The Raven (1935)

The Raven

• Surprisingly dark for 1935, I really enjoyed this movie, and though it’s only an hour long, it’s entertaining and creepy. The good thing about it being short is that the story keeps moving forward at a constant pace, and it doesn’t feel drawn out at all. It fits everything it needs to within the hour, and though the plot doesn’t always feel discernable, it still keeps you drawn in. The acting was pretty good, and Bela Lugosi did a really great job playing Dr. Vollin, a psychopathic surgeon. The scary part of this movie is how he’s obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe. Dr. Vollin bases his personality and hobbies on Poe, and it gets to the point where he enjoys torturing people. The scary part is that real people have definitely based their lives and personalities on people they obsess over, and it destroys them mentally. The fact that Dr. Vollin built torture devices based on Poe’s devices really gave this movie an eerie feel. I also really loved Boris Karloff in this role. Although he never really showed much emotion, he played a really great character after the plastic surgery scene. The makeup was really good for 1935, and though you could obviously tell it was fake, it was still well done and freaky. Watching Karloff go back and forth between good and evil was interesting, and through most of the movie, I actually felt sympathetic for him. Overall, this was a pretty good movie, and it’s a fun yet creepy old horror movie that would be great to watch on Halloween. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go check it out now!