Loved it.  The Raven is a classic murder mystery that pulls no punches with its gory violence.  It’s filled with suspense and darkness.

The film stars John Cusack brilliantly portraying famed author Edgar Allen Poe.  From scene to scene, he is one moment drunkenly causing a scene in a bar and the next waxing poetic about his accomplishments as an author and how superior his work is.  Later we see him as a man deeply in love devolving into near insanity trying to save his fiancé from a serial killer whose drawn his inspiration from Poe’s own works of fiction.  Beginning to end Cusack gives a masterful performance as he pieces together the clues just a step behind the killer.

Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McNally, and Alice Eve round out the principal cast and giving great performances in support of Cusack.

Spoiler’s ahead.

The story is fairly straightforward.  After two murders are committed exactly as Poe outlined them in his stories, the killer kidnaps his finance.  He tells Poe that he will leave clues at the sight of murders that can lead him to his beloved, and that he is to write about each murder in every detail with the same passion he put into his writing.  Poe and Fields (Evans) work furiously to catch the killer who manages to stay one step ahead of them, leaving Poe with one option, to trade his life for Emily.

In honor of one of Poe’s most famous works, “The Raven”, the birds can be seen and heard in many scenes throughout the film, including one being shot dead by the murder, and most chillingly flying above Poe’s coffin.

I’m guessing this movie will not do well and will reach DVD soon.  If you can’t catch it in the theater, definitely see it on DVD.

Thanks for reading!