The Raven (I) (2012)

When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.

Director:

James McTeigue

Writers:

Ben Livingston, Hannah Shakespeare

Stars:

John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Edgar Allan Poe
Luke Evans	...	Detective Fields
Alice Eve	...	Emily Hamilton
Brendan Gleeson	...	Capt. Charles Hamilton
Kevin McNally	...	Maddux
Oliver Jackson-Cohen	...	John Cantrell
Jimmy Yuill	...	Captain Eldridge
Sam Hazeldine	...	Ivan
Pam Ferris	...	Mrs. Bradley
Brendan Coyle	...	Reagan
Adrian Rawlins	...	Doc Clements
Aidan Feore	...	Stage Manager
Dave Legeno	...	Percy
Michael Cronin	...	Old Gentleman
Michael Poole	...	Professor

Storyline

This movie is set in the mid 1800s and involves poet Edgar Allan Poe. A serial killer is on the loose and murdering people using Poe's descriptions from his published stories and poems. Poe teams up with Detective Fields, a Baltimore policeman to try and catch the killer by using his knowledge of the descriptions. Even though the stories are fictional, they start to become reality and the killer is a step ahead of them. Then it takes on a personal note as Poe's lover becomes a target. Will they stop the killer in time?

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Plot Keywords:

murder | serial killer | poet | 19th century | poem | 

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Taglines:

The only one who can stop a serial killer is the man who inspired him.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence and grisly images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [br]

Country:

USA Hungary Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cuervo

Filming Locations:

Novi Sad, Serbia

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,289,642 (USA) (27 April 2012)

Gross:

$16,005,978 (USA) (6 July 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Intrepid Pictures, FilmNation Entertainment, Galavis Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ewan McGregor (as Edgar Allan Poe) and Jeremy Renner (as Inspector Emmet Fields) were originally attached to star, but dropped out.

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Goofs

In one scene, a newspaper is seen with a headline containing the phrase "Serial Killer." While the film is set in 1849, the term "Serial Killer" did not exist until well into the 20th century. Various sources state that the term was coined in either the 1960s or 1970s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Breathless Tenement Man: It's the fourth floor.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Burn My Shadow"
Written by Ian Astbury, Richard File, Chris Goss and James Lavelle
Performed by Unkle featuring Ian Astbury

User Reviews

Tell Tale Movie

On October 3, 1849 Edgar Allan Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, delirious, calling out the name Reynolds. There have been lots of theories as to what Poe died of, from tuberculosis, rabies or to a drunken bender. "The Raven" puts forth a more romantic theory and a detective story for the man who invented the modern detective novel.

"The Raven" as a movie demonstrates that you can make a movie that bridges the biographical facts of Poe's life and its own artistic vision and still make an interesting movie. 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. When the first murder is done inside a locked room, police detective Fields (Luke Evans) recognizes it as the setting of an Edgar Allan Poe story. Fields brings in Poe (John Cusack) at first as suspect, but when another murder occurs Poe quickly becomes the first criminal profiler and consultant. Poe helps Fields both in what kind of mind the killer may have and of course in the details from his 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. As mentioned before, the filmmakers stick fairly accurately to the known elements of Poe's last few days, although there are some artistic liberties taken, and they still present an entertaining movie with a few twists and turns as to who the murderer is.

Cusack is spot on as Poe from his look, thin with a black mustache and goatee, to (more importantly) Poe's character. Poe was a writer who had the ultimate confidence in his own abilities as a writer and was dismissive of his contemporaries, especially if they were more successful. Cusack is supported by a cast that hits every note right.

If you think a movie about Edgar Allan Poe won't have enough action for you, this is a movie for you. If you're more literary minded and think this movie will have too many inaccuracies or violate Poe's character or will throw in too much action, you won't be disappointed.