“The Black Cat”. “Premature Burial”. “The Cask of Amontillado”. “The Raven”. And now, The Raven, starring Edgar Allan Poe? You betcha. If Poe was the father of the modern detective story, then The Raven is a film that does the old boy justice. It’s a horror film that feels like a police procedural with a love story thrown in. It isn’t the easiest movie to classify, but all the better. The Raven is fun thrill ride of a movie. Thrilling, edge-of-my-seat stuff, and it’s a movie I can heartily recommend.

It’s 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland. A woman and her young daughter are found viciously murdered…but the police are stumped when it’s found that all the doors and windows were locked from the inside. How was it done? One policeman decides that the murders echo those of a story he’d read by a Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. So Detective Fields, a man who is as close to forensics as one could be in 1849, decides to ask Poe for his “special knowledge” in the hopes that the murders can be solved. But these killings are only the beginning, and soon Fields, Poe and the whole of nineteenth century Baltimore are caught in the trap of a twisted but brilliant killer.

I can say it now; I was worried a bit when I first heard the idea of Edgar Allan Poe, detective. But screenwriters Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare (cool hame, right?) manage to place Poe into the story without making it seem too farfetched. And though we’ve all heard about Poe’s problems with drugs and alcohol, his addiction is played down but not absent. His strange behavior is also front and center. Poe fans who think the love story in The Raven is complete fabrication forget that even after wife Virginia’s death, Poe courted several women. A bit that was thrown into the movie is Poe’s pet raccoon. Though Poe did love animals — he had a pet cat called Catterina when in Philadelphia — there’s no evidence that Poe had a raccoon. But that would have been badass.

What I love about period pieces are the character actor sightings. (The idea that I do a shot for each actor I recognize is a lie. A lie I tell you.) Hey, it’s Mr. Bates! The indomitable Brendan Coyle plays Reagan the bartender here in Ye Olde Baltimore. Yay for a Downton Abbey sighting! Yes I’m obsessed with all things Downton Abbey, mostly because it’s the best soap opera in corsets around lately. Kevin McNally (Mr. Bryant in Downton, but probably best known for his work in Pirates of the Caribbean) has a very…meaty role as well. But there are more wonderful Brits in this film, including Dave Legeno (aka Fenrir Greyback from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Adrian Rawlins (James Potter in the Harry Potter franchise), and the amazing Brendan Gleeson — also from Harry Potter, but I loved him in In Bruges — as Captain Hamilton, the father of Poe’s ladylove. (Yes Gleeson is an Irishman, but I’m hoping he’ll forgive me for lumping him into the U.K. pile.)

Yes, I have love for the starring players, especially John Cusack’s all-in performance. As Edgar Allan Poe, I often forgot I was watching the man who blew me away in Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity. Cusack brings Poe to life, and it’s astonishing. “I only drank on occasion. To be sociable. To alleviate my…shyness.” Cusack makes Poe’s words humorous and heartbreaking, no small feat. The lovely Luke Evans (Immortals, and soon in the Hobbit films) plays Detective Fields, and his American accent is spot-on. His portrayal of a stiff-backed detective that tries to solve the mystery by using any means at his disposal is well done. Simply put, he can share the frame with Cusack and not look like an idiot. Not too shabby, that.  And Alice Eve (She’s Out Of My League) plays Poe’s ladylove Emily with just the right amount of grrrrl power.  Eve brings Emily above the usual girlfriend fodder and into an interesting character in her own right.

The special effects in The Raven are well done and sometimes a bit too well done. As in “I kinda grossed out a little”. Though there are times when the CGI blood spurts a little too high, and is little too obviously created. I had bad SyFy movie flashbacks for a minute here and there, but thankfully blood spurting moments are very brief. What is truly breathtaking are the costumes and art direction. Costumer Carlo Poggioli, as well as the art and set decoration crew, deserve Oscar nods for their work here. It feels as if the cast is living and breathing in another time. It’s no squeaky-clean set; dirt floors, spilled inkwells and dirty hems are the rule of the day. That the crew did a ton of research is obvious throughout the film. The costume ball, a climax of this film, has costumes so beautiful and historically of-that-moment it took my breath away. As a diehard art decoration nerd, I was truly impressed.

Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) has set the bar high for his next picture. McTeigue keeps the action moving while taking the time to let audiences get to know and care about the characters involved. The solution to the murders is almost secondary to the interplay between the various characters (as well as the brilliant performance by Cusack.)

Does the film end, to quote Cusack’s Poe, in “madness, sin and horror”? The Raven does wrap up with historical truth, but like Cameron’s Titanic, it’s not the ending it’s the way you get there. This movie had me riveted, it’s twists and turns kept me guessing until the final act. And I now have a head full of nineteenth century insults I can whip out at a moments notice. I must try to find a way to fit “mental oyster” in polite company. And you must see The Raven.