The Raven (2012)

Featured Audience Ratings

• 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 an article on Wikipedia. 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 piss 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.

• 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.

• Eric H

  
  John Cusack does for Edgar Allen Poe what Robert Downey Jnr did for Sherlock Holmes, and if you think that's a good thing then please shut down your browser and never cast your eyes over this site again. Hollywood has recently caught on to the idea that if they exploit famous… More
  John Cusack does for Edgar Allen Poe what Robert Downey Jnr did for Sherlock Holmes, and if you think that's a good thing then please shut down your browser and never cast your eyes over this site again. Hollywood has recently caught on to the idea that if they exploit famous literary characters they can save on paying for rights as it's all public domain material. Guy Ritchie has already desecrated the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burrough's "John Carter" is in theatres as I write and later this year we'll get "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". As usual Tinseltown is behind the game with this tactic, Hammer and AIP were doing this back in the fifties and sixties, the difference is they did it well, respecting the material whilst updating it for the audiences of the times. There are few classic literary adaptations that stand up to Hammer's "Curse Of Frankenstein" or AIP's Roger Corman directed Poe series. Here we get Cusack playing Poe in the final days of his life, the twist being a series of murders copied from the writer's own stories plaguing Baltimore. Sounds like a winner right? Well this isn't 1963 and this isn't a Hammer production. Now I'm not naive enough to think that Hammer made films out of any love of cinema, they were just out to make a quick buck. The difference between Hammer and the modern major studios is that they had a respect for their audience, something which Hollywood lost years ago. There are a lot of really talented people working in the American film industry but most of them are in the technical departments. I feel sorry for them because when it comes to the creative departments Hollywood has never had such a shallow talent pool. The editor of this is Niven Howie, he's been working consistently for the past twenty years, if he didn't know what he was doing this wouldn't be the case. The director is James McTeigue. He became a director by working as an Assistant Director for the Wachowski brothers. Need I say more? Thelma Schoonmaker couldn't make sense of the footage a hack like McTeigue would present her with. The editing here is nonsensical, scenes crash into one another so clumsily that by the time you realise it's a new scene we're already onto the next one. Is this the fault of Howie or McTeigue? I would bet my life on the latter. Cusack is a great comedy actor and that's nothing to be ashamed of, there aren't very many about anymore. As a dramatic actor he just doesn't cut it, no matter how hard he tries he's always John Cusack. Here he plays a character who was known for being abrasive and unlikable. I've no problem with a lead character being unlikable but when they are downright irritating, as is Cusack's Poe, it's hard to take. Add in the horribly pretentious dialogue and his rapid-fire delivery and it's one of the most grating performances of any year. It's an incredibly wordy script for what is essentially a horror flick and scenes drag on while at the same time confusing the audience with badly written nineteenth century pigeon English. There's so much that rubbed me the wrong way about this film; unintelligible direction, too much dialogue, bland and dimly lit cinematography, overly dramatic music, CGI blood, and a poor use of colour. Why do so many film-makers think people only wore dark clothing before the last century? Take a look at any pre-twentieth century paintings and you'll see clothes so colourful they would be considered loud at a pimp's convention. Dark clothing is a very recent trend and only came to prominence thanks to The Beatles. If you don't want to use colour then shoot in black and white! Not many film-makers would dare butcher Shakespeare but when it comes to writers like Poe and Conan Doyle, Hollywood treats them with the same respect it affords to cinemagoers, miniscule.

• Jeff B

  
  More 'the pits' than pendulously entertaining, The Raven is horrifically miscalculated American Gothic. One of this reviewer's guiltiest pleasures is From Hell, the Hughes Brothers' flawed but stylish Jack the Ripper Who-Done-It based on an Alan Moore graphic… More
  More 'the pits' than pendulously entertaining, The Raven is horrifically miscalculated American Gothic. One of this reviewer's guiltiest pleasures is From Hell, the Hughes Brothers' flawed but stylish Jack the Ripper Who-Done-It based on an Alan Moore graphic novel. It's a great murder mystery based on real events that colors outside of the lines with great style. The Raven, which shares From Hell's strikingly similar DNA, checks off these same boxes. Cursed with a wretchedly contrived script that never lives up to the premise's great potential, however, this Raven loony is just a Po-faced pot-boiler. In this R-rated 19th century-set crime thriller, writer Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Oliver Jackson Cohen) to hunt down a mad serial murderer basing his crimes around Poe's works. The opening shot shows a deathly ill Poe looking up at - dum, dum, dum - a raven. A victim shows up in a coffin that also encases - dum, dum, dum - a raven. The killer fires a shot at Poe and instead hits - dum, dum, dum - a raven. Laying it on thicker than Karo syrup, director James McTeigue answers the question of if he improved upon the promise he demonstrated with his decent debut, V for Vendetta: um, no. A ridiculous overly bloody display of style over substance, his heavy-handedness puts the final nail in the movie's coffin. Worse, Cusack, who's usually aces in everything from comedy to thrillers, gives a hammy performance more becoming of this week's other release, Dark Shadows. Bottom line: Watch The Raven nevermore.

• Burger S

  
  Pretty good. "From Hell" or "Sherlock Holmes" was better.

• Jeffrey M

  
  The Raven works as a good sort of B thriller, in that it has some scary set pieces, a generally successful dark atmospheric tone, and some good work by John Cusack. What's disappointing is that it shouldn't be thought of as a B thriller, the film genuinely thinks it's… More
  The Raven works as a good sort of B thriller, in that it has some scary set pieces, a generally successful dark atmospheric tone, and some good work by John Cusack. What's disappointing is that it shouldn't be thought of as a B thriller, the film genuinely thinks it's an intelligent, gripping, and witty thriller, when it certainly is not. The plot is silly, the plot developments are often sillier, and the script has plenty of weak dialogue moments. It's stylized nature is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, but without that film's lighter tone, charisma, and humor. In the end, The Raven is entertaining enough to sustain itself, but not at all memorable. 3/5 Stars

• Gavin C

  
  The title starts off with Edgar Allen Poe sitting on a park bench, but nobody knows what happened to him. Then, the story tells about his last few days as an alcoholic and penniless writer trying to solve a string of murders and a kidnapping that appears to be based on his work. Let… More
  The title starts off with Edgar Allen Poe sitting on a park bench, but nobody knows what happened to him. Then, the story tells about his last few days as an alcoholic and penniless writer trying to solve a string of murders and a kidnapping that appears to be based on his work. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I officially like this movie. It's not the greatest ever made, but it's still very entertaining and a pretty good adaptation of Poe and his last few days before his death. I enjoyed John Cusack's over-the-top performance as a drunken poet/writer and his dialog was perfect and I've never hated him throughout the film. The rest of the cast, including Luke Evans, gave some decent performances as well, thus making the other characters engaging. There's also some great and inventive murders that you probably find in either a Saw movie or a Final Destination movie, but the rest of them weren't shown to us and I don't have a problem with that. The story has it's moments, but some parts are quite predictable. Good thing it had a decent enough pace to help it move along. The Dialogue is a combination between flat and humorous that has some fun with Poe's character and his connection with the references to the murders and the stories that he had written were very impressive. The story had some great CGI ravens to it, but apparently, it just didn't justify the movie title. Overall, despite's it's predictable, yet very interesting story, The Raven is by no means an entertaining adaptation of Poe and his last few days as a poet/writer with a great cast, stunning visuals, a nice atmospheric soundtrack, some breathtaking action, and very creative bloody murders which makes it very worth-seeing to die-hard fans of Edgar Allen Poe. Go watch it if you have read the stories, but to those who haven't, however, would might as well read the stories before you might have the chance to see it. Rating: 7.3/10

• Christopher H

  
  Basically a way to bring Edgar Allen Poe's stories to the big screen, there is little excitement in this murder mystery despite its attempt to live in the realm of films like From Hell. John Cusack and Alice Eve are borderline just good enough while Luke Evans steals the show,… More
  Basically a way to bring Edgar Allen Poe's stories to the big screen, there is little excitement in this murder mystery despite its attempt to live in the realm of films like From Hell. John Cusack and Alice Eve are borderline just good enough while Luke Evans steals the show, but without a strong showing from anyone else in the film, The Raven remains a half-rate thriller.

• Jason C

  
  No need to get indepth here. The Raven is one of those movies that just didn't need to be made. John Cusack was so miscast here that all I could think was "how is Nicholas Cage not starring in this junker?" It's not scary, not suspenseful, not good, the dialogue… More
  No need to get indepth here. The Raven is one of those movies that just didn't need to be made. John Cusack was so miscast here that all I could think was "how is Nicholas Cage not starring in this junker?" It's not scary, not suspenseful, not good, the dialogue is miserable. My friend couldn't stop laughing at how stupid and cheesy the dialogue and acting were. It's fittingly topped off with a Scooby Doo type ending. There will never be a time when I'd say anyone should watch The Raven. Well, unless Pooty Tang is your only other option.

• Nikki M

  
  It was so nice to see John Cusack again in the theatre!!! This movie was good and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of gore they showed, much more effective that way!

• Remi L

  
  Its Sherlock Holmes with maybe a fraction of the humor and LOADS more violence and gore. It was entertaining, if not gruesome but not all that exciting. The Raven is the story of a serial killer paying "tribute" to Edgar Allen Poe by murdering random people and staging them… More
  Its Sherlock Holmes with maybe a fraction of the humor and LOADS more violence and gore. It was entertaining, if not gruesome but not all that exciting. The Raven is the story of a serial killer paying "tribute" to Edgar Allen Poe by murdering random people and staging them in the likeness of Poe's famous stories and poems. Poe is a struggling albeit famous writer who teams up with the police to try to figure this psychopath out before its too late. This movie is a Poe fan's dream because it reminisces and touches on his works a little. I personally was a fan of his love interest, Emily who actually has a personality and provides a LITTLE more than just decoration. Luke Evans (The Three Musketeers) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster) also provide some eye candy. Other than that, you've got pretty yet gloomy 19th century Baltimore scenery. And my favorite part, funny enough? A description of Poe from another character, "Its like God gave the man a gift and then quenched it in misery." Poe's not the only poet in the film.

• Jason R

  
  I am not some death-obsessed, Goth child, Nor, am I some highly-educated literary snob. I am however a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and his sinister and macabre works, the famously tortured poet created. That said, I had absolutely no problem with this film, aside from a few historical… More
  I am not some death-obsessed, Goth child, Nor, am I some highly-educated literary snob. I am however a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and his sinister and macabre works, the famously tortured poet created. That said, I had absolutely no problem with this film, aside from a few historical inaccuracies. I had eagerly been waiting for THE RAVEN, the minute I heard of is inception. Placing Poe in a Mystery/Thriller, where he must find a killer, and save his beloved. It was genius! Despite, how generic and recycled the plot may be. Even after the unconventional and somewhat odd choice of casting John Cusack in the lead role. I was still very much on-board. Fast forward some many months later. There I sat in a dark theater watching this film. Despite all the bad reviews, despite all the harsh criticisms of Cusack's portrayal of Poe. I gladly paid the $7.50 for a ticket and the $5.75,for the ridiculously overpriced beverage. So, after all that. What did I think? Well, what I got was a movie with a generic plot. A somewhat dull cast, and a not-so-inspiring performance by John Cusack. However, I enjoyed the film immensely. If you are a fan of Poe, or Cusack for that matter. How could you not like it? Was he the best choice to play Poe? No. But, his performance was engaging and interesting. While his turn as Poe, will undoubtedly be met with more jeers then cheers. He was not as bad, as some critics would have you believe. What about this business with putting the author, smack dab in the middle of his stories? It was fun! What else can you say? This is the main draw of this feature. How could you not like the fact. That these filmmakers. Put the man, who is one of the most beloved and treasured Mystery/Suspense writers, of all-time. In a Mystery/Suspense story? I honestly feel that people were overly critical of this film. It isn't the best film ever made. As I said before, it is very generic. But, it serves its purpose and that is to entertain and engage the audience. I also feel, or rather hope. That this will reintroduce the works of Poe, to a younger audience. Maybe, even get the older ones to pick up and dust off their copies of his work. I am not saying you will like this movie, or maybe you will. Who knows? But, you could definitely do a lot worse than, THE RAVEN. These are the kinds of movie I love. Fun to watch, not hard to follow, and is great for killing time. When you have some to spare.

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