In the spirit of darkness, one can’t get much darker than the Father of Horror himself, Edgar Allan Poe. While The Raven as a poem is not quite as horrific as his stories were, the movie is a brilliant collaboration of Poe’s wit and humorous tirades, horror stories, and an original story of how Poe could have spent his last days. Contrary to what some reviews have said, *cough-Ebert-cough* the movie itself never made the claim that it was attempting to explain Poe’s death. How scary would it be to actually get inside the mind of the tortured literary soul? No, the movie simply presented a possibly, along with one thrill ride of a story (of FICTION!!) to accompany it.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
One of my favorite quotes from Poe’s poem, The Raven. By far, not the the most well-known, but known well enough. I wonder how dark a dream would have to be for it to have never been dreamed by any mortal before? Now THERE is a dark thought. It is possible, however, that this quote was not meant to foretell misfortune, but offer a glimpse of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. Much like in the movie where Poe is in love again with the daughter of a rich Baltimorean. Although Poe had seen every one of his previous paramours perish prematurely, in the movie, he had the gall to fall in love again. Without spoiling the movie for anyone who has not seen it yet (You know who you are!), suffice it to say Poe’s pessimism is not entirely misplaced. Just goes to show what sappiness can cause.
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