Movie review - Raven's Hollow

Raven’s Hollow **1/2 (out of 5) (NR) This low-key supernatural horror tale starts with dollops of fact from the life of Edgar Allan Poe, then surrounds them with a bit of speculation and a whole lotta scary fantasy stuff for a gothic tale of suspense. The action occurs in 1831, when Poe and four fellow West Point cadets are riding through some foggy (aren’t they always?) woods as part of their training. They find a dying man mounted like a scarecrow just in time for him to whisper the word “raven” with his final breath. Feeling honor-bound to take the body to his unknown home, the lads discover an isolated village called Raven’s Hollow, with a creepy set of black-clad residents, shrouded in unceasing mist and mystery. The locals initially claim not to know the stiff, before admitting that he’d just been passing through, though still lamely denying any knowledge of his bizarre demise.

Poe smells a rat and insists the five remain there until they learn whodunnit, despite warnings of almost certain doom to befall them if they stay. I’ll leave the rest of the plot for your viewing. As the premise promises, bad things ensue, though much of the worst occurs off-camera.

So, here are some underlying facts. Poe really did attend West Point around that time, and his military career includes some parallels. Also, his avid interests in cryptology and science are reflected well in his pursuit and analysis of evidence in determining cause of death and culpability for it. This event, had it occurred, would have made him one of the founders of the CSI branch of law enforcement. The overall tenor of this horror tale as it unfolds slowly with mostly unseen menace befits the poem its title includes, and much of Poe’s dark and dreary work. We hear more of the menace than we see through the murky setting, scaring more by suggestion than display – relatively rare for such films in the last couple of decades. Alfred Hitchcock would have approved of that approach.

Director Christopher Hatton also co-wrote the script with Chuck Reeves. Neither has long resumes, but they certainly put plenty of thought into the content, presenting a realistic version of how Poe might have handled himself in this situation, and how it would have influenced his later writings, while dropping a few references to his work beyond the obvious title, like someone having lost a sister named Lenore. The authors may not have been at the top of their game for the ending, though others may find it more satisfying than I did.

(Raven’s Hollow streams exclusively on Shudder as of 9/22/22)