Movie Review: "The Raven"

This suspense/horror movie is based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe mixed with the fictional tale of a killer who is killing people based on Poe's legendary stories. Features John Cusack as Poe.

I felt a little trepidation at seeing the movie, The Raven. I am a fan of Edgar Allan Poe's works, and he is one of my favorite American authors. I was seriously afraid that the movie wouldn't do justice to his works or his character. This film really surprised me, and it probably would have been a great film if the boys behind me would have been quiet long enough for me to enjoy the film. I thought The Raven did a nice job working Poe's stories into the storyline. I also thought Cusack did a passable job as Poe, and the plot was plausible and unraveled nicely.

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The time is 1849, and Edgar Allan Poe has written most of his famous works of fiction. Poe is enamored with a young girl named Emily Hamilton. Poe is poor but Poe is in love and things are looking up. That is until someone starts murdering people in parodies of Poe's own stories. Poe is at first a suspect. Then it is determined that Poe couldn't have done it, and he becomes a valuable asset to the team who is trying to figure out who is doing these gruesome crimes. The investigation team is led by the young and intelligent Inspector Fields. Fields and Poe work closely together to try to figure out the murder's next move, and how to stop him. Then the unthinkable happens, Poe's ladylove, Emily is kidnapped. Poe is charged with unraveling the clues the killer leaves behind, and creating a story surrounding the mystery of the continuing murders and the loss of Emily. Poe must entertain the killer with these stories, or Emily will perish. Can Poe write the story of Emily's life and figure out a way to find her and the killer before it is too late? Or will Emily be like so many of Poe's other characters, doomed to die?

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There were many things I enjoyed about The Raven. I liked the way they worked in many of the known facts about Poe into the movie. He was a known drinker, and he did work for different newspapers as a critic. He was a harsh critic, and he did write a piece about Longfellow. I don't believe there was an "Emily Hamilton" love in his life, but it was a needed touch for the plot of the film. I liked the look of this film. It reminded me of the Sherlock Holmes movies. It has that old timey, washed out look with very little color. Except when there was blood, and the red color was very vivid in the murders. This movie is very gory in places, so if you have a weak stomach I would say give this one a pass. It should have enough horror in it to please almost any horror fan. I also liked the way they worked Poe's stories and poetry throughout the film without really overdoing it.

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As for the acting, well I thought John Cusack was believable as Edgar Allan Poe. I thought maybe he was a little too aggressive, and Poe would have been a little less so but that is probably just a personal opinion. My friend is a Cusack fan and she loved him in the role. I must admit he looks a lot like the black and white picture that you see of Poe. He does a good job of portraying part of Poe's ongoing struggle but I think he wasn't tortured enough for me. Poe had an amazingly unlucky, hard life and I needed more of that angst to show in Cusack's character.

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Alice Eve was pretty, soft spoken and everything we needed Poe's angel or Annabel Lee to be. She doesn't have a large role in the movie or too many lines but that is all right we just need her to be the spark that drives Poe to find the killer. I really liked Luke Evans as Detective Fields. I thought he portrayed a smart, meticulous detective who is striving to find a killer. It was fun to watch him discover clues. I thought Luke Evans did a great job with this character.

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Overall I enjoyed this film. I thought they did a good job sticking to the known details of Poe's life. I thought the acting was good as was the plot. You should like this movie if you are a fan of mystery, suspense or horror.