Raven's Hollow

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source: Raven's Hollow

I will not watch this show for one several reasons, Most scholars have roughly located "split off" point between American and British English as the mid-18th-Century. United States Military Academy West Point was created in March 16, 1802, This evolution was primarily an intentional one, pushed along by people like Franklin, Paine, and other patriots. As Noah Webster would explain roughly 60 years later: "The reasons for American English being different than England are simple [...as] an independent nation, our honor requires us to have a system of our own, in language as well as government."

This movie had all the makings of a great folk horror/ creature feature... but a few missteps sent it down the wrong forest path... Raven's Hollow had a relatively original and intriguing plot in the grand scheme of things. Is it 100% something you have NEVER seen before? No. But there were aspects and twists to this tale that felt fresh and different. Definitely a slow burn with some good tension building and solid spook factor. The movie also looked great (quality and shots), score was on point and the special effects were pretty great as well. I would say the biggest misstep here was the acting/ casting. Unfortunately, some very stilted performances and iffy delivery did the movie some detrimental disservices. Pretty much everyone faltered at some point (except maybe the mother) causing a continual back and forth between being in the moment and being pulled out of it. Unfortunately, the worst of the bunch was the actor who played Poe. While I don't think he did an abismal job or is a bad actor, as an actor myself I didn't find anything particularly redeeming or down to earth about his performance as a whole or really his delivery in any one moment specifically either. I also had a bit of an issue with the ending. Not so much with the ending itself but more so the way it was delivered to us. Maybe I'm simple, but it got a bit convoluted and a tad confusing, even with the exposition being in a moderately spoonfed monologue. At the end of the day this was a creative bit of fiction about the makings of what we know Edgar Allan Poe to be today, filled with little Easter egg references to his works if you are familiar. It was spooky and had some interesting bits throughout and if you can look past the questionable acting and the slow pace it is worth a watch. Would recommend.

When movie producers can't even get the historical uniforms right, it's a sign they don't care about the film and just want to make a fast buck. And it's a shame because there some beautiful cinematography going on here, so someone involved in the production cared. Just for future reference, West Point cadets didn't wear kepis in 1830. The kepi didn't show up in the US military for another 35 years. At this point, the cadets should be wearing the 1825 forage cap, which looked nothing like a kepi. The least the costume department could have done was get the hats right. Seems the producers had a bunch of civil war costumes laying around, and just decided to use them, instead of doing the bare minimum to get it right.

Directed by Christopher Hatton, who co-wrote this with Chuck Reeves, Raven's Hollow is about five West Point cadets finding the body of a dying man in a town where no one seems to care and even worse, may take all of their lives. Also: one of them is Edgar Allan Poe (William Moseley, Peter from The Chronicles of Narnia series). Between a demonic raven, a tell-tale heart and a man named Usher, this has tons of Poe references, as well as some good gore and a fun monster. I like the idea of Poe trying to solve this mystery, even if it feels a lot like Sleepy Hollow. The town of Raven's Hollow is a lot deadlier, however. There's a well shot opening of a girl being followed through the woods by an entity, an awesome scare when the dead body awakens to say the word "Raven" and even a little bit of doomed romance. The real Poe disliked being in the army so much that he got himself court-martialed.

I watched this film based on a recommendation from a source I trust without checking the rating here on imdb(which I usually always do). I was shocked when I saw the low rating here after watching the movie. Usually imdb ratings are very accurate but not for this movie. This is a great movie. It is a thinking person's horror movie. I would call it a horror-drama. While it could be considered a slow burn the movie is engaging and gripping throughout. That strong atmosphere combined with it's engaging nature is very effective. I hesitate to call it a slow burn at all because things are happening and developing steadily through the entire movie. And I found it to remain very engaging. The directing is very, very good. The story is complex and the are a few significant plot twists. So you have to pay attention and keep tracking with it. Now some reviews said it isn't horror. False. It is indisputably horror. Strong horror. I think why some viewers fail to see that is because it has substance and intelligence and artistry and that it comes from a whole different world than your 'slasher of the week'. And there is some extreme gore in this movie and coming from me that's a significant statement. It is a violent movie. It doesn't compromise on violence like some would lead you to believe. It has a good story. No cookie cutter backdrop for violence here. The story can be a little confusing and you need to pay attention to get the whole story. It has this wonderful mysterious element to it. Even with what's revealed in the film's final act the mysterious atmosphere persists right through the end credits, in a good way. One thing I liked about the movie is that the main character, Poe, is a good and noble person and that comes across in a very authentic way. He is a likeable and very admirable character, which is unfortunately rare for a horror movie protagonist. This is not an iffy, maybe it's good, maybe it's bad movie. It's genuinely a great movie. It's well paced. An intelligent viewer will be drawn into the steadily developing story. The atmosphere is so strong. It's very well directed. And it has a great story. It's very intelligent. It plays outside of the stereotypes. Perhaps that is why the unperceptive didn't like it.