Another recommendation from my children. I was a bit worried since they were giving such a glowing review. Once I started watching, I knew I'd seen it, but I didn't remember much of the details.
We start the movie with Dr. Craven (Vincent Price) drawing a raven in the air with his magic and reciting Edgar Allan Poe's poem. He pines for his deceased wife, Lenore. A raven comes to him and tells Dr. Craven he needs his help to become a man again. After that, the magician believes the soul of his dead wife is being held prisoner in the castle of the man who turned Dr. Bedlo (Peter Lorre) into a raven. The Master of the Brotherhood (Boris Karloff) also can do the best kind of magic (only with his hands), and so a showdown is inevitable.
The movie is crazy. It's not meant to be a horror, but it has a lot of big names in horror from that time in it. I also found it amusing that Jack Nicholson was in this movie. A very young Jack Nicholson, but it was fun to see him. The actors are doing their best, but it's all very silly. The two main magicians fight using what I would call "aurora borealis" magic as they throw light beams at each other. Their "fight to the death" was so weird. I did enjoy the part where Rexford (Nicholson) claims a ledge leads to Dr. Craven's room. The room is on the same floor, yet he goes on the ledge, around a corner and down a wall to get to the man's room.
Overall, it was fairly amusing, but I can't say I was super impressed by it. I like these actors, but I like them more in their other movies. This one is just too odd for my tastes.
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