Comic-Con 2011: The Raven trailer swoops in

the raven

The first trailer for John Cusack’s moody Edgar Allan Poe movie The Raven aired exclusively at Comic-Con today.

A dramatic, atmospheric collection of clips, the trailer establishes the film’s premise (it follows the last five days of Poe’s life) and promises a movie that’s as gothic as it is grisly.

“It’s an art movie and a popcorn movie all at once,” Cusack said during the flick's panel discussion.

What sort of footage did we get to see? Well, ravens swopping through foggy streets… A body in a chimney... A woman’s head severed by a razor… A watch in a dead broad’s mouth…

“This crime is familiar to me,” says Luke Evans, before accusing Poe of murder because a death is similar to one from his stories. “Do you actually think that I murdered these people?” Poe demands.

The trailer was a very promising first look at the film, and The Raven looks to be every bit a gothic treat. Director James McTeigue’s description of the film as containing “a little bit of Misery , a little bit of Seven ” seems entirely apt.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.