BEFORE: I was going ease into the Halloween films by linking to "Repo Man", but then I started to go through the cast lists for the upcoming chain, and who turned up but Nicholson again! That moved this film right to the top of the list, creating a link from "The Border".
THE PLOT: A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "The Raven" (2012) (Movie #1,434)
AFTER: (with apologies to Edgar Allen Poe)
Late last night, I watched "The Raven",
in my movie-watching haven,
In the man-cave of my house's lowest floor.
It's a low-budget horror movie,
from an era that was groovy -
The 60's, they were silly to the core.
In that decade Roger Corman
made himself the foreman
Of Poe adaptations, sometimes filled with gore.
Though the poem's famous for its rhyming,
the film relies on comic timing
And Nicholson, at the age of twenty-four.
The lead is played by Vincent Price
(he spoke in "Thriller", made it nice)
Pining for the wife he did adore.
With Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre,
they had to add a lot of story
Because the poem's plot is such a bore.
The three play somewhat bumbling sorcerers,
who become, in turn, each other's torturers,
As a Gothic fortress they explore.
As they move on through the castle,
with traps that make it quite a hassle,
Searching for one's thought-dead love, Lenore...
The wizards' alliances are tested,
until all but one are bested
And the rest are lying on the floor.
Though the final battle was inspired,
by that time I was quite tired
My eyes closed, and I began to snore.
If you believe, though it's absurd,
that a man can turn into a bird
And come tap-tapping on a wizard's door...
Though I found it difficult to believe,
watch this film on Hallow's Eve,
With all the silliness it has in store.
But if this poem has offended,
(Stick with me now, it's almost ended)
Just do this, and all is mended -
see what E.A. Poe intended
By picking up his classic tales of lore.
As for the movie, RATING: 4
(Quoth the reviewer: "Nothing more.")
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