My Review of The Raven (2012)

 

Written by Ben Livingston And Hannah Shakespeare

Directed by James McTeigue

Ivan (to Edgar): "I always knew you had one story left in you. When you stopped writing... I must admit I went kind of mad."

I'm not sure if this movie entirely qualified as a horror film but considering that it's one focusing on Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack) and the events that transpired in it, the film might as well be one.

Our literary protagonist doesn't have the greatest of reputations in this film. He's being pestered by his publisher to write another story as gripping as The Tell Tale Heart, the local barkeep won't serve, the publicans take amusement in humiliating him and he's incurred the wrath of Captain Charles Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson).

On the plus side, he's also won the heart of Hamilton's daughter, Emily (Alice Eve) and despite his cursed relationship with women, Edgar seemed determined to take Emily to be his wife. However a killer inspired by Edgar's works had other ideas.

Yes, I said it. There's a killer who was a fan of Poe's writing and decided to re-enact that writing in the most deadly way possible. The unfortunate Ludwig Griswold (John Warnaby) ended up having to live out the outcome of The Pit And The Pendulum and he wasn't the only one to suffer by the literary inspired killer.

Emily herself became a victim of the killer with Poe's work such as The Masque Of The Red Death and The Cask Of Amontillado factoring into the poor woman's fate. At least Poe had a season Inspector Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) and his would be father in law helping him to try and track down Emily. 

As for the killer himself, it was paper typesetter Ivan Reynolds (Sam Hazeldine) and he almost got away with it. I mean he did succeed in outsmarting Poe and causing the man's death but he failed to kill Emily and during the very last scene, Ivan got his just desserts with an avenging Fields.

- Other references to Poe's work included The Murders In The Rue Morgue.

- Poe's death was always shrouded in mystery, though he did mention the name Reynolds before dying.

- Standout music: Lucas Vidal's Munster Buttermilk, Nocturne, es-dur, OP.9 and Rakish Paddy.

- Chronology: October 7th 1849 Baltimore, Maryland.

I know this movie doesn't have a great reception, I actually enjoyed this version of The Raven. John Cusack gave a good performance as Poe and in general, the film had a great Gothic atmosphere to it.

Rating: 7 out of 10