Eddie Poe Goes To Camp

Spooky, scary skeletons, and shivers down your spine…

When we think of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, we all think of the forlorn, unnamed narrator trying to shoo away that pesky bird as it perches itself on the pallid bust of Pallas, always and only uttering that single word, “Nevermore.” Thoughts of lost Lenore are shelved for the moment because nothing else matters but that raven going bye bye.

Quite a few of us might also think of this infamous bit from the first-ever Treehouse of Horror:

Do we think of 1963’s The Raven, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and a young Jack Nicholson? Probably not so much.  Vincent Price was no stranger to Poe adaptations, but The Raven is kind of special. While it’s bookended by authentic Poe, the rest is unmitigated, unbridled camp directed by Roger Corman, shot in seventeen days and sporting a million dollar look for a budget that started at $750,000.

When the movie opens, Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) is sitting alone in his very bright study drawing a picture of a raven in the air with his finger. Other than getting cheery while visiting with his daughter, Estelle (Olive Sturgess), he’s very morose, spending his days mourning at his lost wife, Lenore’s tomb. She died two years previously.

One night a raven shows up, and amazingly enough, it not only talks, but says way more than “Nevermore” and he says it with a light German accent.

I don’t know why, but I kept expecting the Raven to sound more like a New York cab driver. Or Don Rickles. But I digress.

Actually, the Raven is really Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre), who was transformed into a raven by Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff). Once Erasmus has turned Adolphus back into human form (Well, mostly. Adolphus still has feathers on his black button-down shirt), Adolphus has news for him. Lenore (Hazel Court) isn’t lost or even dead. In fact, Adolphus has seen her with his own eyes at Dr. Scarabus’s house.

Erasmus is stunned, but first he and Adolphus have to deal with Erasmus’s carriage driver, Grimes (William Baskin), who’s gone crazy and thinks he’s an executioner. Once the spell wears off, Grimes is very embarassed and shocked to find himself away from the stables.

Naturally, Erasmus high-tails it over to Scarabus’s castle next, with not only Adolphus, but Estelle and Adolphus’s son, Rexford (Jack NIcholson) in tow. Rexford doesn’t trust Adolphus to be careful with his magic, especially after Scarabus turned him into a raven. Adolphus doesn’t trust Grimes to drive so Rexford takes the reins. Estelle cozies up next to Rexford and off they go.

After a rollicking jaunt along the beach to Dr. Scarabus’s castle, they arrive to find a very hospitable and seemingly starstruck Scarabus, who’s overjoyed to have a Craven under his roof. It doesn’t take long, though, for Scarabus’s façade to vanish, and Lenore appears, looking very scornful and smug because she’s convinced herself that Scarabus’s magic is superior to Erasmus’s. Our group wants to leave, but of course there’s a storm outside, so they’ve all got to wait until morning.

Hijinks ensue, including Adolphus teleporting himself and leaving a puddle of raspberry jam behind and Scarabus threatening to torture Estelle if Erasmus doesn’t share his sorcery secrets. Scarabus particularly wants to know how Erasmus shoots power from his fingers.

It all turns out to be moot, though, because Adolphus has become a raven again and Scarabus seems to handle the finger power-shooting thingie just fine. He and Erasmus will have a sorcerer’s dual of epic proportions.

The Raven is quite the sight. Poe purists need not apply. Or maybe apply and check all expectations at the opening credits. And then check them again, because The Raven more than subverts all expectations as it goes along. For one thing, it’s unendingly cheerful for a movie set within one of Poe’s most famous and despairing works.

For another, whose bingo card has Peter Lorre making the Live Long and Prosper gesture while he casts a spell? Or Erasmus and Scarabus shooting lightning bolts out of their fingers at each other like Emperor Palpatine? I sure didn’t. I’d hate to say Leonard Nimoy and George Lucas were copying The Raven, so we’re going to chalk it up to mere coincidence.

Well, mostly. Leonard Nimoy said on record that he got the gesture from something he saw while at temple as a boy, so maybe Peter Lorre was copying rabbis, too. Anywhoo…

How did The Raven go over in 1963, when camp was beginning its brief but intense reign? Depends on who’s asked. Variety said, “Edgar Allan Poe might turn over in his crypt at this nonsensical adaptation of his immortal poem, but audiences will find the spooky goings-on of a flock of 15th century English sorcerers a corn-pop of considerable comedic dimensions.”

Film Bulletin opined, “Corman’s direction is first-rate in the first half (the encounter between Lorre and Price), then the pace lags during the middle section, but picks up again with the magical duel-to-the-death finale. The sets and special effects are eerie and effective.”

Sight and Sound deemed the film a wee bit sluggish, declaring, “Necktwining snakes become scarves; a baby cannon strolls in from FeuiHade’s Les Vampires; Floyd Crosby’s Panavision, Pathecolor camera weaves and prowls in somnambulistic bliss. A pity the equation doesn’t always add up: there’s too much slack, due perhaps to an imbalance between the comedy, which runs riot, and the horror, which trails behind in the wake of previous Corman films.”

The New York Times, on the other hand, hated the film, calling it a movie for the “bird-brained.”

The Raven made a respectable $3.8 million at the box office, or around forty-eight million in today’s money, with the trade papers singing the film’s praises. Avian themes seemed to be a thing in 1963, with The Birds and Bye Bye, Birdie also hitting theaters, but The Raven still seemed to find a way to stand out. It’s pretty hard to forget nowadays, too. Just don’t think of Poe too much.

For more spooky classics, please see Kristen at Hoofers and Honeys. Thanks so much for hosting this blogathon for the third year in a row, Kristen–this was a blast! Thanks for reading, all, and I hope to see you on Thursday for our October Substack recap…

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The Raven is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon. It is also free to stream for Roku customers on the Roku Channel.

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