Plot Baltimore, 1849. Murders inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe baffle the authorities, so police detective Emmett Fields (Evans) consults Poe (Cusack) himself. Emily Hamilton (Eve), Poe’s girlfriend, is abducted and buried alive, and the killer challenges Poe to solve clues left on corpses to find her before the air runs out.
Verdict Besides being an author, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most vicious, merciless critics of his age. He would not have let this get past him without skewering its shortcomings with a barbed quill.
