"What is that tapping? Who is rap-rap-rapping at my chamber door?" These words might indeed come out of the mouth of the peaceful sorcerer (Vincent Price) whose recital of the Edgar Allan Poe poem opens this American International horror comedy with a rather child-like nature to its storytelling structure. The rap-rap-rapping is a talking raven who demands a potion consisting of ingredients like "dried bat's blood" and "dead man's hair", but Price doesn't utilize those old-fashioned ingredients for his magic. He depends mainly on his own magic wand like finger, but fortunately for Lorre (who provides the voice of the wise-cracking blackbird), Price's deceased father's laboratory has dusty old bottles of all that stuff, including ingredients he doesn't need like "endtrails of depressed horse".
Yes, Roger Corman's tongue was in his cheek when he put together this variation of the famous poem, and he obviously had a lot of fun in having the screenplay written. Lorre, of course, has ulterior motives for contacting Price, and that includes introducing him to Price's father's old rival (Boris Karloff) who isn't the sweet old man he seems to be. Price has a deceased wife (Hazel Court) who isn't quite dead and a sweet daughter (Olive Sturgess) from a first marriage. In one of the most bizarre castings, Jack Nicholson plays Lorre's son (!), the handsome hero who sweeps Sturgess off her feet. Their challenge, though, is to make it out of Karloff's sinister castle alive, and that leads to a duel in magical feats between Price and Karloff.
Don't let the supernatural tale fool you into thinking this is all devilish nonsense. It is nonsense, but only in the most humorous of ways, and the audience can enjoy the joke along with Corman and the other creative people involved in its making. The duel between Karloff and Price is done with great comical effect, making it almost as animated as the duel between Merlin and Mad Madam Mim in the Disney classic "The Sword and the Stone". Then there is the ending which proves the intention of bringing in a young audience which seems to end with the villain's demise but has a nice twist. Lorre steals every moment he is on screen, having ad-libbed many of the raven's hideous wisecracks to which Price gets the final word in a hysterical finale.
Yes, Roger Corman's tongue was in his cheek when he put together this variation of the famous poem, and he obviously had a lot of fun in having the screenplay written. Lorre, of course, has ulterior motives for contacting Price, and that includes introducing him to Price's father's old rival (Boris Karloff) who isn't the sweet old man he seems to be. Price has a deceased wife (Hazel Court) who isn't quite dead and a sweet daughter (Olive Sturgess) from a first marriage. In one of the most bizarre castings, Jack Nicholson plays Lorre's son (!), the handsome hero who sweeps Sturgess off her feet. Their challenge, though, is to make it out of Karloff's sinister castle alive, and that leads to a duel in magical feats between Price and Karloff.
Don't let the supernatural tale fool you into thinking this is all devilish nonsense. It is nonsense, but only in the most humorous of ways, and the audience can enjoy the joke along with Corman and the other creative people involved in its making. The duel between Karloff and Price is done with great comical effect, making it almost as animated as the duel between Merlin and Mad Madam Mim in the Disney classic "The Sword and the Stone". Then there is the ending which proves the intention of bringing in a young audience which seems to end with the villain's demise but has a nice twist. Lorre steals every moment he is on screen, having ad-libbed many of the raven's hideous wisecracks to which Price gets the final word in a hysterical finale.