The Raven
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
The film opens in 19th century Maryland  where several Baltimore policemen are chasing after the screams of a woman in an apartment. The police arrive at the apartment in time only to discover a woman (Jasmina Ilic) sprawled on the floor with her throat sliced open and the corpse of her daughter (Teodora Uveric) stuffed in the chimney. Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) is called to assist in the investigation and discovers that the crime resembles a fictional murder in the short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, which is part of a collection of stories penned by the writer Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusak).Poe has become a social pariah and penniless drunkard whose stories have not been circulated for some time. He has fallen in love with the beautiful young Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve) and desires to marry her but faces opposition from her father Captain Charles Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson), a military man who loathes Poe and goes to the length of threatening physical violence. Poe is brought to see Fields for questioning and is horrified to learn someone is using his stories as the backdrop for a series of murders. Fields then proposes that Poe volunteer his services to help the police catch the killer and Poe agrees to the task.The two men are called to investigate the murder of literary critic Rufus Griswold (John Warnaby), the man who became Poe's rival after a feud that was published in the Baltimore newspapers. Poe realizes the gruesome crime resembles a scene from The Pit and the Pendulum as Fields notices a red demon mask near the corpse. The two then deduce that the scene of the next crime will take place at Captain Hamilton's annual masquerade ball  a scene that will resemble the Masked Ball in The Masque of the Red Death.Fields assigns several members of the Baltimore Police to go undercover as guests at the Masked Ball. Sometime before midnight, at the height of the festivities, a man on horseback dressed in a skeleton costume appears. Fields shoots the man only to learn he was an actor hired for the entertainment and receives an anonymous note. Poe then realizes Emily has been kidnapped, meaning the event was all a distraction. It's revealed in the killer's note that he will continue to commit murders and leave clues to Emily's location. The killer then threatens to kill Emily if Poe does not start writing columns for the newspaper that describe the brutal combination of fact and fiction  forcing Poe to comply with the request in order to save Emily.The local Medical School's anatomy class discovers a live raven and the corpse of a prostitute in theatrical clothing. Poe and Fields investigate and deduce the scene resembles The Mystery of Marie Rogêt except for one detail  the blood on the corpse's hands was not an element of Poe's story. The two soon learn the woman was an actress (Ana Sofrenovic) in costume as Lady Macbeth and rush to the theatre where the victim worked, demanding to see all the stage hands. All the stage hands are accounted for except for Maurice Rabichaux (Dejan Cubrilov), a sailor on leave after his ship landed in Baltimore. Poe and Fields notice a mysterious figure running along the catwalks and pursue him but the figure escapes. Fields later makes an off-handed comment that the name of the ship Maurice arrived on is the Fortunato  which prompts Poe to realize the next murder will resemble The Cask of Amontillado.Poe and Fields search tunnels under the city with several policemen and discover an area with fresh brickwork, an area that might be where Emily is being held. The officers smash through the brick and discover what appears to be a woman with blonde hair in the costume Emily wore the night she was kidnapped. But the body is revealed to be that of the sailor Maurice, who was dressed to resemble Emily after he was killed and buried in the niche.
Two clues are found on Maurice: a pocket watch that was stopped at 12:27 and then stuffed into his mouth, and a tattoo on his back that had some flesh carved out of it. Poe and Fields deduce these clues will give the location of Emily, and Poe realizes a church in Baltimore called Holy Cross is where Emily must be. Everyone races to the church but they find it locked. While attempting to break in, one policeman whose name is PC John Cantrell (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) shoots at the killer but the latter jumps from the roof and slits PC Cantrell's throat. Poe and Fields hear the shooting and race to catch the killer who shoots Fields and incapacitates him. Poe takes after the killer in a horse race but the killer escapes. Poe walks back to the church where he meets up with Captain Hamilton, who finally apologizes for his treatment of Poe. Fields discovers a grave at the church that has Emily's name written on a wooden cross, but the grave is empty.Poe then decides to write a new column in which he tells the killer that he's tired of this game and is willing to exchange his life for Emily's if only the killer would release Emily. Poe dashes this new column off quickly, the editor loves it, and Ivan (Sam Hazeldine), the typesetter, is then tasked with getting the column to print. People in Baltimore, while still enjoying the excitement of the murders, decide to burn down Poe's house because they blame his stories for inspiring this bloodshed.Poe then moves in with Fields because he no longer has lodgings. In the morning, the maid gives Poe both the newspaper and a letter from the killer. Poe deduces that the killer left the note on the doorstep the night before. Then, the paper boy came by and put the newspaper on top of the note after it stopped raining. Poe therefore deduces that the killer is someone who read his new column before it was published. Poe then assumes the killer is the newspaper editor.Fields, meanwhile, is having surgery with no anesthetic to remove a bullet from his shoulder. The doctor uses a magnet to find the bullet in his flesh, an experience Fields later uses to realize that the ink the killer used in all his notes was magnetic. Since this is the type of ink used in newspaper printing, Fields later independently realizes that someone at the paper is the killer.Poe reaches the newspaper office and finds the editor dead, with his hands separated from his arms and his body arranged at his desk as if writing a letter. In front of the editor is a note that reads, "Getting Warmer!" Ivan congratulates him on finding him, and then explains that he missed Poe's writing so much that he decided to make up a story of his own and then act it out in real life so that Poe would have to write about it.Poe pulls out a gun but Ivan reminds him that Emily will die if he pulls the trigger. So Poe hands the gun over to Ivan and tells him that he can kill him if he will release Emily. Ivan gives Poe a vial of poison and tells him to drink it, so that he can keep talking to his "favorite writer" while the poison slowly kills him. Once Poe is too weak to go for help, Ivan tells Poe that he's moving to Paris because he wants to do the same to Jules Verne. Poe learns that Ivan will be traveling under the name "Reynolds".Before Ivan leaves, he makes a reference to The Telltale Heart and Poe realizes that Emily is buried under the floor right where he's sitting. He breaks through the floor into the cellar and digs Emily out. The police get there and put Emily in an ambulance. Poe wanders off to a park bench to die after telling Emily that they will be married in heaven. While he's sitting there, a bearded man comes over and says he recognizes him as "Edgar Poe" the famous writer. That pleases Poe, but the poison has him so addled, all he can say to the man is "tell Fields his name is Reynolds", which the man interprets as nonsense. Later, at the hospital where Poe is pronounced dead, the doctor tells Fields that Poe's last words were unintelligible, that he had "said that Fields' last name was Reynolds".Ivan is seen exiting a train station in France, and as he enters a carriage wherein Fields greets him with a pistol. Then, Ivan jumps at Fields and a gunshot is heard.

Review: - There were many tense moments, great chases and small pieces of puzzle solving( like in console games) making for small mysteries within one large mystery, thus keeping you engrossed all the way.To summarise, the Raven was riotous ride through Victorian era type settings, keeps you on the egde of your seat, the mini puzzles keep you busy and the plot and character development( Poe) was excellent, Definitely worth a watch and an 8 out of ten for me.P.S. The film has gore so if you can't stand that, don't watch it.
From all that I have read from people wanting Robert Downey, Jr in this role, I'm assuming they have confused the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes with the real-life writer of Poe. All that I can say to that is thank God Cusack never got confused.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has credited Poe as inspiration for the creation of his famous detective.
Watching bullets fly through the air really takes away from the few things they did so well."The Raven" is a good watch for Poe fans with references to many of his stories and poems and they found great moments to include some of his illustrious and lasting lines.
Although I would have liked it more if the movie was just a dramatic recreation of his famous poem, at least Cusack did offer a reading of The Raven which probably mirrored that of Poe himself..
It's all being good and entertaining enough to keep watching but by the end of it you won't feel like you got an awful lot out of the movie.I think that the biggest problem of the movie is that it's being a very straightforward mystery/thriller, which at the same time also makes it a very standard and formulaic one.
There was so much they could had done, after all he plays Edgar Allan Poe in this movie but it feels as if the film-makers were holding back with just about everything and decided to play things safe, making this a very standard and therefore also predictable little movie.No it's not a horrible movie to watch but just a movie that offers far too little to its viewers.6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
The movie is driven by the premise, a serial killer starts a series of killings in Baltimore that emulate some of the more gruesome murders in Poe's stories.
The killer kidnaps Poe's girlfriend Emily (Alice Eve) with the killer promising clues as to Emily's whereabouts with each new murder he commits.The filmmakers, director James McTeigue and writers Ben Livingstone and Hannah Shakespeare don't try to recast Poe's character as a superhero or give the movie Poe attributes that the real Poe didn't or couldn't possess.
This is a clever, well-made movie, but I think there are a couple of things that stop it from being better than it is.The story is not dissimilar to David Fincher's "Seven", in that case it was killings inspired by the seven deadly sins while in "The Raven", a serial killer creates gory scenarios based on the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.Inspector Emmett Fields, played by Luke Evans, while investigating a bizarre double murder, realises that it has a connection to a story by Edgar Allen Poe. He engages the author to help him find the killer.
Eventually, Poe works out who the killer is, and strikes a deadly deal in exchange for Emily's life.I think John Cusack struggles to find the right balance for Poe. Admittedly, he is more settled in the role by the end of the movie, but he knocks it off balance with some early drunk scenes with lots of yelling; actors portraying people who are drunk are almost as annoying as people who are drunk.
Luke Evans, with a far more understated performance, steals the show as Inspector Fields.Visually brilliant, the film features ever more elaborate techniques to dispose of the killer's victims, The ingenuity and the amount of work involved would have required a crew the size of the one that built the Panama Canal, however, with a movie such as this, suspension of disbelief definitely helps with the enjoyment level.For a while, I thought the identity of murderer was going to be either a disappointment or far too obvious, simply because not too many characters are introduced into the story; an unwritten rule of crime movies is that no one is introduced into a plot without reason.
I think the main problem is that people maybe went into this movie expecting a horror movie.The portrayal of Poe is absolutely fantastic, John Cusack did a fantastic job he is a great actor and this one has to be my favourite role that he has played.The movie has a great pace to it.
Edgar Allen Poe seems like a great character to use as inspiration for a very dark, evil, twisted movie.
I rarely watch horror films, but going to see a movie about Edgar Allen Poe, I expected to see the Poe story lines--he's the original horror-suspense master.
Soon, the investigation turns personal for Poe when his beloved Emily is taken captive and they must work against the clock, following clues to find her before she becomes the killer's final victim.THE RAVEN is an obvious attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES franchise.
The "Poe-themed" crimes are an artless display lacking neither the campy fun of a Hammer death nor the sleaze of Saw-inspired torture: like the movie itself, they serve no purpose but to further PLOT, and when PLOT is as half-hearted as it is in the Raven, it is not long before the audience is snoring in sleep.After a perfectly fine Masquerade Ball sequence, the film's thrilless plot begins rolling, and it is as fresh and enticing as moldy toast.
When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack), a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.The idea of setting a murder mystery in Baltimore at the time of Poe, with Poe as a character and with his stories as the inspiration seems genius on the face of it.
There's no doubt, Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare's screenplay unfolds like a period piece CBS CSI special but it's a well filmed, entertaining and intriguing, strengthened by McTeigue's direction and Lucas Vidal's score.Brendan Gleeson's acting abilities are very much underused as Captain Hamilton has he has very little screen time.
John Cusack gives his usual solid show, albeit he is more animated than usual as Edgar Allan Poe. Alice Eve is excellent, giving a convincing harrowing performance as the kidnapped and trapped Emily Hamilton.Anyone familiar with the genre may see the killers identity well in advance.
April 28, 2012 By Angelina de Mourier.Today, I went to see "The Raven," a mystery thriller set in 1849, the actual time Edgar Allan Poe lived, my January 19th born master of macabre poetry, (though if one were to read his real-life quotes, one would be astonished as to witness such love; "We loved with a love that is more than love.") He died, rather mysteriously, at age 40.What Director James McTeigue aspired to do was brilliantly accomplished, in this epic work of mystery which incorporates the actual life of Poe with fiction.Phenomenal achievement, really, as to lace them, oh, so integrally.
I love the man, don't get me wrong, but I couldn't help but think that depp or downey could have dominated this film, cusacks attempt at being the funny eccentric writer/ detective that drinks too much was not convincing and I felt that he was predictable and boring as Poe. Is the movie unwatchable ?
The Raven is James McTeigue's new film starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe, the famous writer who seems to be experiencing a writer's block, as he has money problems and drinking habits.
When a detective (Luke Evans) comes to Poe asking for his help in solving a series of murders involving Poe's stories, Poe begins to suspect that there's a bigger scheme behind the mask of the killer.Masterfully directed by McTeigue, who previously did V for Vendetta (and the fluke, Ninja Assassin), The Raven is a stunning and entertaining set-piece of a period film, mixed with incredible visuals and intense sequences of suspense as Poe begins to get more involved.
The script wasn't gold, but it was definitely good material for a film like this; it's not something you see every day, and the way they portrayed the time period was just astonishing.All in all, this is an amazing thriller that surpasses the mistake that was Ninja Assassin but ranks just below the instant classic of V for Vendetta.
The story about a serial killer who is inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe suggested a Se7en meets Jack the Ripper tale and early trailers for the film had us optimistic about the result.John Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe and he is portrayed as a struggling writer for a Baltimore newspaper who between bouts of over excessive drinking is romantically engaging Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve) much to the chagrin of her father Captain Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson) who has little patience for Poe's cockery and antics.But Edgar Allan Poe's romantic endeavors have to take a back carriage seat when a mysterious killer begins to use murders as described in such Poe classic writings as The Pit and the Pendulum as his inspiration to his rampage.
Cusack's accent comes and goes and his portrayal of the eccentric Poe has him more of an ass-clown buffoon whom audiences could care less suffers or survives.The killings were unmemorable save for poor Rufus Wilmot Griswold who gets cut in half by a pendulum that looks like it was rigged by the Jigsaw killer from the Saw franchise while spewing CGI blood throughout the room.The action and drama that takes place between each murder is boring and poorly written and it culminates in an ending that looks to have been test-audience approved and neither satisfies those that suffered through the 110-minute running time nor does it bring appropriate closure to the cat-and-mouse events that preceded it.The end result was such that we thought the film would be better titled 'The Rental'..
The Raven (2012) ** (out of 4) Disappointing mixture of fact and fiction as Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) is asked by a detective (Luke Evans) to try and help find a serial killer who is using Poe's work as an influence.
With The Raven, McTeigue attempts a Tim Burton-style Gothic horror mystery within a historical framework, but it comes off more as a cross between the Hughes Brothers' adaptation of From Hell, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes and the Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp." McTeigue shows signs of an action-film hangover; CGI bullets fly in air, CGI blood splatters in your face and the killer in his cloak and hat looks very much like V and is capable of extraordinary physical feats.
The idea of using Poe and his poems is more a way of giving the movie more legitimacy and they are recognisable stories, even to people who have not read them.Cusack is entertainingly bad in The Raven, giving us an over-the-top, Nicolas Cage-esque performance.
It might have been a good opportunity to make this a fun horror movie to boot given that there are several murders in the film but we are not shown the rest of them.The dialogue alternates between flat and humorous with some fun (but admittedly way over my head) wordplay with Poe's character.
yet again they did it ,first of all i'm a huge fan of the suspense movies , the first ten minutes of the movie reminded me of the best (Sherlock Holmes) movies , but it is really a well made movie .the scenes , the sound effects and the acting was pretty good .there was some moments where i did held my breath due to the suspense and the need to know what will happen , John Cusack Returns in his best movie since (1408)and did a really good job doing Poe's Rule , i really enjoyed the move and enjoyed every single moment of it .i am sure that you WILL like this movie and if you have the chance to watch ( please don't miss it ), if you love thrill movies then this movie is for you ...
Soon Poe and the police inspector of Baltimore trace the murderer's moves and the film becomes a bit formulaic, namely both men manage to decipher some of the killer's marks and riddles eventually closing in on him.Overall, I think the movie was just good, but lacking in depth.
I taught Poe's poetry and short stories for over 40 years, and I think that "The Raven" strikes a useful compromise between Poe purists who expect the feature-length film to satisfy devotees of Poe - and those who either have never read Poe or have scarce knowledge of his works, his style or his life.John Cusack continues to select very challenging roles and to command my attention with his voice, his body, his use of stillness, space and time.
I suppose that many critics feel they are paid to find fault with all but one or two movies every year because their critical acumen is always being weighed against the most successful reviewers.There is violence, blood and gore and considerable disturbing mayhem in this film; but it's not overdone; it doesn't glorify any of the gruesome details, but audiences need to know that this is going to be a fictional (as far as plot) story involving Edgar Allan Poe, but also one which will weave actual details from many of his most famous works into the fabric of this movie.
Turns out it was a really good movie as it featured a fine performance from John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe, a nice kill here and there and a nice mystery to try and unravel.
I am surprised that it did not perform better at the theaters as it was a nice change of pace from all the comic book films I usually watch.The story has Edgar returning to Baltimore at a time a gruesome murder is taking place.
The film sees John Cusack playing energetically the role of Edgar Allan Poe and that's probably the best element of the story, in addition to Brendan Gleeson's performance.
For what it is, similar to fictionalized tales of the macabre like From Hell, The Raven contains enough just to skirt around as an alternative to the blockbuster season offerings, and it's always a welcome to see John Cusack, as Poe himself, back on the big screen.Directed by James McTeigue, The Raven races through its narrative, staying in tune to its main story where it's a race against time for Poe and Detective Fields (Luke Evans) to try and track down the identity of a serial killer taunting them with horrific clues usually made out of his victims, in fashions adapted from Poe's spectrum of Gothic stories.
The plot is about Edgar Allan Poe(John Cusack) who is portrayed in a very arrogant character who is also a drunkard on the trail with Inspector Emmett Fields(Luke Evans)to catch a killer that kills people in the same manner it's told in Poe's stories.
And I think it's very good that the plot doesn't come to pseudo-mystic story.Poe's sarcastic lines are brilliant, and John Cusack is wonderful in his role.
What is Good: Well the historical settings, the suspense and gore, pace of the story and nice blend of fiction and history; a really intelligent mixture of real life character with detective fiction.What's Bad: Well Cusack did his best but some how weak screenplay let him down in performing his character to perfection, the not so smart climax and somehow predicable storyline(not overall-some places maybe).Loo Break: Not actually, the fast story and events will not let u leave.Verdict: The Raven is a good watch for most of its duration but a weak screenplay might disappoint the extreme fans of thrill & suspense.Script Analysis: The story of Ben Livingston (screenplay) & Hannah Shakespeare gives you historical account of Poe's life, work & his and love interest and tries to mix it with a crime tale to mold the last days of his life into something totally believable and to some extent audience not aware of the legendary Poet's life will fall for it.
The film is a mystery featuring Edgar Allen Poe. When somebody out there commits crimes like in his writing, he helps to stop a serial killer who kidnaps his beloved Emily.
John Cusack is well cast physically as he is well made up to look pretty much like Edgar Allan Poe himself.
I've never read any Edgar Allan Poe stories so as an objective viewer I can say that I enjoyed watching The Raven and recommend this to anyone interested in a murder mystery!.
The raven Mystery This movie is the adaption the of the poem made by Edgar Allan Poe and they did a really good job.
Many people loved it but others did not because many expected it to be a horror movie.The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado and The Raven are Poe works that contain macabre and interesting stories.
I read a little about them and I saw The Raven is one of the best works of Edgar Allan Poe.I love the movie and I recommend it.
Wow a 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, I know I shouldn't compare people's rating to a film but I think it was that bad.The Raven follows the tale of Edgar Allan Poe are vividly brought to life - and death - in this stylish, Gothic thriller starring John Cusack as the infamous author.
Director James McTeigue's 'The Raven' re-imagines the last few days of Edgar Allan Poe's life as a 'Se7en' style thriller, and for a while at least it almost works.