The 1935 movie The Raven, borrows only loosely from a few elements of Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum. Jean Thatcher is a dancer seriously injured in an auto accident. She is in a coma and cannot be roused until retired Dr. Vollin (Lugosi) agrees to treat her at his home. Vollin falls in love with Jean as her health is restored in full, but she isn't attracted to him. When, by chance, a fugitive named Bateman (Karloff) arrives on his doorstep wishing to have his identity changed, the doctor is able to extort him into doing his bidding by horribly disfiguring the man but promising to fix his face later.
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Vollin, seeking revenge against Jean, her father Judge Thatcher, and her fiancée, invites them for the weekend and then places each in a Poe-like chamber of torture. The Judge is strapped under a swinging blade attached to a pendulum. The couple is forced into a room with moving walls that close in on them. The convict has a change of heart and frees the couple although he is mortally wounded by Vollin. The doctor is put in their place inside the room and the Judge is freed just in time. Jean, her fiancée and the Judge all flee the mansion before it is destroyed.
The review of this Movie prepared by David Fletcher
