"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door"- Edgar Allen Poe (Not Kanye West or 50 Cent!)
Actually more sinful than shocking,
"THE RAVEN" was another film that was on our impossible to find list until I recently discovered that it at least could be found streaming on Netflix! As far as I have been able to discern, it is still not available on DVD, welcome to the future! "The Raven" has one of the classiest casts of actors ever assembled, and is a whole lot of fun to watch, so, without further delay, let's get this barrel of drunk monkeys rolling!
Just to get started, here's "The Last Man On Earth" Vincent Price again as the sorcerer, Dr. Erasmus Craven, and his first encounter with that raven that was "tap, tap, tapping" on his window! The screenplay for "The Raven" was written by the same cat that wrote "The Last Man On Earth," Richard Matheson, and was based loosely on the original Poe poem!!
The raven in question, turned back into a man, is Peter Lorre in one of the last of his amazing 113 appearances, as Dr. Adolphus Bedlo, a magician who got on the wrong side of somebody with a little bit more power than he himself possessed!
The very cool music for "The Raven" was composed by Dungeon All-Star Les Baxter, who was up to his ears in cool movies for most of his stellar career! Pianist at 5, singer in his 20's, radio show music conductor for Bob Hope and Abbott and Costello, Les scored scores of scores for the movies with classic titles like "Bop Girl Goes Calypso," "The Invisible Boy," "The Fiend Who Walked The West," and 111 more!! He gets co-credits on 8 film scores with the other prolific AIP composer, Ronald Stein, but said when interviewed that he never met him!
Peter Lorre tells Vincent that the evil sorcerer who turned him into a raven, is also in possession of an item dear to Vincent's heart, his dead wife! This shot freaked me out when I first saw it in FM!
Vinnie gets a chance to spread his comedic wings, like in this bit where he gets bonked in the head Stooges style!! The buxom blonde is Dr. Craven's daughter Estelle, played by Olive Sturgess, who was in almost every TV western made in the 50's and the 60's, "Cheyenne," "Sugarfoot," "Rawhide," "Have Gun-Will Travel," "Lawman," "Buckskin," "The Texan," "Laramie," "Wagon Train," "The Rebel," "The Tall Man," "Whispering Smith," "Maverick," "Outlaws," "The Wide Country," "Destry," "The Virginian," and "Bonanza!" Whew!!
Yeehaw!!
Next up is Jack Nicholson as Dr. Bedlos's son, Rexford Bedlo! You probably remember Jack from his role as the masochist dental patient in another Corman classic, "The Little Shop Of Horrors!" IMDB trivia states that Jack didn't like the actual raven used in the movie because it crapped all over the place, and especially on him a lot!
Sometime after that wild coach ride, the whole gang ends up at the beautifully hand painted castle of the evil Dr. Scarabus! It seems like almost everybody's a Doctor in this film!
Here's a couple of nice group shots before the viewer is introduced to the very scary Dr. Scarabus!
So what could make this film even greater? Here's the man, Boris Karloff, as the guy in charge of all the mischief, Dr. Scarabus himself!
Now who's at the window, it's not Melissa Etheridge, no, it's the beyond stunning Hazel Court, as Dr. Craven's dead wife, Lenore! Just in case you've been in suspended animation or prison for the last 40 or 50 years, Hazel is one of the Dungeon Queens of Horror, for her roles in other classics besides this one, like "Devil Girl From Mars," "The Curse Of Frankenstein," "The Man Who Could Cheat Death," "Dr. Blood's Coffin," and "Premature Burial!"
Lenore looks pretty dang healthy for being a dead woman!!
The battle of the mighty sorcerers is about to begin!
And so it goes, back and forth for hours, curse after curse, spell after spell.......
.....until the final showdown that fate knows can only leave one great man standing!
"Prophet!' said I,`thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore - Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, it shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore - Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore!"
More than just wacky, "Island Of The Lost" is more like The Young-Holt Trio's instrumental hit from the same magical year, 1967, because it's "Wack, Wack!" And why is it such a wild and weird production? Well, you can blame it all mostly on the guy in charge of everything, Mr. Ivan Tors! 
The MacRae family is getting ready to set sail for an anthropological expedition and adventure to the South Pacific!!
Richard Greene is the philosophical pipe smokin' Sub-Genius Bob of a father, Josh MacRae!! From 1955 to 1960, Richard held the lead role in the very popular TV series "Robin Hood" for 143 episodes, and he also played the Nayland Smith role in a couple of "Fu Manchu" flicks!
On the right is Luke Halpin as Stu MacRae, and sitting with him is family friend and fellow adventurer Irene Tsu as Judy Hawllani! Luke was Sandy Ricks in the original "Flipper" movies, and also in all 88 episodes of the "Flipper" TV series from 1964-1967, Irene was usually cast as an Asian in her 77 roles, but also was Dr. Tingley in the 1977 TV series "Future Cop!" As far as I can tell, they are still both alive and well today, but no longer actively acting!
Sheilah Wells who manages to look good with any colour of towel wrapped around her head, plays the older daughter, Sharon MacRae, and was unbelievably only ever in this one film!
Polar opposite Robin Mattson as little Lizzie MacRae went on to be a Groupie in "The Phantom Of The Paradise," did a slew of 70's TV before settling into her niche in the daytime soaps where she is still working strong today. Currently, you'll find her as Lee on "Days Of Our Lives!"
To round out the crew with some well needed muscle, Mart Hulswit is Gabe Larsen, the athlete turned scientist who is along for the ride as research assistant! Dad doesn't like it because he thinks Gabe only wants to do some research on his daughter Sharon! Mart also did quite a bit of TV work, and was quite versatile! In the 1993 TV show "Shining Time Station," he played two different characters, J.B. King, and B.J. King!
Besides being a writer and producer, Ivan Tors was also an animal trainer, and his love for animals will show when you read some of the titles he has worked on, and it goes kind of like this, Ivan Tors was either Producer or Executive Producer for 77 episodes of "Sea Hunt," 70 episodes of "Flipper," and 43 episodes of the African adventure show starring Marshall Thompson, "Daktari!" I think you're starting to get the idea!
The music for "Island Of The Lost" was composed by the ultimate master of music Americana, George Burns. Although he's not as well known by name as the actor George Burns, his accomplishments will last probably close to forever, they are that classic. George started off in cartoons, and in no time at all was working for Walt Disney. He wrote the music for the Davey Crockett theme, and it was non-stop from there, as George went on to write the music for "One Hundred And One Dalmations," "The Absent Minded Professor," "Son Of Flubber," "The Sword In The Stone," "The Jungle Book," "The Love Bug," "The Aristocats," and "Robin Hood!"
The gang arrive on an uncharted island that they don't know is used as an initiation zone to separate the boys from the men!
The island is packed to the gills with mutant beasts of all orders, either that or it's some German sheperds, some alligators, and some ostriches out trick or treating on Halloween! That Ivan was a real Hungarian joker!! What a card!!
Ivan Tors also had a rich history in the world of early science fiction, having produced "The Magnetic Monster," "Riders To The Stars, "Gog," and 21 episodes of "Science Fiction Theater." That was all in the fifties, from there on out it was like National Geographic with an extra emphasis on Oceanography!!
Everyone's having a good time, and the girl's even treat everybody to an impromptu hula dance!!
Then everything gets really messy, and goes to Hell in a handbag real quick! First, there's some ugly native action, and they lose their boat, then there's this big-ass hurricane that almost blows them off the island!
Serious conflicts with the mutant German sheperds ensue, and the mutant ostriches chase them up a tree!
These MacRaes are almost invincible, they rebuild everything from nothing with no tools in what seems like just a few days time, and Stu even has time to build a "Jungle Book"-like percussive zylophone angklung instrument! It's time to party!!
So if you were wondering why they dragged Judy Hawllani along on this journey, it all becomes quite apparent when only she can communicate with the boy/man Tupuna who was left stranded on the island to prove his manhood!
This WTF oversaturated hot/cold lighting is insane!
The underwater photography was done by yet another guy who will never be forgotten in film history because he was the man who wore the "Creature" suit in "Creature From The Black Lagoon," "Revenge Of The Creature," and, "The Creature Walks Among Us," Ricou Browning! It's no wonder Ricou ended up being the President of Ivan Tor's Florida studios! Ricou also directed "Island Of The Lost!"
So that's it kids, it's a dang good Saturday morning flick, and you can find it on Netflix! How can you resist that much talent all in one place?? You can't!!!
"The End"
