For the second installment of Rolling Out the Red Carpet, I decided to do not one, but TWO films. Because of this, I won't be delving too deeply into each story, though I will get into my thoughts on the film. The two films are more recent, having been made in 2011 and 2012. The films I'll be writing about this time are The Raven and Grave Encounters.
The Raven is a film that delves into the last days of Edgar Allen Poe's life, showing him solving a murder mystery that uses his works. The killer literally takes a page out of Poe's book, killing people in the exact same way that Poe writes it. Poe is one of my favorite writers and I've been dying to see this film for the longest time. I must say, I was very impressed with the film. John Cusack plays Poe and he does a great job at it. I really enjoyed seeing the intelligent side of Poe, as he was able to identify his stories and determine what the killer was up to next. It was really cool to see some of Poe's popular and more unknown works given the live action treatment. The ending was really well done too, as it parallels the beginning of the film. The reveal of the villain, too, is something that you don't expect, especially from the character that it is (though once it is revealed, the character becomes really creepy looking). However, as much as I loved Cusack as Poe, I loved Luke Evans as Inspector Emmett Fields almost as much. He was a really cool character that delivers the ultimate justice to the killer in the end. Being a big Poe fan, I didn't want this film to be a bust, seeing as it had such a promising story. Thankfully, it did not disappoint, and it turned out to be a really good film. Out of 5 stars, I give The Raven a 4 out of 5.
The other film that I watched (I watched these films back to back) was Grave Encounters. The film is a knock off of the Paranormal Activity line, with the TV show Ghost Adventures mixed in. The movie details a team of ghost hunters who have gone to locations and faked their results. They decide to go to a mental hospital, expecting another routine show. What they get, however, is the exact opposite. Though the story is a tad slow in the beginning, it helps you get a little more attached to the characters as the activity starts to happen around them. When the activity starts, though, it goes balls to the wall. There are a few moments where the activity is small, like doors opening or sounds happen, but for the most part, the scares are hard core. There is one scene with a little girl that just gave me chills. Also, the scene with the tongue freaked me out too. The deaths are pretty good, minus one that occurs late in the film. The acting was eh, though the actors did a decent job of acting terrorfied when they needed to be. Grave Encounters has quickly become one of my favorite scary movies, though I might need to watch it again when it is bright out so I'm not as scared to watch it (yes, I was a chicken when I watched it). Again, out of 5 stars, I give Grave Encounters a 4.5 out of 5.
Alright, I'll be back in a day or two with some fresh comic reviews, including Deadpool #1 and a couple others. I hope that you will check them out.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day.
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