On a dark night in 1849, Baltimore police Detective Emmett Fields rushes to the scene of a grisly murder, and finds the mutilated bodies of a woman and her daughter in a rundown apartment. The apartment door has been locked from the inside and the only window nailed shut, but somehow the killer has managed to escape. Investigating further, Detective Fields discovers that the nail is actually a carefully-crafted spring mechanism and the window only appears to be sealed—a detail he recognizes from Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

So begins the puzzle at the heart of the ingenious new film, ‘The Raven’, which inventively blends fact and fiction in a diabolical murder mystery cast in the mold of the original master of horror. “It’s a great thriller with lots of twists and turns,” says producer Mark Evans. “The story has everything you want out of a movie: thrills, romance, adventure, some R-rated gore—and lots of other good stuff.”

Screenwriters Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare have created a nimble ‘whodunit’ that manages to subtly weave parts of Poe’s work, life and mysterious death into an original tale, even casting Poe in the role of amateur detective, helping Fields track down the killer. “It was Ben’s concept,” says Shakespeare. “He asked, ‘What if a serial killer was using Poe’s stories to commit his crimes?’ The stories are ingenious vehicles for murder.”

Their story unfolds against the backdrop of Baltimore society, high and low, bringing together fictional and historical figures in a dazzling narrative as Fields and Poe follow a string of baffling murders. “We never set out to make a completely accurate historical biography,” says Livingston. “We have taken facts about his life and put them in the movie to give it some historical context, then improvised from there. It’s a work of original fiction, but part of the fun of watching it will be recognizing the story elements.”

The two completed a draft in six months and began circulating it to studios. It got an enthusiastic reception when it landed on the desk of producer Aaron Ryder (‘Memento’, ‘Donnie Darko’) who shared the project with his eventual producing partners, Marc Evans and Trevor Macy. “Ben and Hannah’s story was a completely fresh idea and incredibly clever,” says Ryder.

In seeking a director to bring the script to life on screen, the producers turned to James McTeigue, known for creating immersive new worlds for his audience in visually singular films such as ‘V for Vendetta’ and ‘Ninja Assassin’. Ryder says it took just a single meeting with McTeigue to convince him that he had found the ideal director for ‘The Raven’. “He asked me how far he would be able to push this stylistically,” says the producer. “In that one conversation I understood he was the absolute perfect guy to direct this movie. I never looked back.”

“James is a fantastic director,” adds Evans. “He understands the filmmaking process from top to bottom. Whether it’s the schedule or visual effects or how to get an actor to delve into the character differently, he inspires confidence in everybody. He knows how to motivate people.”

McTeigue compares looking for a script he wants to direct with panning for gold. “I don’t often come across projects that resonate with me the way this film did,” he says. “The script was really tight. It was a great, interesting concept. The murder motifs in this film are taken directly from Poe’s work, and Edgar Allan Poe ultimately becomes a character in one of his own stories.”

Image Courtesy of   The Raven

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