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JT (287 KP) rated The Raven (2012) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
The Raven (2012)
The Raven (2012)
2012 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
4
6.2 (13 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I've never really been a massive fan of John Cusack, I find him a bit tenuous and someone who slightly over acts. The Raven gives him the chance to over act to his heart’s content, as he plays poet Edgar Allan Poe who is drawn into the world and mind of a serial killer.

The film is set in 18th century Maryland where the flamboyant Edgar Allan Poe is busy churning out poems and gruesome stories that he desperately tries to get published in the local paper, although frustratingly as he experiences no one really knows or cares who he is?

This leads to large quantities of booze and lots of shouting and aggression at anyone who stands in his way. When a series of killings alert the local police, Detective Fields (Luke Evans) is called in to investigate, and when it’s discovered that the killings are in some way a copy of Poe’s illustrious work the man himself is tasked with assisting.

Visually the film is very good and is in keeping with the traditions of the 18th century, dark and slightly gothic it certainly gives the sense of a disturbed horror film. The killer is masked for the majority until the reveal, but clues are dropped as to the identity giving the viewer the chance to play detective. Although you probably don’t need to be Inspector Morse to figure it out.

When Poe’s beloved fiancé Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve) is kidnapped and buried alive it adds a whole new twist to the plot. The killer is making this a personal vendetta against Poe who seems at a loss to who could be targeting him in such a horrific way, it then becomes a race against time as the killer leaves clues on his victims for Poe to follow that will lead him to a theatrical conclusion.

The film echos Se7en, in that both Fields and Poe are being taunted by a sadistic killer who is clearly making a bold statement with his work, that involve a huge swinging blade, being buried into a wall and having your tongue cut out. Also a young beautiful woman is at the killers mercy, can Poe race against time to save her?

Cusack does an admirable job in fairness to him and his portrayal of Poe is an accurate reincarnation. Brendan Gleeson who despite limited screen time still manages to command a presence that has to be respected, and here as Emily’s father he gives off a burning sense of desperation.

The rest of the cast amble a long and certainly don’t set any fires alight It’s an OK film and it does have the thrills but nothing that is going to set pulses racing. When you turn it off you just let out one big long “Meh!”
  
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graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated The Book of Fires in Books

Feb 15, 2019  
TB
The Book of Fires
Jane Borodale | 2010
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
[b:The Book of Fires|6402584|The Book of Fires|Jane Borodale|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hnp5vgo-L._SL75_.jpg|6591386] was not an easy book for me to get through. Not that it's a bad book, far from it, but because of its slow and steady pace I had to stop quite often to get my bearings. This is a very well-written book but it is also a very detailed one as well, sometimes to the detriment of the book; I felt like I was wading through facts and the story fell to a standstill at times. The lectures on fireworks and how they were made in the 18th century could have been fascinating, but they bored me, mainly because they were lectures and didn't fit into the book. Agnes was a confusing narrator, and while I can buy the uneducated yet bright and thoughtful type of character, I never felt for her as a human, she had no identity. The whole book was this way, and to put it bluntly, it felt dead, there was no sense of living in these pages. I think many people will enjoy <b><i>The Book of Fires</i></b>, but it left me cold, and for a book that features fireworks, there isn't much of a spark and bang between its covers.

Provided for review via Amazon Vine.