The Raven is a 2012 American horror thriller film directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay written by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare. The movie stars John Cusack, Alice Eve and Luke Evans.
Set in 1849, The Raven is a fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, in which the poet and author pursues a serial killer whose murders mirror those in Poe’s stories.
Plot:
In 19th century Maryland, several Baltimore policemen are chasing after the screams of a woman in an apartment. The police arrive at the apartment in time only to discover a woman sprawled on the floor with her throat sliced open and the corpse of her daughter stuffed in the chimney. Detective Emmett Fields is called to assist in the investigation and discovers that the crime resembles a fictional murder in the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, which is part of a collection of stories penned by the writer Edgar Allan Poe.
Poe has become a social pariah and penniless drunkard whose stories have not been circulated for some time. He has fallen in love with the beautiful young Emily Hamilton and desires to marry her but faces opposition from her father Captain Hamilton, a military man who loathes Poe and goes to the length of threatening physical violence.
Poe is brought to see Fields for questioning and is horrified to learn someone is using his stories as the backdrop for a series of murders. Fields then proposes that Poe volunteer his services to help the police catch the killer and the writer agrees to the task…
Cast and characters:
- John Cusack … Edgar Allan Poe
- Luke Evans … Detective Fields
- Alice Eve … Emily Hamilton
- Brendan Gleeson … Capt. Charles Hamilton
- Kevin McNally … Maddux (as Kevin R. McNally)
- Oliver Jackson-Cohen … John Cantrell
- Jimmy Yuill … Captain Eldridge
- 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
