The Raven Review

Title: Raven [Blu-ray]

Release Date: October 9, 2012

About the Movie:

John Cusack and Luke Evans star in this blood-curdling tale of terror that’s as dark and haunting as the legendary master of the macabre who inspired it – Edgar Allan Poe.

Baltimore, 1849 – While investigating a horrific double murder, police detective Emmett Fields (Evans) makes a startling discovery: the killer’s methods mirror the twisted writings of Edgar Allan Poe (Cusack). Suspecting Poe at first, Fields ultimately enlists his help to stop future attacks. But in this deadly game of cat and mouse, the stakes are raised with each gruesome slaying as the pair races to catch a madman before he brings every one of Poe’s shocking stories to chilling life…and death.

Special Features:

• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Poetry Reading
• The Red Mask
• Emily’s Recital
• Fields Check on Poe
• Poe Brings Carl to Field’s Home
• Doctor Clements and Fields
• The Raven Guts: Bringing Death to Life
• The Madness, Misery, and Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe
• Behind the Beauty and Horror
• The Raven Presents John Cusack & James McTeigue
• Music for the Raven: The Team
• Audio Commentary by Director James McTeigue, Producers Marc D. Evans
• Trevor Macy and Aaron Ryder
• Theatrical Trailer

My Review:

I’ve never read any works by Edgar Allan Poe, but after seeing The Raven I’m inspired to check them out. The Raven is set in Baltimore in the 1800s and stars John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. The movie starts out by saying that Edgar Allan Poe was found dead on a park bench and the last four days of his life remain a mystery. This film is a fictional account of what happened in the last four days of his life.

The scenery is dark and mysterious and the perfect atmosphere for this whodunit thriller. There’s a serial killer on the loose who is playing out the crimes according to the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The police ask the author for his help in solving the crimes.

It gets even more personal for Edgar when his fiancee, Emily, is taken and held hostage by the killer. He must do whatever he can to find her before she dies. The killer leaves more victims and gives cryptic clues on each body that Edgar and the detective attempt to figure out.

The Raven is full of suspense and I liked that it wasn’t predictable. I didn’t know who the killer was until that information was revealed at the end of the movie. I also felt for Edgar and how desperate he was to find Emily.

There is some gore and I had to shield my eyes in a few scenes that were pretty graphic. Someone is cut in half by an elaborate ax-wielding apparatus and Emily is held captive in a coffin underground. It’s awful to even imagine that situation and the film did a great job in creeping me out.

If you love a mystery mixed with some history, I recommend you watch The Raven and try your hand at figuring out who the killer is.

Disclosure: I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of the product for review purposes. The opinions are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.