The Raven is a 1935 American horror film directed by Louis Friedlander (who started to be credited as Lew Landers the following year) and starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi.

Billed as having been "suggested by" Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 poem of the same title, excerpts of which are quoted at a few points in the film, it was adapted from an original screenplay by David Boehm.

Three decades later, Karloff appeared in another film with the same title, Roger Corman's comedy gothic horror The Raven (1963), with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre.

Knowing Vollin to be a devotee of Edgar Allan Poe, Jean surprises him by performing, as her return to the stage, a solo dance set to a recitation of "The Raven".

The judge is strapped to a slab as a blade that will take 15 minutes to reach him swings above, and Vollin flips a switch to lower Jean's room down to the cellar.

[5] These included novelist Guy Endore, who submitted a 19-page treatment based on Poe's poem that also contained elements of the author's short story "The Gold-Bug".

[5] Former Warner Bros. dialogue writer David Boehm was then engaged to write a script and turned in three screenplays for The Raven to Universal,[5] and he is the only screenwriter listed in the credits of the completed film.

[6] The PCA also reviewed various shots of Bateman to determine their suitability, and, after studying the final shooting script from March 19, issued a written statement saying that "we [...] deem it necessary to remind you that, because of the stark realism of numerous elements in your story, you are running the risk of excessive horror".

[b] It was banned in several territories on its initial release, including China, the Netherlands, and Ontario and British Columbia in Canada,[9][7] and, in the United Kingdom, The London Times issued a report on horror films, and The Raven in particular, on August 4, 1935,[7] which stated: Every picture should have a purpose, preferably a high one.

Eureka Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray in July 2020 as part of its Masters of Cinema collection in the "Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi" set, which also includes Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Black Cat.

[7] Thornton Delehanty of The New York Evening Post had a similar reaction, stating that the film "has no more bearing on the original source than a stuffed bird has to an elephant".