Review of THE RAVEN

The Raven

In 1849 Baltimore, occur a series of grisly murders. A detective, EMMETT FIELDS, recognizes similarities between the killings and the stories of EDGAR ALLEN POE.             Though one of the victims was a bitter rival of Poe, the detective quickly dismisses the idea of the writer being the perpetrator and enlists his help in predicting where the killer will strike again. Poe says the next target will be a ball at the mansion of CHARLES HAMILTON. But there is a catch (isn't there always). Poe and Charles' daughter, EMILY are in love, and Emily's curmudgeonly father, CHARLES, who bitterly opposes the relationship, gives only half-hearted cooperation to the police.

At the ball, the killer kidnaps Emily and leaves a note taunting Poe, telling him Emily will die unless Poe publishes columns in the newspaper mixing the fiction of his stories with actual events. The killer leaves clues referencing different stories of Poe, each clue involving another murder. Poe, knowing each minute brings his beloved closer to death, is frantic and can only follow the killer's clues hoping they will bring him closer to Emily.

The chase is on.

The movie starts with a view of a man in a park and the information that Poe's whereabouts in the days before his death are unknown, that he was found on a park bench, and taken to a hospital where he died a few days later. This is accurate, at least according to Wikipedia*, and is pertinent to the story. Other details: Poe was an alcoholic, and in spite of being a nationally famous author, often lived in poverty. He never stopped grieving for his first wife, who died of tuberculosis.  He graduated Westpoint, but didn't make a career of the army. The movie quotes numerous snippets from his works and motivated me to reread the title poem, THE RAVEN, which, by the way, is better listened to than read silently.

This is a literate film and is fun for what you learn about Edgar Allan Poe as well as for the plot.  It didn't do well at the box office, which I think is a shame.  Also, it's makes for an exciting workout movie.  I give it at least ++++.  It will often get your pulse up to a run.

* Wikipedia - ten times the content and 90 percent of the accuracy of a real encyclopedia.