This is actually a compelling film. Grisly though it may be, it's not going to scare many. It's 1849 Baltimore and someone is murdering people using the macabre methods from local legend, but destitute writer Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack). Poe is given great condescending dialogue that you like, not because of the put down involved, but the cleverness. Turns out he's in love with a local ingenue whose father hates his guts (another flawless Brendan Gleeson performance), and having just returned from France, Poe finds his fortunes already shitty, and they're about to get worse.
When the local inspector general (played in a solid turn here by Luke Evans) turns to Poe because the murders are linked to his writings, (Pit and the Pendulum to Cask of Amontillado) the plot then goes from comic romantic melodrama to serial killer thriller. Cusack's take on Poe is pretty solid, though I'm sure he wasn't like the portrayal in real life. Who can know? The direction from James McTiegue (V for Vendetta) is fluid, he gets good performances from all involved, and this period piece looks great.
The flick fits the Halloween mode because (Like Stonehearst Asylum), it's steeped in Edgar Allan Poe, quite possibly the originator of the organized horror story, and works as a crime thriller for those who don't do straight terror. In this sense, it is vaguely reminiscent of the Hughes Brothers From Hell.
Take a look at it, as I feel it's underrated. It didn't get much heat upon release, and was a critical and box office failure, evidenced that much like Stonehearst, I found it at Dollar Tree.
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