The Raven, 1963.

In the early sixties, Roger Corman, one of the most important figures in film history, made roughly eight films, many of them with Vincent Price based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. These are epic films that I encourage everyone to watch but we’re going to look at my favourite of them today. Now, I’ve seen some movies with good casts before but holy jumpin’ – Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Jack Nicholson along with the beautiful Hazel Court (known for a few Hammers and some other Corman-Poe’s) and Olive Sturgess (known for guesting on every western tv show in the sixties – Rawhide, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel, and Sugarfoot (I’ll admit I only know of Sugarfoot because of Arrested Development)).

The intro is epic. We get that old psychedaelic oil-under-a-microscope effect with Mr Price reading from the Raven cutting into technicolour coffins and a creepy scooby doo house. We enter the study, a lavishly decorated affair that is immensely pleasant to the eyes, where a fabulously-dressed wizard, Mr Price, is trying to summon an illusory raven. This simple parlour trick is an excellent foreshadowing of the arcane spectacle of wizardry that we get in this film. I’m going to say it now, The Raven has THE BEST wizard duel in cinematic history.

If you were looking for an accurate adaptation of Poe’s poem that can be recited in roughly 10 minutes, you’d be a madman. Instead we get something honestly far better, a zany fun-house melodrama about three bickering sorcerers. The sets in which these wizards find themselves in are awesome. The opening study is my idea of heaven (well other than a van meet-up). The lab is full of cobwebs and has astrological posters hanging on the wall – a proper esoteric scene. The drawbridge into the castle is covered in fog and the reflection of the full moon glints in the waters below. All of the candles are red and covered in those drips of melted wax. There’s a decanter of wine in every scene. The bedrooms are full of giant curtains, more red candles, and four-poster beds. There’s statues breathing fire. The chairs are all high-backed.

this is basically the cover to Unearthed Arcana

The D&D content in this excels. The way they talk about wizard’s power “Oh he can cast spells with just his hands? No wand? What a powerful mage!” It makes me think of level titles – “He’s no medium, he’s a conjuror” It’s a quirky in-universe badge of office. The clothes of the different wizards are exactly what your character should be wearing. Silk & velvet robes, 4′ long sleeves, and funny little hats. Even their names are perfect wizard names – Erasmus (Price), Bedlo (Lorre), and Scarabus (Karloff). On top of that, Bedlo’s son, a fighting-type played by Mr Nicholson is named Rexford. It’s that’s not a properly-named party, I don’t know what is.
For spells we get: Polymorph Other, Phantasmal Force, Magic Missile, Hero’s Feast, Rope Trick, Globe of Invulnerability, Lightning Bolt, Light, Flesh to Stone, Hold Person? (Perhaps entangle. Scarabus retrains Bedlo in summoned ropes), Sticks to Snakes, Summon Monster, Protection vs Normal Missiles, Bigby’s Minor Artillery and Reverso Cannonballus Confetti (okay I made those two up), Fear, Levitate, Passwall, Simulacrum (though made out of sawdust, not snow), Fireball, Earthquake, some sort of Cone of Weakness, and Silence.

I could probably talk about this movie all day but I have things to do so I should probably wrap things up. But before I go, I should say that it’s also a delightfully acted film. The chemistry between Mr’s Lorre and Price is hilarious with the former always improvising his lines and the latter responding in his classic cheerfully-macabre style. Bedlo reminds me of George Costanza – he’s completely neurotic. Scarabus is played straight and is intense and grim.
This doesn’t really have any of the 3 B’s. We have someone explode into a puddle of blood that turns out to be strawberry jam and Mrs Court begin to strip down to a tank-top. I guess this is what we can call a “family-friendly film.” Yuck. Despite that, this film is damn enjoyable. For the immense D&D-ness of it alone, this movie gets a Two Thumbs Way Up Seal of Approval.