Қарға: 1963 жылғы қорқыныш пен комедия фильмі

1963 B movie horror comedy directed by Roger Corman

The Raven is a 1963 American comedy gothic horror film produced and directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff as a trio of rival sorcerers. The supporting cast includes Jack Nicholson as the son of Lorre's character. It was the fifth in the so called Corman Poe cycle of eight films largely featuring adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories produced by Roger Corman and released by American International Pictures (AIP). The film was written by Richard Matheson, based on references to Poe's 1845 poem "The Raven". AIP released the film as a double feature with Night Tide. Three decades earlier, Karloff had appeared in another film with the same title, Lew Landers's 1935 horror film The Raven with Bela Lugosi.

In the year 1506, the sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Craven has been mourning the death of his wife Lenore for over two years, much to the dismay of his daughter (Lenore's stepdaughter), Estelle. One night he is visited by a raven, the wizard Dr. Bedlo. Together they brew a potion that restores Bedlo to human form. Bedlo explains that he was transformed by Dr. Scarabus in an unfair duel. Both decide to see Scarabus, Bedlo to exact revenge and Craven to look for his wife, who Bedlo saw alive at Scarabus' castle. After fighting off an attack by Craven's coachman, who acted under the influence of Scarabus, they are joined by Estelle and Bedlo's son Rexford, and set out to the castle. Estelle and Rexford become fond of each other over the journey. At the castle, Scarabus greets his guests with false friendship, and Bedlo is apparently killed as he conjures a storm in an act of defiance. At night, however, Rexford finds Bedlo alive and well, hiding in the castle. Bedlo conspired with Scarabus to deliver Cravan to him, so that Scarabus could acquire his magical secrets. Craven, meanwhile, is visited and tormented by Lenore, who is revealed to have faked her death to become Scarabus' mistress. As Craven, Estelle, Rexford and Bedlo try to escape from the castle, Scarabus stops them, and they are imprisoned. Bedlo panics and begs Scarabus to turn him back into a raven rather than torture him. He then flees the dungeon by flying away. Craven is forced to choose between surrendering his magical secrets to Scarabus or watching his daughter be tortured. Having only pretended to desert his friends and son, Bedlo secretly returns and frees Rexford, and together they aid Craven. Craven and Scarabus engage in a magic duel. After a series of attacks, counterattacks and insults, during which Scarabus sets the castle on fire, Craven defeats Scarabus. Lenore tries to reconcile with him, claiming that she was bewitched by Scarabus, but Craven disbelieves and rejects her. Craven, Bedlo, Estelle and Rexford escape as the castle collapses on Scarabus and Lenore; both survive, but Scarabus's magic is gone. Bedlo, still a raven, tries to convince Craven to restore him to human form. Still bitter over Bedlo's earlier betrayal, Craven casts a spell to render him mute.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times panned the film as "comic book nonsense Strickly (sic) a picture for the kiddies and the bird brained, quote the critic." Variety wrote that while Poe "might turn over in his crypt at this nonsensical adaptation of his immortal poem", Corman nevertheless "takes this premise and develops it expertly as a horror comedy." The Chicago Tribune called it "fairly thin fare, made up mostly of camera tricks, and some very obviously false scenery, but Peter Lorre's performance is mildly entertaining. Youngsters may find it fun." A generally positive review in The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the film "starts off with the inestimable advantage of a script which not only makes it amply clear from the outset that [Corman] is cheerfully and wholeheartedly sending himself up, but manages to do it wittily." Its main criticism was a "long central section" of the film that drags until things pick up again for the final duel. Peter John Dyer of Sight & Sound wrote, "Richard Matheson's script, a good deal more tenuous than its predecessors in the Corman Poe canon, at least treats its actors generously to props, incantations and quotable lines 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." Colin Greenland reviewed The Raven for Imagine magazine, and stated that "Not so much a raven, more a bit of a lark." On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 88% based on reviews from 17 critics, with an average rating of 6.8 out of 10. Shown on the MeTV show Svengoolie on January 7, 2022, and also Dec. 9, 2023.

The film was popular at the box office.