The Raven (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:

Hannah Shakespeare, Ben Livingston

Stars:

John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans

5 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 (as Kevin R. McNally)
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 | mask | poem | newspaper | 

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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:

Crime | 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 [Brazil]

Country:

USA Spain Hungary Serbia

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 USA:

$7,289,642, 29 April 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,008,272, 24 July 2012

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,485,095, 24 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

Joaquin Phoenix was at one point in negotiations to star in the project together with Jeremy Renner. Phoenix would have played Poe to Renner's police inspector Fields, but the deal fell through when Renner decided to do Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011).

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Goofs

The detective tells Poe that the victim had her throat cut with a "straight razor". A straight razor was just called a razor until the invention of the safety razor many years later.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Featured in Projector: The Raven (2012)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne, es-dur, OP.9
Composed by Frédéric Chopin
Arranged by Lucas Vidal

User Reviews

Dark and atmospheric police case... with Poe.

I really wanted to like this film, I really did. Something was off, though. Was it the script? Perhaps, although I can't find a clear fault in it. Some of the sophistication of the crimes and of the investigative methods were clearly out of the era, but overall it was OK. The production values were good, the direction was good, the acting was good. The atmosphere was dark and claustrophobic as in Poe's writing. Yet, I didn't quite find the enjoyment I was looking for.

The only thing I can think off was John Cusack. He and Alice Eve had no chemistry (and how can you not have it with Alice Eve?!) and the thing I had most trouble believing were not the way the criminal always barely escapes, not the story or the era or the feel of the movie, but that Cusack's character had any feelings at all. He seemed apathetic and occasionally angry. That was it. And that made the film, a good film overall, not be better than average.