Better known for films like Robotropolis and Battle of the Damned, movies with a more modern science-fiction or action setting, director Christopher Hatton’s latest project marks a change. His new film, Raven’s Hollow, travels back in time and presents a fictional origin story for writer Edgar Allan Poe.
Raven’s Hollow begins as military cadet Poe (William Moseley) and his team make a gruesome discovery. They stumble upon the dead body of a man tied to a post. The victim has been savaged and his appearance has him look like a grotesque scarecrow. As Poe goes to cut the body down, the man springs back to life to utter a single word – “raven”. Determined to give the man a proper burial, they set off to the nearest town. There they find Raven’s Hollow, and believing the man to be from there, they seek to lay him to rest and uncover some answers. The townsfolk of Raven’s Hollow however, are a suspicious lot, bound by their fear of an unspoken entity. As Poe and his friends settle in, they are unknowingly signing their own death warrants. When bodies begin to pile up, Poe turns to the enigmatic and seductive Charlotte (Melanie Zanetti) for help.
The setting, production design, and costuming sell the era well. A lot of work has been put into creating a suitably spooky atmosphere. Interiors are shadowy, lit by candlelight to add maximum creepiness. The exterior shots are lauded over by a cold and cruel sky with autumnal hues filling the rest of the screen. This colour palette is continued in the costumes. Poe is clad in browns and dark teals, mirroring the outside. Similarly, Charlotte reflects the darkness of the inside, always shrouded in black. Her black dresses and bonnets contrast beautifully with her pale white skin, giving her the appearance of a Gothic ghost. Raven’s Hollow quickly gets bloody and features some wonderfully violent tableau’s, the kind that wouldn’t be too out of place in former television series Hannibal. Much as Poe himself, the audience develop a morbid fascination with exploring these scenes and it is during these explorations that Raven’s Hollow is at its strongest.
As Raven’s Hollow progresses it gradually becomes a very typical kind of period horror. It has all the right components and subject matter, but feels a little vanilla. Whilst it has all the expected trappings of a Gothic tale, it lacks the extra edge to spice it up. Rather than getting properly drawn in, the viewer is always at a distance. The scare sequences are never intense enough to fray your nerves even though there are a couple of well-orchestrated jump scares, and everything feels a bit bland.
Although this is a fictional imagining of Poe’s ascent to Gothic author, Hatton never lets the viewer forget where he’s headed. References to Poe’s future writings are driven into the film at every given opportunity. None of them are particularly subtle, these are not so much hidden Easter eggs to uncover, but rather ones that are heavily illuminated and hard to miss. The most obvious of these is the main narrative, which deals with a giant beast of a Raven. Others include character names such as Lenore, and Usher (whose house Poe enters), and then there is the telltale sound of a beating heart… The lack of subtlety makes it very accessible for those whose primary knowledge of Poe has been gleaned from episodes of The Simpsons, but Raven’s Hollow will no doubt be slightly disappointing for those with a deeper knowledge of the author’s work.
Rather than the Gothic fear-laden nightmare proposed, Raven’s Hollow is instead a muted and generic affair. Thanks to some brilliant design work, Raven’s Hollow is still an entertaining time in front of the screen, it just lacks that special something to elevate it to loftier heights.
Raven’s Hollow
Summary
Raven’s Hollow achieves its intent to make an origin story for Edgar Allan Poe, but still falters in its execution.
Raven’s Hollow was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2022. Raven’s Hollow arrives on Shudder from Thursday 22nd September.
