The Raven Review

Justin and I saw The Raven on April 28, 2012. It was an interesting movie!! The plot revolved around a serial killer that was motivated by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. His methods of murder involved plot points from works including The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death (absolutely love this story), and references to stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Case of M. Valdemar. One of the main works involved revolves around The Premature Burial. I am a fan of Poe's work, so I was intrigued on this unique look at Poe's life. I felt it was a great story with decent characters. I liked John Cusack's portrayal of Poe. He did an excellent job of bringing many of Poe's known personality traits to the screen. Some of these traits were his dependency on alcohol, but also his humorous side, and his affectionate side. Cusack also brilliantly portrayed his neurotic attraction to intense beauty, violent horror, and death. Poe also was somebody who liked to talk about how the world of dreams shaped his writing style, yet as you'll see in this review, there are reports that many of his stories are based on actual events. His look was very well done. I liked the addition of the goatee. It gave him a darker presence which is what fit the tone of this movie. I liked the quotes from his stories. He is involved in a relationship with Emily Hamilton (played well by Alice Eve) and Poe has always had a problem with women in his life. All of the women he loves die in his arms. What is interesting about this movie is that many of the events lead him to publish The Premature Burial. I liked it because aforementioned it is widely believed that many of Poe's stories are based on true life events such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue. There are also accounts that the person responsible for the Murder In The Rue Morgue is actually Mr. Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. I will look into that more myself, but its interesting to think about taking characters from other books and incorporating them into other work. I find things like that interesting. As the movie progesses, his boss Madux (played by Kevin McNally) always tells him that his stories of blood and murder are what sells and Poe doesn't want to revert back to that. He is focusing on his poems. Detective Fields (played perfectly by Luke Evans) begins making connections when he inspects the first murders inspired by the Rue Morgue story to Poe. Poe is trying to become famous, howver, is usually met with negative responses by those around him including Emily's father played by Brendan Gleeson. I liked the different scenarios laid out by the killer. The Pit and the Pendulum scenario is intense, but it would have to be done in a way representing the brutal nature of the story, so I understand why it was done in that way. The Birthday Ball scene which reflects the story of Prospero and the Red Death (one of my favorites of his) is where the bulk of this story begins. There were really amazing scenes in this. I loved the mystery and intrigue involved. I had an inkling of who the killer would be and I was right about it. I like when my predictions come true. The killer looks psychotic when he is finally revealed which is what he should look like. Emily has been buried of course and Alice Eve certainly knows how to sell fear very well. The scenes where she is shown buried remind me of Kill Bill Volume 2 when Beatrix has the same thing done to her by Budd. They also incorporated a little Shakespeare into the movie which is always a plus. It included one of my favorite works of Shakespeare and actually blended really nice with the theme of murder, darkness, and of course blood. The work is of course Macbeth. I liked the story, the characters (especially Cusack's portrayl of Poe and the bravado and desire to continue the hunt with Fields.) It's a dark movie, but Poe is a dark individual so it makes sense. I am a fan of his work and I am looking into purchasing a Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe for my book collection so I have them all in there. I definitely recommend seeing it. I liked watching how they used scenes from his stories into creating scenes in the movie. I'll give this a 4/5. I enjoyed it!!