bride was John Carradine with his delightful fake moustache.

Oops. Actually, I meant Bride of the Monster.

And that would be a she. :)

My apologies.

No apologies necessary.
I don't get that often.

:P I have the version with karloff and price....


*sighs*

Ahh many a summer of my child hood was spent locked up in my room watching that movie.

As cheesy as it may be i still love it.

The Lugosi/Karloff projects were always a treat. Nothing comes close to The Black Cat though. That is a profoundly disturbing little movie. I know what you mean about Lugosi's acting -- it's always surprising to see he could do something besides stand around looking sinister. Sad the way his career arc just plummeted.

Anybody who doesn't know the film, should check out The Body Snatchers sometime (not "Invasion of"). I've always thought Boris and Bela both gave the performances of their lives there, both playing roles they thoroughly understood: Karloff simmering with underclass rage and Lugosi drowning in sad desperation.

I have both of these films and they are excellent!

I find The Black Cat very creepy and in this one Bela is the "good guy".

The Raven was also great with Bela as the main attraction and Karloff his subject!

Two great movies and they are available on DVD!

Bela's best performance of his career was in The Raven. I thought Karloff was awesome as well. A masterpiece of a movie, I think The Raven was THE best horror movie ever made.

It had everything - solid characterisations, great direction and script and some very nice artwork and photography ever seen in a horror movie. Lugosi had the more impressive character but Karloff was brilliant in his character too.

***Spoilers***


Lugosi is 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 fiance, are wasted by no real display of affection. The dialogue 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.