Plenty of dramatic tension in 'The Raven'

The bloodthirsty writings of Edgar Allan Poe give birth to a deranged serial killer in James McTeigue’s hack-and-slash thriller set on the streets of 19th century Baltimore.

Punctuated by scenes of explicit gore including the cleaving of one heavily bound victim by a giant pendulum blade, ‘The Raven’ is suspenseful and tautly paced, drawing inspiration from the same well of misery as ‘Se7en’.