Ashman1977

I am a big fan in general of "WhoDunnit" movies, and I was keen to see what 'The Raven' had in store. I went in assuming that it would be like any other 'Jack the Ripper'/19th century killer movie and that it would predictable. I was right in my assessment, but inspite of these cliché's the Raven was a brilliant film mainly because of the following:

• The movie was beautifully shot. It has a very 'sleepy hollow' feeling throughout. - The use of Poe's work and the poetic climax was excellent. I enjoyed this bit a lot as it left me with things to think about after watching the film, something which is testimony to the fact that the film made an impact. - Great character development of John Cusack/Poe. Made for a dark, mysterious man with a twisted view of the world. Exciting. - There were many tense moments, great chases and small pieces of puzzle solving( like in console games) making for small mysteries within one large mystery, thus keeping you engrossed all the way.

To summarise, the Raven was riotous ride through Victorian era type settings, keeps you on the egde of your seat, the mini puzzles keep you busy and the plot and character development( Poe) was excellent, Definitely worth a watch and an 8 out of ten for me.

P.S. The film has gore so if you can't stand that, don't watch it. It's not a Hostel or a SAW, but there is gore and blood.

This movie is so boring especially if you have seen Saw and Buried(oh and the Recruit). The beginning is so similar to Saw that I couldn't sit through it. The end was predictable and without giving away too much I can say that it was really what one expects. All in all, a failure as movie, not because it's bad as a standalone thriller, but because it's not the first of it's kind and borrows too much from it's predecessors.

To sum up:Originality in the script is the big issue here. However, if you have not seen the other movies I mentioned, you may like this one.( Saw is way way way better though)