What do you get when you combine a deranged mad doctor (Bela Lugosi), an escaped murderer (Boris Karloff), a gorgeous damsel (Irene Ware) and a gothic torture chamber in a castle basement? The Raven (1935)!
Lugosi delivers a madcap performance as Dr. Richard Vollin – a neurosurgeon who is furious that a beautiful, young woman who he saved after a car accident does not return his affection. Vollin plots a dinner party to lure the woman, her father and her lover to his castle where he will destroy them all using a set of torture devices inspired by Vollin’s Edgar Allan Poe collection.
To aid him in his scheme, Vollin employs the help of an escaped criminal named Bateman who sought the doctor’s assistance. Bateman reasoned that his ugly face inspired others to hate him, which is why he turned to a life of crime. The criminal pleads with Vollin to conduct a surgery to make him a better looking man.
Instead, Vollin gruesomely deforms half of Bateman’s face, promising to repair it only if Bateman assists with the mad doctor’s scheme.
Lugosi and Karloff kill in their performances! Lugosi comes across as a true psychopath who is hellbent on exacting as much torture on his perceived enemies as he believes they have committed against him. Karloff imbues his role with both creepiness and pity. His Frankenstein growl at one point made me chuckle with delight. (As an aside, Karloff was paid $10,000 for his performance while Lugosi only received $5,000).
Tying this story to Poe’s famous poem is really a stretch. But it follows other Universal adaptations of Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Black Cat. With a runtime of only 61 minutes, this flick is worth at least one viewing – even if you aren’t a classic horror fan. It’s fun, gothic and creepy. What more could you want?
