There was so much affectation in the acting and accents, I honestly couldn't wait for 'The Raven' to dispatch each of the characters. Why were these South African actors given an Australian dialogue coach to help them deliver English 'toff' accents? And I swear I heard a Welsh accent early on, why was it needed? It all kept me asking 'who are these people, why do they all seem to hate each other, and why are they having a party together? Were the disparate accents part of a master plan for a major international incident (with an end shot of The Raven stroking a fluffy white cat)?' The movie kept getting in the way of its story, and I lost interest pretty quickly. It wasn't fair to Poe's original story, but then there really wasn't much of the original Poe's 'The Raven' actually in this story, only nods and suggestions -- actually it may be closer to 'Mask of the Red Death', if anything. Oh, why was it called 'The Raven' then? I'll end with the sound of my toe tap, tap, tapping and think of this movie NEVERMORE.
3 Reviews
Hot scenes was the only good thing about this movie
OatsyDumbsy3 November 2022
This movie has terrible acting and a plot that did not make any sense by the ending. Granted, at least it tries to tell a story compared to Decoteau's later films which are virtually plotless. But this film's plot still falls flat nonetheless and has little to do with the original poem by Edgar Allen Poe, who'd be turning in his grave if he saw this film.
Chandler played by Graeme Richards is the only enjoyable character, he is not only good looking but has a funny personality compared to everyone, who all just seem to be there to show off their bodies and get killed off not long after being introduced. All the characters have no personalities and are not engaging.
Graeme also has a very hot gay sex scene with Ivan Botha towards the end of the film, and frankly is the only good scene. Although unfortunately, for some reason most of their kissing is obscured by their positioning and you can't really see them kiss minus a few instances. Also not a fan of the looping footage and the lighting. Heck, at least it was a long scene and butts were exposed. But you can't help but wonder why it was in the film as it contributes nothing to the plot, only to stimulate a gay audience without any depth.
Hottie Andre Velts also has a gay sex scene at the start of the film, but the actor he was kissing was just ugly and I wish someone else was chosen. The scene suffers from looping footage as well, but not as bad as Graeme and Ivan's scene. The editors of this film honestly suck at editing scenes.
Overall, it's not a movie I recommend. It's only redeeming quality is the hot looking boys and the gay sex scenes. Otherwise it fails in every other aspect.
Chandler played by Graeme Richards is the only enjoyable character, he is not only good looking but has a funny personality compared to everyone, who all just seem to be there to show off their bodies and get killed off not long after being introduced. All the characters have no personalities and are not engaging.
Graeme also has a very hot gay sex scene with Ivan Botha towards the end of the film, and frankly is the only good scene. Although unfortunately, for some reason most of their kissing is obscured by their positioning and you can't really see them kiss minus a few instances. Also not a fan of the looping footage and the lighting. Heck, at least it was a long scene and butts were exposed. But you can't help but wonder why it was in the film as it contributes nothing to the plot, only to stimulate a gay audience without any depth.
Hottie Andre Velts also has a gay sex scene at the start of the film, but the actor he was kissing was just ugly and I wish someone else was chosen. The scene suffers from looping footage as well, but not as bad as Graeme and Ivan's scene. The editors of this film honestly suck at editing scenes.
Overall, it's not a movie I recommend. It's only redeeming quality is the hot looking boys and the gay sex scenes. Otherwise it fails in every other aspect.
Why does David DeCoteau feel like turning all of Edgar Allan Poe's novels into soft-core porn?
Angeeel27 August 2011
So far I've seen 6 movies directed by David DeCoteau and I'm starting to sense a pattern here... The movies that were loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's novels are pretty much soft-core porn and two out of three Puppet Master movies are an insult to the franchise. So the pattern here is that David DeCoteau sucks!
His later works, "The Pit and the Pendulum" & "The House of Usher" were soft-core port too, but at least *those* movies had a somewhat good story. Sure, these movies are based on Edgar Allen Poe's novels, so the story was already provided, but "The Raven" has something that the other two movies do not: bad execution! I mean... come on! The acting was weird, the plot holes were many, the story overall was full of clichés and the editing of the so called "sex-scenes" was a joke! Looping footage over and over again to make the scene last longer, doesn't mean it'll make the scene better! And as for the ending... You know... a quote comes to mind: "There's plot convenience, there's Deus Ex Machina, and then there's just pulling stuff right out of your ass!"
"The Pit and the Pendulum" & "The House of Usher" were not good movies! Nowhere, at any point, were they good movies. They too had pretty much the same flaws as "The Raven", but at least they weren't as boring! I have never been so bored watching a movie before! Never!
Final thoughts: If you want the usual soft-core porn that David DeCoteau does so "well", got watch "The Pit and the Pendulum" instead!
His later works, "The Pit and the Pendulum" & "The House of Usher" were soft-core port too, but at least *those* movies had a somewhat good story. Sure, these movies are based on Edgar Allen Poe's novels, so the story was already provided, but "The Raven" has something that the other two movies do not: bad execution! I mean... come on! The acting was weird, the plot holes were many, the story overall was full of clichés and the editing of the so called "sex-scenes" was a joke! Looping footage over and over again to make the scene last longer, doesn't mean it'll make the scene better! And as for the ending... You know... a quote comes to mind: "There's plot convenience, there's Deus Ex Machina, and then there's just pulling stuff right out of your ass!"
"The Pit and the Pendulum" & "The House of Usher" were not good movies! Nowhere, at any point, were they good movies. They too had pretty much the same flaws as "The Raven", but at least they weren't as boring! I have never been so bored watching a movie before! Never!
Final thoughts: If you want the usual soft-core porn that David DeCoteau does so "well", got watch "The Pit and the Pendulum" instead!
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