THE COMEDY OF TERRORS/THE RAVEN: Two great 60's flicks on one DVD!

[Chris K.]

THE COMEDY OF TERRORS Plot: Two funeral undertakers are are screwing their customers, yet when money is sparce their pushy landlord threatens to evict them within 24 hours. So what do they do? They plan to kill him, get some money from his death, and not pay the rent. But due to catalepsy, the landloard has a little trouble kicking the bucket.

THE RAVEN: Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem is turned into a classic horror-comedy. A young sorcerer, whose wife Lenore has passed on for 2 years, is confronted by a raven who turns out to be human and claims the Lenore is with an evil sorcerer. Both go and try to reclaim Lenore, only to end up in a magical battle royale.

THE COMEDY OF TERRORS is not an Edgar Allan Poe or a Roger Corman picture, which might disappoint some. It is rather a film from French director Jacques Tourneur and I have to say that he was able to make it very entertaining. The whole film is just a laugh fest, and it was intended to be. For a dark humored film from 1964, it sure goes all the way. And the characters are outrageous: Vincent Price as a drunken undertaker who spews vile venom to his busty wife Joyce Jameson, Peter Lorre as a coffin maker who is very sympathetic and unusual for his character, Boris Karloff as a senile old man who is always under attack by Price, and Basil Rathbone as a man who just won't die and spends his free time reciting Shakespeare! Oh, and let's not forget the classic Joe E. Brown as an Irish cemetery digger who does his usual loud-mouth scream! And the cute orange tabby cat 'Rhubarb' adds an helping hand with the humor.

Yet THE RAVEN definately overshadows THE COMEDY OF TERRORS in more ways than one. Out of the many Edgar Allan Poe/Roger Corman vehicles, THE RAVEN is definately my favorite as I have fond memories of me buying the old Goodtimes Home Video version on a hot summer day and watching it, having a grand time. And now, after the 7 years have passed I still enjoy THE RAVEN. For those who really love to get on Roger Corman's back and call him the "King of Bad Movies", I really emplore those who say that need to get off their high horse and take a deeper look into his older films. If you have never seen Corman's Poe adaptations, or for that matter his 50's sci-fi films that contain that heavy pulp imagination, then you don't know a good director when you see one. Yeah, Corman's films were shot fast and quick on low budgets. But those who doubt the man's work have forgotten how he was able to do it: he rehersed with his actors for weeks so the film could be shot quickly, he always had a good scriptwriter and cameraman on hand, he was able to deliver some damn fine actors and actresses, and Corman always made his films more interesting. And in the end, Corman's earlier films have delivered imaginative storylines, fine performances, and great pacing. Those who judge films by their budget and star status should not be watching movies, and this is what critics like Leonard Maltin and, to an even further exteant, Roger Ebert have done to judge this talented man. I do agree that Corman's recent stuff isn't very good, but his 50's and 60's films are his best legacy. And honestly, who can turn down Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Jack Nicholson in one film like THE RAVEN? One other thing that has been critisied about THE RAVEN is it's transformation from short poem to a 86 minute feature. Credit goes to writer Richard Matheson for turning the poem into an original film that mimics horror and comedy. The story of THE RAVEN works real well and is interesting in it's own self: magicians, talking ravens, and an aura of comedy. See, I told ya Corman knows an interesting story when he sees it.

Both THE COMEDY OF TERRORS and THE RAVEN are presented for the first time in their Original Panavision Theatrical Aspect Ratio of 2.35:1, enhanced for 16x9 widescreen televisions. It's pretty much a revelation to see these two film's in their original grand scope ratio's as their old VHS pan-scan releases really were left to be desired. Both films are taken from pristine 35mm negative materials: THE COMEDY OF TERRORS looks pretty good, lush colors and such; THE RAVEN hovever suffers from minor color saturation, but that doesn't mean the results are bad as the film looks better than it ever did before. Both films have some small grain, but otherwise look impressive for their DVD release. MGM really deserves some kudos for delivering an impressive transfer.

Side one has THE COMEDY OF TERRORS feature with suppliments: the original theatrical trailer is presented and is a perfect example of how advertising was quite different than it is today. Another suppliment is "Richard Matheson Storyteller: Comedy of Terrors" Featuretts which is a short interview with writer Matheson and his involvement in the film.

Side two has THE RAVEN feature with suppliments: the original theatrical trailer, which is quite amusing and has that "It's fun" written all over it. Another is the "Promotional Record" which has legendary vocal actor Paul Frees doing his usual somber narration. Writer Richard Matheson discusses his involvement with the scriptwriting in the "Richard Matheson Storyteller: The Raven" Featurette. And last, but certainly not least, is "Corman's Comedy of Poe" Featurette, which has producer/director Roger Corman talking about the making of the film.

MGM really deserves credit for releasing two classics on one DVD. Now if only they would release Corman's THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED (1956) and some other grand titles, I would be in seventh heaven. But for now, THE COMEDY OF TERRORS and THE RAVEN will serve quite nicely.

[Darkautumn]

Speaking of "The Raven," I just picked up the double DVD and was horrified when I got home to see the words "musically edited version" stamped on the back. What the hell? I thought MGM had gotten past this. They went through the trouble to correct the musical scores for the "Phibes" films, "Planet of the Vampires" and "Scream and Scream Again" for their DVD releases, so what's up? I haven't watched it yet, but does anyone know exactly what is missing/replaced on the soundtrack for this print? I'm really bummed about this, since "The Raven" is one of my favorite Price/Poe/AIPs. Thoughts, anyone?

[Chris K.]

I did notice one or two changes in one of the small music cues. However, this doesn't really intrude on the film at all. Now if the entire music soundtrack was removed, then I would be pretty mad about it. But then, when confronted by music copyright issues it's quite hard to strike a good deal.

But rest assured, I'm sure the music in MGM's release of THE RAVEN is the definative score. In the old Goodtimes Home Video release of THE RAVEN, the two small music cues that are not in the MGM release were basiclly in the film, just repeated.

Also, MGM does have a problem on relying on the original theatrical posters and old video covers in order to list the film's credits on the back. My old Goodtimes Home Video release also states that the film is "Musically Edited Version", so this could be a misprint on MGM's behalf. If you want another example of MGM misprinting credits, read my review of the TROLL/TROLL 2 release.

[JohnL]

Why don't movie studios get an all inclusive contract when they use music in a movie? Something that would allow them to use the music on ALL releases of the movie? Ok, I know that video and DVD weren't around when this movie was made and probably nobody ever envisioned selling copies of it to the general public, but this is still happening on movies today. How long was Heavy Metal tied up in copyright disputes over the music?