"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there
wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream
before..."
- Edgar Allan Poe
"The Raven"
Let me start this by saying FINALLY. My road to actually
seeing this film was absolutely ridiculous to say the least. It seemed that
everything in the world did not want me to see this film, from theaters to
personal issues it seemed as though The Raven would have alluded me.
As I said before I felt like I was destined not to see this
movie. When I initially wanted to see this film, a family event popped up that
kept me from attending. The second time I tried to see this film was supposed
to be at a local drive in theater, but yet again the film eluded me by being
replaced by MEN IN BLACK 3 of all films. I did, however, stay persistent.
Finally a pal of mine and I decided we would go see it in the theaters one Friday
evening. So we check fandango, got the time and off we go. We get there ask for
tickets and are informed that theater no longer had the film! WHAT!!! Still
wanting to see this film we looked on fandango one last time at the next
theater closest to us, they had it starting in 20 mins and we could make it! So
we rushed over, asked for tickets and fandango failed us yet again by not
having the film at said time. So needless to say I felt I was cursed NEVER to
see this film. Obviously that curse was lifted due to some wonderful people, that
will remain unnamed, that lent me a screener copy of the film.
The Raven is a fictional take of the final days of Edgar
Allan Poe, with a wonderful twist. Released by Rogue, a company of Relativity
Media, this film delivers all the goods of a horror film with a physiological
thriller twist. Basically A serial killer is on the loose in an 1849 Baltimore, Maryland,
striking fear into the city by killing victims in fashions described in Poe’s
fictional stories.
I want into this film with some hesitations. When I first caught
wind of the films lead role of Poe going to John Cusack, I was a little wary. Don’t
get me wrong I am a fan of Cusack’s previous work, but I was unsure as to how
he would do with a period piece such as this. All things aside I was pleasantly
surprised. I really enjoyed Cusack’s performance. I think he brought his own
spin on the role which played out rather nicely.
I thought the film was shot well. The direction was straight
and to the point. The director James McTeigue did a great job of keeping the
viewer on their toes by throwing in some nice angled shots. The film uses both
CG and practical effects which is nice, but I do wish most of the on screen kills
used more practical effects.
I really liked this movie and will rush out to my local
dvd/blu-ray retailer to snatch it up as soon as its official release. GLP gives
this film 4 out of 5 stabs for creative story, strong lead performance and
original twist on Edgar Allan Poe’s final days. If you would like to pre-order
the film you can do so here. The official street date for blu-ray and dvd is October
9, 2012. So until then you can watch the trailer below!
GLP Rating
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