Rating: 
Summary: Two Great Horror Spoofs
Review: This DVD contains two movies with similar casts and similar black humor.In Comedy Of Terrors, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone team up in a tragi-comedy of an undertaker who decides to increase business through murder. Many wonderful scenes and plenty of Shakespearian references (not just the title), my favorite being Karloff enacting the poison scene from Romeo and Juliet with Price. Well done. In the Raven, Price, Karloff and Lorre are joined by Jack Nicholson. The film opens with Price reading a tome of forgotten lore when there is a rapping at his chamber door. The rapping is a raven at the window. It enters and lands on a bust. Price asks it if he shall ever again see Lenore (his dead wife) and the raven responds, "How the hell should I know!" And thus the tone is set. Price is a wizard and must confront an evil wizard (Karloff) which, after many plot turns, results in one of the finest magic battles ever filmed. Dark comedy and excellent acting abound in both of these films. A wonderful disk.
Rating:
Summary: Die Laughing!
Review: Two 1960s flicks penned by the venerable Richard Matheson--THE COMEDY OF TERRORS and THE RAVEN. The first movie, THE COMEDY OF TERRORS, is a frivolous but nonetheless humorous little ditty featuring horror and noir greats Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone; the well-endowed, fun-to-look-at Joyce Jameson; and cameos by large-mouthed, ex-vaudevillian stand-up Joe E. Brown and buxom B-movie beauty Beverly Hills (a.k.a. Beverly Powers). Price and Lorre portray undertakers who hasten the demise of potential customers when financial need require. Rathbone is hilarious as he hams it up in the role of Price's landlord and final victim (?), and Karloff, as always, delivers a great over-the-top performance in a minor role as Price's elderly father-in-law. Not ground-breaking horror, but lots of gallows humor and lots of fun. The second flick, THE RAVEN, is the best of the two, partly because of the direction of low-budget-horror master Roger Corman, and partly because Karloff has a bigger part and plays well against fellow Shakespearean actor Price. Though only loosely based on the famous poem of the same name, this was one of the last in Corman's series of low-budget Poe films. Matheson's script is an interesting, well-crafted weaving of laughs and creeps, and it is made all the better by Corman's ingenious and economic use of camera, optical FX, and sets. The plot? It's the classic good-versus-evil story, with Price as a good-hearted wizard who is forced by his insidious rival, Karloff, to take part in a winner-take-all, magical tour-de-force showdown. A young Jack Nicholson makes a notable appearance, as does the comely Hazel Court and the celebrated Peter Lorre. Another great double-feature DVD in the MGM Midnight Movies series, this one is well worth the reasonable retail price. A must for fans of Price and Karloff, and a good one to add to the collections of those who love campy horror comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Top-notch Vincent Price comedies
Review: Vincent Price and the rest of the cast excel in these two delightful horror comedies. Produced by Roger Corman and directed by Jacques Tourneur (The Cat People), COMEDY OF TERRORS is a wonderful change for Price from his RAVEN role, since he gets to play the villain here with Peter Lorre actually playing a romantic lead (!), Boris Karloff as a goofy old man, and Basil Rathbone chewing up his scenes with endless spouting of Shakespearean lines. THE RAVEN is my favorite of the two, and is probably one of the funniest droll comedies ever produced, directed by Roger Corman, and with a young Jack Nicholson doting all over his father (played by Lorre, who improvised most of his lines). It's definitely the most enjoyable of the "Poe" films from Corman, with loads of great humor, visuals, and performances from all.
Both films look outstanding in widescreen DVD, with the trailers and supplementary interviews a nice add-on. The "promotional record" and accompanying still gallery for RAVEN is a great bonus for fans, but MGM chose not to credit their contributing sources for this feature (to which I supplied them with the audio recording of the record and the first five images in the gallery). Further releases from MGM's Midnite Movies series need to include names of people who have contributed materials to these DVD's.
Rating: 
Summary: PRICE IS RIGHT
Review: Vincent Price is one of the most underappreciated actors of our time. The late horror superstar used his wonderful voice, his chameleonic face, and fluid body movements to grace so many of our favorite "thrillers." As many fans of Carol Burnett remember, Price is also a wonderful comedic actor and in "Comedy of Terrors", he is marvelous. Joining him are the equally excellent Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, and Boris Karloff. This movie seems to have been made with such love and affection for the genre they were spoofing. The inimitable Richard Matheson wrote the great script; "Curse of the Demon's" Jacque Tourneur directs superbly. Long before AIRPLANE, NAKED GUN and SCARY MOVIE started spoofing and cracking our funny bones, this movie set a standard for that physical "punny" comedy. Joyce Jameson is wonderful as the buxom opera wannabe Amaryllis, and her singing scenes are priceless. (No pun intended). Lorre plays against type as the hero and his scenes with Jameson are just perfect. My favorite line: "ooo..what did you step in?" and of course, when Lorre complains about Jameson singing "He is not dead but sleeping" at the funeral of the catileptic Rathbone. A minor gem, and well worth viewing again and again. ( I didn't get this as a dual package, so I'll save Raven for later!)
Rating:
Summary: PRICE IS RIGHT
Review: Vincent Price is one of the most underappreciated actors of our time. The late horror superstar used his wonderful voice, his chameleonic face, and fluid body movements to grace so many of our favorite "thrillers." As many fans of Carol Burnett remember, Price is also a wonderful comedic actor and in "Comedy of Terrors", he is marvelous. Joining him are the equally excellent Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, and Boris Karloff. This movie seems to have been made with such love and affection for the genre they were spoofing. The inimitable Richard Matheson wrote the great script; "Curse of the Demon's" Jacque Tourneur directs superbly. Long before AIRPLANE, NAKED GUN and SCARY MOVIE started spoofing and cracking our funny bones, this movie set a standard for that physical "punny" comedy. Joyce Jameson is wonderful as the buxom opera wannabe Amaryllis, and her singing scenes are priceless. (No pun intended). Lorre plays against type as the hero and his scenes with Jameson are just perfect. My favorite line: "ooo..what did you step in?" and of course, when Lorre complains about Jameson singing "He is not dead but sleeping" at the funeral of the catileptic Rathbone. A minor gem, and well worth viewing again and again. ( I didn't get this as a dual package, so I'll save Raven for later!)
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