The Raven

A macabre horror classic from a story by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven” centres on a brilliant but unstable surgeon, Dr Richard Vollin (Bela Lugosi), with a morbid obsession for instruments of torture. When Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware), daughter of Judge Thatcher (Samuel S. Hinds) is injured in a car accident, it is Dr Vollin who steps in and saves her life. However, the beautiful Jean becomes frightened of Vollin’s increasing attraction and advances towards her and pleads to her father to ask Vollin to leave her alone. Vollin’s rejection turns to revenge when by chance, an escaped killer, Edmond Bateman (Boris Karloff), approaches the surgeon for a new face. Bateman unwittingly becomes a victim of Vollin’s sinister plan for the kidnap, torture and death of Jean and her fiance. This original version of “The Raven”, through its use of black and white cinematography, brings out the evil and horror in Poe’s classic tale - shadowy silhouettes, dark stormy nights, howling winds, flashes of lightning, hidden dungeons, torture chambers - all the necessary ingredients, plus the superb, if somewhat melodramatic, acting by the cast, particularly Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Cast also includes Lester Matthews, Inez Courtney, Spencer Charters, Ian Wolfe, Maidel Turner. Screenplay by David Boehm.