The Raven (2012)
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. Short synopsis of The Raven taken from IMDb.com
A short review of The Raven. Where shall I start? Well, for one thing, it is funny how the characters John Cusack plays in his films conform to a certain personality and quirks (his own, I'd assume), and not the other way around. At least the stuff I've seen him in lately. The Raven is no exception. Sure, he talks like a gentleman of Poe's vintage, but his mannerisms are very much what we've seen before of Cusack. That isn't a completely bad thing, but it is notable. It's like Cusack has been type-cast as himself. And I don't believe Poe and Cusack would have been easily mistaken for each other at a soirée, had that sort of thing been possible.
As for the plot, it was good. Not great by any means. But satisfying for an afternoon horror romp. In Poe's concluding days, he is called upon to solve a murder mystery using ideas from his own gruesome repertoire of scary tales. There are some really nasty scenes here, which give the film a well deserved "R" rating. Like the pendulum from "The Pit and the Pendulum." And the almost decapitated body of the woman from the "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." And others that I forget. But all are horrific.
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| The author Edgar Allen Poe, considered by many to be one of the all-time greatest horror authors. / Source: PoeStories.com |
I must admit, I didn't see the killer until he was revealed. If you know anything about the period, they give it away in the first five minutes. But if you don't know the significance of something they show you, then you are left to work it out with the rest of us. I myself had somebody else fingered as the ne'er-do-well, but it wasn't that one. Nope. The bad guy - once unmasked - is satisfying enough, but to be honest, I can't remember now what happens to him in the end. How he gets his, so to speak. Oh yes, they tack it on at the very end. If you watch the movie, you'll see what I mean.
As to Poe's death.... I don't know enough to attribute the movie's premise to what happened in real life. I have read some of Poe's more notorious works, but I don't profess to be a diehard fan. He's good, but I like Lovecraft better. Though the "The Cask of Amontillado" is one of those Junior High "stumble upons" I will never forget. Followed shortly by "The Masque of the Red Death." Tough read for a thirteen year old (at least it was for me), but well worth it.
But on the subject of Poe's demise in the movie, the ultimatum he received was a good one, and I like that the filmmakers had the guts to not rescue him. Yes, spoiler alert: Poe gives his life for his lady love. I thought that the end scenes for him were stark and well executed. I wonder if what they portrayed as being his final moments, sitting on that bench, were accurate. I guess I could always look it up. The wonders of modern technology!
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| The Simpsons do "The Raven," in one of their earliest Treehouse of Terror Halloween-themed episodes. James Earl Jones narrates the tale. This is one of my all time favorite renditions of Poe's classic poem, and probably the first time I really "got" it as a kid. / Source: PagePulp.com |
What else to say? The love interest gal was cute. Not my type, but cute. But there's another item of note. The whole "buried alive" thing has been done. Heck, Poe practically invented it! Yes, they did it a bit different in The Raven than the standard horror-flick version. But just the same. And anyway, the "The Cask of Amontillado" was so much more personal. Walling someone up alive, brick by brick, takes time. If the victim is awake, you get to savor their mounting dread. I know a person or two I'd like to wall up and forget about. No, I don't. Or do I? I'll never tell. Bwahaha!
Bottom line: Does The Raven do Poe justice? My observation: No, but what does? Other than his own works, that is. As for the value of this movie, I' have to say it was worth the price I paid, which was a $2 buck rental from the local Hastings media store. It wasn't in Redbox, as of the time of this writing (update: this review was written a couple of weeks back and has been sitting on the back-burner, The Raven is now in Redbox).
I had planned to see this in the cheap seats, but it came and went too quickly. Probably because it didn't do so well in the theaters. I don't know specifically, but I'd imagine that was the case. I'd have paid the $3 buck or so for the cheap theater. But definitely not full price for this one. Full price? That would really be scary (-malevolent grin-).
The parting comment:
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| Source: CheezBurger.com |
I'm usually not big on pre-captioned "cat humor" photos, but since I mentioned "The Cask of Amontillado" already, and this cat looks pissed off (and pissed off cats in hats always look funny to me unless they are flying claws-first toward some part of my anatomy), I decided to put it in.
A two-for on parting comments today!
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| Source: LolSnaps.com |
This one just gets better as it goes on. Personally, I like the one (not on here) where an older relative - like a grandfather or grandmother - takes you into a small room every day and once there you stand next to each other silently and stare at the wall. Elevator practice. Someday I will do that with my daughter. Very silly.
Yes, an unheard of "Three-for" on parting comments today. What is this world coming to?
NOTE: BEFORE you click the link, please know that the reason I didn't embed the YouTube video directly to my blog as usual is that, while the first part is funny, the trailer for the show "Video Game Reunion" which follows directly afterward (its attached to the funny Elevator Show video) has got some inappropriate stuff in it. Just warning you. Proceed as you wish, with that warning in mind.
Episode from YouTube's Elevator show, featuring Super Mario Brothers
I'm usually not in a building with elevators but now I want to go find one during a busy time of day. I would totally do some of those. ;)
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