The year is 1849 and Edgar Poe is trying to eek out a living as a writer while trying to win over the father of a girl he wants to marry. As the plot thickens, a series of murders occur, the m.o.'s of which are taken straight out of Poe’s macabre works of fiction. Duplicated from a scene of “Masque of the Red Death,” the killer kidnaps Poe’s fiancée which causes him to join in the investigation. With each new murder is a clue to the killer’s location which the investigators must follow quickly to find her before the appointed hour of her death.
For the most part, this is a pretty interesting murder mystery and period piece. John Cusack, who I will admit is on my list of favorite actors, does a good job in his role of Edgar, though I would have liked to see a little more of Poe melancholy in his performance. The death scenes had a good amount of gore and disturbing imagery, and the film had a level of suspense that one would hope to find in a story concerning one of the fathers of suspense tales. There were a few twists and turns in the plot, but not so much that one loses their place, easily.
This is another example one of a film that makes me think there are longer versions of every movie out there. Even though this movie has my recommendation, I’m anxious to see if an extended version of this movie comes out. Not so much for the fact that I thought the movie was incomplete, it just felt a bit rushed, lacking in gory detail and the aforementioned melancholy often found in Poe’s work.Being a student of Poe’s work, I appreciated some of the minute details found in the movie, such as Poe’s rivalry with Longfellow. But being a movie about the work, as well as the author, I thought that some of his more obscure work could have been referenced. But that’s just me.
All in all, not a bad movie for fans of murder mystery. Like I said, I’m interested to see if an extended or alternate version gets released.
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