The Raven (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)

Blu-Ray Reviews | Oct 24th, 2012

Starring: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McNally, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Jimmy Yuill
Written By: Hannah Shakespeare, Ben Livingston
Directed By: James McTeigue
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy On Amazon.com

Who doesn’t love John Cusack movies?! For awhile he was starring in romantic comedies but thankfully he has been doing different kinds of movies lately. The Raven is a surprisingly great thriller that stays interesting for the entire movie…Even though it feels like a Castle episode set in the 1800s.

The Raven is about the fictional final days of Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack). The film takes places in Baltimore in 1849. A series of murders begin to pop up and a young detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) realizes he’s seen these scenes before. They end up mirroring the dark writings of Poe. He contacts Poe because he believes he’s a suspect but quickly realizes that’s not the case. Poe and Fields end up in a cat and mouse game with the serial killer and have to discover the identity of him before more people are killed.

I was a bit surprised I liked The Raven so much. I thought it would be a cheesey horror/thriller but it ended up not being cheesy at all. The cast is great, the story is interesting and gives a unique final days of Poe. I never read anything from Poe or know much about his life but this is obviously fictional, but highly entertaining! The movie is somewhat gruesome in some spots but if you’ve seen Walking Dead, then you’ll be fine watching this. It’s not as bad as I thought it might be.

Besides the acting, I thought the direction of James McTeigue was stellar and the score from Lucas Vidal was excellent. The cinematography looked awesome and one of the reasons why I like the movie so much. I guess it helps that this is in the 1800s, since I like things that are historic. Obviously this movie isn’t historic but you know what I mean, a period film. The Raven felt like something that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp would have done. The score was suspenseful but memorable, and the direction of McTeigue kept me guessing until the end. I really love V For Vendetta, which he also directed so it makes sense that I like this one a lot as well.

The special features on the Blu-Ray include 10 minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes, a few featurettes on Poe’s life and death, making-of featurettes, one featurette on the music and audio commentary. It gives you a nice taste after you’re done with the movie.

If you’re a fan of Cusack, or McTeigue’s movies, and of course Edgar Allan Poe you’ll enjoy this one a lot!

Features:
Deleted And Extended Scenes
The Raven Guts: Bringing Death To Life
The Madness, Misery and Mystery Of Edgar Allen Poe
Behind The Beauty and Horror
The Raven Presents: John Cusack And James McTeigue
Music For The Raven: The Team
Audio Commentary By The Director And Producers

Video:
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color

Screen Resolution:
1080p

Audio:
ENGLISH: DTS-HD MA 5.1

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Bottom Line: Surprisingly entertaining film!
Running Time: 110 mins
Rating: R
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:

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