The Raven (2012)
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Reviews Counted: 128
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 99
Thinly scripted, unevenly acted, and overall preposterous, The Raven disgraces the legacy of Edgar Allen Poe with a rote murder mystery that's more silly than scary.
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 20
Thinly scripted, unevenly acted, and overall preposterous, The Raven disgraces the legacy of Edgar Allen Poe with a rote murder mystery that's more silly than scary.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 99,137
My Rating
Movie Info
The macabre and lurid tales of Edgar Allan Poe are vividly brought to life - and death - in this stylish, gothic thriller starring John Cusack as the infamous author. When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Poe's darkest works, a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) joins forces with Poe in a quest to get inside the killer's mind in order to stop him from making every one of Poe's brutal stories a blood chilling reality. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, which
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Cast
-
John Cusack
Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar ... -
Luke Evans
Detective Emmett Fields... -
Alice Eve
Emily -
Brendan Gleeson
Colonel Hamilton -
Kevin McNally
Maddux -
Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Cantrell, John Cantrell -
Jimmy Yuill
Captain Elderidge -
Sam Hazeldine
Ivan -
Pam Ferris
Mrs. Bradley -
Brendan Coyle
Reagan -
Adrian Rawlins
Doc Clements -
Aidan Feore
Stage Manager -
Dave Legeno
Percy -
Michael Cronin
Old Gentleman -
Michael Poole
Professor -
Michael Shannon
Dr. Morgan -
Charity Wakefield
Field's Maid -
John Warnaby
Griswold -
Matt Slack
Sailor -
Ian Virgo
Fire Marshall -
Michael Fourticq
Bookseller -
Jasmina Ilic
Older Tenement Woman (D... -
Teodora Uveric
Young Tenement Woman (D... -
Kristof Farkas
Wretching Student -
Luka Nijatovic
Small Boy -
Jozsef Talas
Sherry Merchant -
Matt Devere
Hamilton's Security Gua... -
Sergej Trifunovic
Salty Sailor -
Milos Djuricic
Porter - Paris -
Mike Kelly
Party Reveler -
Bojan Peric
Officer at Precinct -
Ana Sofrenovic
Lady Macbeth -
Steve Agnew
Doctor in "Macbeth" -
Malina Nikolic
Gentlewoman in "Macbeth... -
Miklos Kapacsy
Headline Man 1 -
Andrew Hefler
Headline Man 2 -
Pierre Jaurin
French Officer -
Tamara Krcunovic
Doc Clements' Maid -
Jason Ryan
Crew Member -
Antal Publik
Cardinal -
Laszlo Kontal
Breathless Tenement Man -
Mark Phelan
Barfly 1 -
Krisztian Peer
Barfly 2 -
Annamaria Ordog
Actress -
Adam Foldi
Church Secretary -
Dejan Cubrilov
Maurice Robichaux -
Máté Haumann
Uniformed Guard -
Péter Fancsikai
Young Man Skeleton -
Sava Rapic
Servant -
Luka Mijatovic
Small Boy
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The Raven Trailer & Photos
All Critics (128) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (99) | DVD (1)
Basically a well-researched but formulaic mystery centered on one of those nyah-nyah serial killers we've seen a thousand times.
Top CriticIt lingers intolerably on some inessential scenes, rushes through others, and fails to provide any motivation either for Poe's devoted (albeit fictional) love, or the film's archvillain.
Never commits to the kind of full-bore lunacy that might have made the film a campy pleasure.
The subject matter screams out for cleverness and depth, the sort of mind-bending twists and satisfying darkness that Poe himself would love. It finds them only in small doses.
Director James McTeigue has no feel for humor or terror, making what could have been a witty pastiche into another cheesy slice-and-dice horror flick.
It's 'Saw' meets 'Sherlock Holmes.' "
A crudely written and wholly uninspired thriller that's unlikely to win anyone over to the horror master's oeuvre.
The Raven is a movie with its wings clipped; a murder mystery that feels strangely subdued.
The problem is that "The Raven" is all surface. The movie is nothing but its fun idea, without much development or ingenuity
Even though this film has more than its share of dark, gruesome elements, there is also enough of a sense of playfulness in it to help make it entertaining.
I'd say that nine bucks is probably also the current going rate for Livingston & Shakespeare's next script.
A bizarre mishmash of historical elements and subpar on-screen drama capped off with an underwhelming but serviceable performance from John Cusack
It's silly, has plot holes big enough to drive a truck through and is little more than a gothic version of Law & Order, yet it has a macabre charm that will keep you interested for the film's duration.
Despite Cuasck's occasional missteps as the writer, "The Raven" is an entertaining thriller.
Entertaining and fun to be sure, despite it's goofy premise. But it's not nearly as chilling as reading Poe's stories for yourself.
A formulaic murder mystery and a blasé, unenlightening look at the life of Edgar Allan Poe that could really have used an imp of the perverse.
For mystery lovers, there isn't much to do except watch the story play out. A distinct shortage of suspects could mean guessing the killer's identity won't be much of a challenge for fans of the genre.
Cusack is miscast as Poe
... one of the most moronically stupid screenplays since the advent of talking pictures ...
The only real imagination in the whole film comes late--in the rather terrifically designed end titles.
John Cusack is very much miscast here. He was about as believable as Matthew Broderick would be as Abraham Lincoln.
Directed with no mystery or imagination...
If you take it as agreeably macabre nonsense, yes, you might enjoy it. If you're going to have a conniption fit over every historical inaccuracy, however, give it a pass.
An infuriating mix of amateurish writing and flowery antique speech; of sublime romance and hopeless pedantry; of atmospheric melancholy and risible smugness
The maniac on the loose i less Jack the Ripper than a literarily inclined nobody, and not even a butler, to boot.
Did Nicolas Cage finally say "no" to a cheesy role? It looks like John Cusack got to this one first.
Audience Reviews for The Raven
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.
Super Reviewer
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- Edgar Allen Poe: The only thing he's ever killed is a bottle of brandy.
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- Edgar Allan Poe: Take this kiss upon the brow!
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- Edgar Allan Poe: Quoth the raven 'Nevermore'.
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- Edgar Allan Poe: I will gladly give my life for hers, Mr. Fields.
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- Colonel Hamilton: If I can't pronounce it, I don't want to eat it.
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- Edgar Allan Poe: Somebody better call his Momma!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking Game | 10 days ago | 0 |
Latest News on The Raven
December 19, 2012:
Roger Corman Plans Edgar Allan Poe AdaptationsHe'll bring his distinctive low-budget touch to eight of the author's books, including "The Raven"...
April 27, 2012:
Critics Consensus: The Pirates! Band of Misfits Is Certified FreshThis week at the multiplex, we've got a little something for everyone. There's Aardman's stop-motion...
April 27, 2012:
Five Favorite Films with John CusackIf there's one actor who was made for the five favorite films quiz, it's John Cusack, the man who...
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Foreign Titles
- The Raven (DE)
- The Raven (UK)
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.