Review of The Raven (2012) by John C — 10 Oct 2012

Edgar Allan Poe meets Sherlock Holmes. Poe finds himself in a race to save the woman he loves from a madman who kills his victims using Poe's own macabre works as inspiration. Poe must bring forth his repressed darkness as he is prodded by the fiend with baffling clues (which inspires, at least, two great works.

) The opening scenes were my favorite. Poe's rants and barbs in a pub showed a little of the torment for which he is famous. I really enjoy how they captured the period and I think it is a bit misplaced to simply write this off as a Downey Sherlock Holmes clone (which was not without its own flaws.

) The Raven was well acted and Cusack gave a very nice performance (sometimes slipping in and out of his accent.) It was well researched (using moments from the real life Poe) and if you suspend disbelief.

..you might just find yourself enjoying the ride. It felt a little like a big budget Hammer film (Hammer cranked out those classic movies where there was always something to like and more gore than the old Universal horror movies.

) Perfect thriller for the Halloween season.