A menagerie of persons converge at the Black Raven hotel, run by a man who makes a second living helping criminals escape over the US/Canadian border. When one of the guests is killed, and $50,000 is stolen from his posession, who did it? This done to death premise should have worked, even by PRC standards, but the second half of the film just consists of the characters running all over the hotel and basically by the film's end, the audience has to feel disinterested. However, with all the rain, it does make for a average movie, and Byron Foulger as usual, is fun to watch as the meekish bank teller on the run from the law. Strange & Middleton seem to be miscast, respectively, as the comic relief & sheriff, and Zucco just seems to be wooden as the hotel owner. Rating- 4.
Review of The Black Raven
