A good horror flicker. Just vaguely 'suggested' by the Edgar Allen Poe classic, the adaptation wanders not a little, but the basic romance is wisely kept to the fore, and Bela Lugosi, as the psycopathic medico to whom Irene Ware is indebted for her life contributes the shocker aspects forcibly.
60
Time Out
Time Out
An absurd script, without a hint of self-parody, and a nicely equipped set (moving walls, a razor-sharp pendulum that slowly lowers itself on to victims) make for entertaining if undemanding viewing.
60
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
While not as poetic or haunting as Edgar Ulmer's The Black Cat, The Raven is a remarkable tale of revenge, and memorable in its own right.
40
The New York TimesFrank S. Nugent
The New York TimesFrank S. Nugent
If The Raven is the best that Universal can do with one of the greatest horror story writers of all time, then it had better toss away the other two books in its library and stick to the pulpies for plot material.
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The direction of this clammy 1935 horror item is credited to Louis Friedlander, which is actually Lew Landers in hiding—perhaps understandably.
