Featured Audience Ratings

• Emil K

  
  The Raven is another sign that director James McTeigue may end up as a one trick pony. While his V for Vendetta was highly accomplished work with terrific visual look and very emotional performances, same cannot be said about his awful Ninja Assasin or now this abysmally bad thriller,… More
  The Raven is another sign that director James McTeigue may end up as a one trick pony. While his V for Vendetta was highly accomplished work with terrific visual look and very emotional performances, same cannot be said about his awful Ninja Assasin or now this abysmally bad thriller, The Raven. There are so many elements that seem to be out of balance that i don't almost know where to begin. Maybe the most annoying thing here was the acting. I have never seen John Cusack so horribly miscast as he is in here. Cusack has given us some great perfromances and is by no doubts a fine actor but here he is just ridicilous as a Edgar Allan Poe. There is not a second when he is convincing with his terrible overacting and the dialogue that is written for him is just plain awful. End result is sadly unintentionally hilarious and embarrasing to watch. There are not that much to be said about other performances also. Brendan Gleeson is underused and doesn't add up to much as an old and bitter Colonel Hamilton and Luke Evans is mostly shouting and overacting through his role as a Detective Fields. The Raven actually does have interesting idea behind its story but the execution is just so bad that it destroys all the potential there is. I was left thinking that why on earth did director McTeigue end up using those pointless and cheap CGI effects with this film. If the intention was to marry modern technology with old gothic-horror, then he made a very bad decision indeed. CGI close-ups of bullets flying or the lame use of gory murders feels pointless and desperate attempts in creating something that would make viewers more terrified. Edgar Allan Poe's life would serve a great story for a film, but there is nothing great or even remotely interesting in this film. The Raven is just plain awful filmmaking and another failed work from once so promising McTeigue.

• Jason S

  
  I see what they were going for I just didn't care all that much about the journey. The film was too dark half of the time causing me to strain my eyes just trying to make out what was going on. The characters were all pretty one note. It's a plain jane whodunnit that… More
  I see what they were going for I just didn't care all that much about the journey. The film was too dark half of the time causing me to strain my eyes just trying to make out what was going on. The characters were all pretty one note. It's a plain jane whodunnit that doesn't do anything original with all the potential it has just by being a period thriller featuring Poe.

• MisterYoda ?

  
  three stars

• Bruce B

  
  Whats to say other then Outstanding. John Cusack best role and movie to date. 5 stars

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  "I'm not going to lie. I love John Cusack. He's has been a favorite of mine as long as I have been watching his films. But I was disappointed with this movie. Not his best work at all. But I think it had more to do with the story and it's setting then his acting.… More
  "I'm not going to lie. I love John Cusack. He's has been a favorite of mine as long as I have been watching his films. But I was disappointed with this movie. Not his best work at all. But I think it had more to do with the story and it's setting then his acting. It's described as a gothic dark tale, as it should be. It's Edgar Allen Poe, duh. But this wasn't dark enough. I wanted more creepy darkness. It just didn't feel like the dark thriller it could have been. I did enjoy it on some level though. But I wanted more."

• Everett J

  
  "The Raven" is a fictional story of the days leading up to the death of Edgar Allen Poe(Played by John Cusack). A mysterious madman is murdering people, and his murders are inspired by the literary works of Poe. A detective(Luke Evans) then enlists the help of Poe to find… More
  "The Raven" is a fictional story of the days leading up to the death of Edgar Allen Poe(Played by John Cusack). A mysterious madman is murdering people, and his murders are inspired by the literary works of Poe. A detective(Luke Evans) then enlists the help of Poe to find the killer, when Poe's love interest(Alice Eve) is kidnapped by the killer. The story is decent, even if it is kind of generic. The thing that surprised me most was how gory the movie was, which hey, I love a good gory movie. I just wasn't expecting it with this. Cusack is one of my favorite actors, but here he seemed a little out of place. I don't know what it is, but I just never bought into him as Poe. For a period movie this is good, but it's not something I would probably watch again. I'd say decent for a one time viewing, but other than that it's pretty forgettable.

• John H

  
  Unnatural and forced acting from start to end. I saw no Edgar Allan Poe in this movie. Just two different obsessions of his work.

• Josh L

  
  The storyline builds up the unknown identity of the killer too much because the reveal is a major disappointment. Cusack gives a decent performance as Poe, but everything else is not up to par. The rest of the cast is either underused or overacting. Major Poe fans might relish in a… More
  The storyline builds up the unknown identity of the killer too much because the reveal is a major disappointment. Cusack gives a decent performance as Poe, but everything else is not up to par. The rest of the cast is either underused or overacting. Major Poe fans might relish in a few of the moments, but I don't even think they will enjoy this movie all that much.

• Jeff "

  
  The Raven is a mediocre horror thriller that could have been much better. I've been a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe's work, and though I found the concept of the film to be quite interesting, I found that the script was flimsy and some of the dialogue was poorly written. I… More
  The Raven is a mediocre horror thriller that could have been much better. I've been a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe's work, and though I found the concept of the film to be quite interesting, I found that the script was flimsy and some of the dialogue was poorly written. I really enjoyed James McTiegue's directorial debut with V for Vendetta, but with The Raven, he just clumsily directs a film that just doesn't seem to work. Some of the cast are pretty good, unfortunately the script just doesn't work, and the attempt of combining a mystery with psychological horror leaves you wanting more. I'm a big fan of Poe's work, and I was really looking forward to seeing this film, sadly I was disappointed in the result. McTiegue is a great director, but with this film, he just misses the mark. This film could have been so much better than what it turned out to be. This is a disappointing flick that just doesn't deliver anything memorable or entertaining. Although I have to admit that the gore effects were great, it still didn't add anything substantial to the film, and the screenwriters could have put a bit more effort into trying to make everything work. The elements for a great story were there, but the execution was poor. If you're looking for something entertaining, you'll be disappointed with The Raven. I found myself being bored most of the time while watching, and despite a good, it's a shame that this film never takes off. The film has elements of the psychological horror genre along with mystery/ thriller elements, and with that said, with a proper script rewrite, The Raven would have been a terrific film.

• Al S

  
  A lavish, gripping, stylish and constantly gripping thriller. A haunting and grimm mystery that echoes of Sherlock Holmes and From Hell. A well-crafted and sharply shot piece thats both bold, bloody and brilliant. A bone-chilling thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat… More
  A lavish, gripping, stylish and constantly gripping thriller. A haunting and grimm mystery that echoes of Sherlock Holmes and From Hell. A well-crafted and sharply shot piece thats both bold, bloody and brilliant. A bone-chilling thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat with heart-pounding suspense from begining to end. An exciting period piece with great visuals and locattions and solid performances. John Cusack is absolutely riveting as Poe, one of his finest performances in years. Luke Evans is excellent. It has a very simple formula that involes a great amount of class, thrills, chills and excitement.

• Luke B

  
  James McTeigue continues on his trek of directing technically competent films, but fails to make them interesting in the slightest. The Raven finds Edgar Allen Poe become involved in a series of murders based on his books. This is basically the pilot episode of Castle, but it goes on… More
  James McTeigue continues on his trek of directing technically competent films, but fails to make them interesting in the slightest. The Raven finds Edgar Allen Poe become involved in a series of murders based on his books. This is basically the pilot episode of Castle, but it goes on for a lot longer and takes itself so damn seriously. Cusack is fine as legendary poet and writer. His earlier scenes show his frustration and ego in full force as he berates fellow writers and the ignorant masses that fail to recognise his work. The period setting is brought to life well, and the gothic nature of Poe's prose is well realised aesthetically. The problem is a lack of involvement. I didn't feel for Poe's relationship with Emily, which meant the whole sense of danger and fear was nowhere to be found. I couldn't care less who the killer was, nor his motive. There was nothing I hadn't seen before and the supporting cast are paraded around as possible suspects.I hope McTeigue can do more for The Wolverine.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"The only one who can stop a serial killer is the man who inspired him."</i> 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… More
  <i>"The only one who can stop a serial killer is the man who inspired him."</i> 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. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> The Raven starts with a title card telling us that Edgar Allen Poe was found, dying, on a park bench and nobody knows what happened to him in the few days before that. This film tells what purports to be the story of those days, and involves the penniless and alcoholic Poe getting involved in trying to solve a string of murders and a kidnapping which appear to be based on his work. So we have a period murder mystery thriller here, with John Cusack as Poe. Poe's dialogue is obviously fairly carefully scripted, and is played by Cusack in an overly ostentatious manner which suits the floridity of what comes out of the character's mouth, but which otherwise gives the impression of bad stage acting (also I had never noticed just how much Cusack, an actor who I like, stands there with his mouth open, looking like a character from a badly drawn comic). The rest of the film is not scripted as carefully as Poe's dialogue, and much of the logic falls apart if you look at it too carefully. Superficially, however, this is an entertaining ride - rather dark, somewhat violent, but with a good period feel and decent performances from the rest of the cast.

• Phil H

  
  Very fictionalised account of Poe's last days up until the point where he was mysteriously found ill and dying on the streets of Baltimore. Apparently the writers included some real accounts of Poe's life into the film but to be honest you would never have guessed. What you… More
  Very fictionalised account of Poe's last days up until the point where he was mysteriously found ill and dying on the streets of Baltimore. Apparently the writers included some real accounts of Poe's life into the film but to be honest you would never have guessed. What you have here is a serial killer horror set at the time of Poe and that's pretty much it. This could be set or made anywhere its that generic and bland, its only the dark rustic mists of old 19th century Maryland that make this remotely interesting to watch. So someone is killing folk just as Poe has written in his literary works and its up to Sherloc....I mean Edgar to track down the killer before his beloved is murdered. Poe is portrayed by John Cusack and I didn't really think too much to this decision. He does look the part somewhat I admit but Cusack comes across as a bit too humorous at times, he doesn't really fit the bill for this type of dark thriller. He gets better towards the end but for the most part he really doesn't stand out a tall. Rest of the cast are pretty much your standard affair with all the mutton chop sideburns and beards in place. Gleeson does seem terribly type cast here, any period flick going they stick him in it with facial hair. Its all very dull with not much happening to keep you in your seat. Slow plodding plot with lots of 'Scooby Doo' type clues and searching intertwined with the odd gory moment. Its hardly nail biting stuff, I didn't really care about any of the characters and the ending is so so....plain!. Without my own review seeming to generic itself as I'm sure others will have made this same observation but think of this film like the recent 'Sherlock Holmes' films. Less glossy action and much more darkness and blood, an adult version if you will. On the other hand you could think of it as a much weaker version of 'From Hell', bit of a duffer I'm afraid.

• Jason C

  
  Being a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe's material, I actually thought that "The Raven" had the potential to deliver strong entertainment value. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The movie fails as an accurate biographical portrayal of the writer, as much as it squanders the… More
  Being a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe's material, I actually thought that "The Raven" had the potential to deliver strong entertainment value. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The movie fails as an accurate biographical portrayal of the writer, as much as it squanders the opportunity to bring his macabre tales to life. The writers labored to force as many of Poe's masterpieces into their tired murder mystery as possible. References to "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Pit and the Pendulum" and others, lack any insight into the actual stories at all. The uninspired scenes come and go, which is unforgivable, considering they were the studio's main selling point. The writers didn't stop at reducing the man's work. Edgar Allen Poe is fictionalized as a bumbling sleuth, that would have been a perfect fit in a rotation of lame 1970's prime time detective features. Any lazy reference to Poe's actual life or puzzling death, could have been easily lifted from any article on the internet. The underrated John Cusack does what he can, but this effort was doomed from the opening credits, until it's ridiculous payoff. A competent filmmaker, could generate great cinema out of Poe's stories. Until that actually happens, "The Raven" will be there to defecate on a towering legacy.

• Aaron N

  
  Det. Fields: Are there any other stories in the collection? Edgar Allan Poe: Many. Det. Fields: Specifically about murder? Edgar Allan Poe: I'm afraid so. Here is an example of a film that I wish was sillier. As it stands, The Raven is a slickly made thriller… More
  Det. Fields: Are there any other stories in the collection? Edgar Allan Poe: Many. Det. Fields: Specifically about murder? Edgar Allan Poe: I'm afraid so. Here is an example of a film that I wish was sillier. As it stands, The Raven is a slickly made thriller about a serial killer who goes to implausibly complex extents to recreate scenes from the more gruesome works of Edgar Allan Poe, but it suffers due to it not being much fun to watch. The film could have gone two ways to help itself out. The Raven could have gone a very serious route and played out like a 19th century Se7en. Or, the film could have added a layer of camp or more dark humor and turned out to be something like Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. Unfortunately, The Raven falls somewhere in the middle; with John Cusack being the only thing to help it along, aside from some neat production aspects. The story never becomes more than bland; the other characters are equally uninteresting, and the results are fairly lackluster. What starts out as a neat idea is ultimately unfulfilling. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com

• Nate Z

  
  When "The Raven" was released in 1845, it was a literary sensation. I can't say that the 2012 movie of the same name will be met with anywhere near the devoted fanfare. Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) has become embroiled in a deadly criminal investigation. The famous… More
  When "The Raven" was released in 1845, it was a literary sensation. I can't say that the 2012 movie of the same name will be met with anywhere near the devoted fanfare. Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) has become embroiled in a deadly criminal investigation. The famous author is penniless, drunk, and depressed, but what else is new? What is new is that some Poe admirer has been stalking Baltimore and killing people in grisly styles fashioned after Poe's macabre stories and poems. Detective Fields (Luke Evans) recognizes the connection to Poe and enlists the author to aid in capturing the murderer. Poe's upper-class love, Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve), is captured by the unknown madman and buried alive. Poe must race against time to stop a killer, rescue the girl, and write a new horror-themed story to be published via the killer's demands. The Raven feels like an ill fit from the start. What is the point of featuring an American literary icon when all you're going to do is plop the man into a pretty rote police procedural/serial killer thriller? The deadly flaw of The Raven isn't its concept; it's that the finished product didn't embrace the particulars of its literary mash-up enough. Is it really a good use of Poe to just have him tag along on a police investigation? I wanted this premise to crackle with a devious slyness, a cleverness of genre and concept that the movie seems incapable of producing. You're taking America's singular literary voice of the Gothic and macabre and putting him into a game with a deranged fan. That's a great start. I'm interested in that movie. But there needs to be some follow-through. This should be a battle of wits, an opportunity for Poe to backslide into the murky chasm of his own creations, bearing some pinning of guilt at having birthed a mad killer with the power of his words and imagination. This should be a psychological descent into hell for a man already famously tortured. Instead, the movie just becomes another rote serial killer movie but somebody typed in the name "Poe." The various corpses, inspired by Poe's works, just end up being gory, easily telegraphed deposits for clues. We don't see these people in peril, terrified by the fiendish ye olde Saw-like death traps. We don't even understand the process of the killer. The movie just ends up becoming one long, tiresome chase from dead body to next dead body, with Poe literary association haphazardly ladled in to tie stuff together. After a while, it feels like somebody took a thoroughly uninspiring serial killer script and just transported it into mid 19th century America. It's nice to know that some clichés are timeless. The movie never feels like it works properly, and the potential of its premise is completely unrealized. The murder mystery isn't really ever given suitable footing to be a mystery, except in that tried-and-true "who's going to be the bad guy" reveal. There aren't really any clues left behind. So when characters suddenly come up with epiphanies on their murder investigation, you wish they would at least show their work. For a movie written by screenwriters with names like Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare, The Raven certainly isn't smart. The Poe stories feel tacked on in an arbitrary fashion instead of being interwoven into foundational elements of the story. Who cares how the characters die if their deaths have no impact on Poe or anyone else? The "how" of the equation becomes inconsequential. The title poem doesn't even bear any weight on the story. The love interest/damsel in distress character is so bland and underwritten, that it's hard to really feel Poe's gnawing sense of urgency. Sidling the gloomy Gus Poe with a puppy-dog love story seems like a poor misunderstanding of the man and his demons. To top it off, the girl isn't even his cousin (surely the oddest criticism of mine thrown at a movie)! The movie doesn't really ever become a convincing thriller either. The pulpier elements are ignored or downplayed, played with stodgy seriousness for a movie this ridiculous (Saw-style death traps in 1849?). Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), who after this and 2009's Ninja Assassin is starting to look like a one-hit wonder, badly misplays the action elements. The dingy cinematography is unnaturally dark, making it exceedingly difficult to understand certain sequences and giving the audience yet another reason to lose interest. The impressive production design is totally mitigated when there's not enough light to even see it. I understand given the nature of the story that we'd be dealing with lot of shadows and darkness, but this is just one poor looking movie. The only way you'd feel excitement from this movie is if in a fit of amnesia you forgot what you were watching and suddenly thought it might be a different, better movie, only to be disappointed ten minutes later when that sinking feeling reemerges and you realize, no, I am still watching The Raven. I love me some John Cusack (Hot Tub Time Machine), but this guy is just the wrong fit for the movie. His sensibilities never really gel with the character, so Poe's sense of melancholy comes across as more haughty boredom. He is not the right fit for the material. Eve (She's Out of my League) has got nothing to do but look pretty and scream occasionally. The worst crime of all is utterly wasting one of my favorite contemporary character actors, the phenomenally great Brendan Gleeson (The Guard). He plays the uptight father of Poe's love interest, which means he gets to pop onscreen and glare at Poe while looking worried. It's a criminal waste of this man's considerable talents. I think the best part of The Raven is actually it's mostly unseen killer. It's not because the guy is particularly clever or interesting or even remotely memorable (when they reveal who it is, make sure to pay attention to the constant reiteration of who he is, because if you're like me, you plum forgot). The reason this guy is good is because of his impetus. He's ultimately terrorizing Poe so that he can force the author to create more stories. Call it an extreme case of motivation. I can see our studious killer justifying his bad behavior, claiming to give the world new gifts of literary brilliance that we can all share, stories that will last the test of time. Isn't that worth a few dead bodies, he'd argue. Ultimately, this rationale becomes more egotistical, about flattering the killer and his devious appetites, which is a shame. I'd prefer if the bad guy were more devoted to the cause of helping to shape the Canon of transcendental literature. I almost wish that the movie were told from this skewed perspective. I could have dealt with an entire catalogue of famous authors being victimized under the auspices of producing great literature. What if this one sick person is responsible for wresting the great works of the 19th century out of the authors' minds and onto the page? I think we all owe this terrible individual a debt of gratitude. I'm finding myself disliking The Raven the more thought I put into it, which, admittedly, my brain is actively fighting against. It does not want to spend more time processing this bore of a movie; a fun premise never fully realized, a conflict never truly developed, and characters that are the 19th century equivalent of the stock roles you'd find in any mechanical CSI/Law & Order TV episode. So in the interest of literary fairness, I've decided to channel the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe for the final word on The Raven: And The Raven, never flowing, still is going, still is going, On the pallid screen I silently stare at in unblinking bore, And its plot is not that smart, missing heart and clues to start, And it seems like the writers were tasked with an unfriendly chore, The movie does not work; it's dull and empty to its very core, And so I lastly ask does this movie properly entertain? Quoth The Raven - "nevermore." Nate's Grade: C

• Directors C

  
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] I was very enthusiastic about seeing this film, partly because I enjoyed V for Vendetta (same director) and partly because I have read many of Poe's pieces of literature and i've thoroughly enjoyed… More
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] I was very enthusiastic about seeing this film, partly because I enjoyed V for Vendetta (same director) and partly because I have read many of Poe's pieces of literature and i've thoroughly enjoyed many of them, basically i'm a huge fan of Poe. However my expectations were not entirely met with this film, because it wasn't at all historically accurate and mostly resembles a Sherlock Holmes movie except with scenes stolen from Poe's books. However, The Raven doesn't deserve to be entirely panned. It's not in any subtextual way a good adaption of Poe's work and i'm certain he wouldn't have been the biggest fan of this movie but it's a mystery thriller with some decent plot twists and performances from John Cusack and Brendan Gleeson. So dont criticise it as an adaption when it's not even trying to be one. Judge it as a film. It was interesting enough and so as a result of this I never pondered weak and weary.

• Dann M

  
  While The Raven has an intriguing concept, it's not well executed. In a bit of historical fiction, the film supposes that in the days before his death Edgar Allan Poe was engaged in a murder investigate of a serial killer who was patterning his kills off of Poe's writings.… More
  While The Raven has an intriguing concept, it's not well executed. In a bit of historical fiction, the film supposes that in the days before his death Edgar Allan Poe was engaged in a murder investigate of a serial killer who was patterning his kills off of Poe's writings. John Cusack stars as Poe, and his performance is fairly good, but the rest of the cast is rather lackluster. And the storytelling is weak, as the mystery is awkwardly developed and lacks intensity. The Raven is imaginative, but it isn't able realize its potential.

• George F

  
  you know, I didn't dislike this. I see the 21% and it just seems harsh. Is it great? No. Will I ever see it again? Probably not. But for $2, I was entertained enough to want to see how it panned out. And I enjoyed all the Poe references I understood. I don't know. This… More
  you know, I didn't dislike this. I see the 21% and it just seems harsh. Is it great? No. Will I ever see it again? Probably not. But for $2, I was entertained enough to want to see how it panned out. And I enjoyed all the Poe references I understood. I don't know. This wasn't that bad. If you like this kind of movie and need something in your Netflix queue or a dollar Redbox to take home, you can do worse than The Raven.

• Glenn G

  
  True Confession: I didn't even make it halfway through this snoozefest before walking out (in a huff...I wish...actually quite respectfully). I didn't care that John Cusack was present for the Q&A, I was that bored. Despite a really great premise in which Edgar Allen… More
  True Confession: I didn't even make it halfway through this snoozefest before walking out (in a huff...I wish...actually quite respectfully). I didn't care that John Cusack was present for the Q&A, I was that bored. Despite a really great premise in which Edgar Allen Poe is called upon to help find a serial killer who uses Poe's tales as bloody inspiration, the results are stultifying. Cusack is game as Poe in his final days. He's a broke egomaniac prone to "Do you know who I am?" pronouncements in the local Baltimore bars. The grisly murder sequences, particularly a "Pit And The Pendulum" reenactment, wouldn't look out of place in a SAW or HOSTEL sequel, and the cinematography is inky dark and moody. The problem is that every scene went on far too long, bringing any dramatic momentum to a grinding halt. Sure, the screenwriters are partially to blame, but Director James McTeigue had similar pacing issues with V FOR VENDETTA, so I'm just gonna have to conclude that this is the guy who takes the MOVE out of MOVIES! My movie buddy, Rebekah, and I left to grab a bite nearby, and as we were returning to our car, we saw the movie was letting out. We stopped a couple who told us we didn't miss a thing. All we wanted to know was who did it. They spilled, we all collectively shrugged and then went our separate ways. I was happy that I knew the killer's identity without having to endure another painful minute. In Hollywood, that's called a great movie night.

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