The Pale Blue Eye

This movie kept me hooked from the very beginning to the last scene. The atmosphere is mind-blowing, especially when watched during a winter night. The costumes felt very authentic and the cast did amazing job, especially Christian Bale as a detective and Harry Melling (who has become one of my favorite actors) as Edgar Allan Poe.

Another thing I must mention is the screenplay. The writers do not exaggerate the info-dumping and let the on-screen actions tell the story instead, which felt very natural. Some may complain about the runtime or the movie being boring. But although the opening is slow, it was necessary to build up the characters and establish a brilliantly twisted climax.

To me, "The Pale Blue Eye" seemed better than most other films of this genre that are being made by Hollywood these days.

Overall, I spent an enjoyable 2 hours and would recommend to anyone who is looking for a decent murder-mystery movie.

While many period pieces drag on and seem to be rather uneventful imo this product from Scott Cooper certainly delivers on holding my full attention throughout with ominous settings and suspenseful scenery. Bale is obviously a huge part of that as well with his dedicated ambition as usual for his roles. The story doesn't drag and violence is on display, something that I've seen held back on in most thriller period pieces maybe aside from Sleepy Hollow (1998). Dare I say the execution of the set pieces and costumes were much more convincing as well and gave the film more authenticity. Overall I was surprised with this film and its effectiveness.

Reminds me of Tim Burton's The legend of Sleepy Hallow. Its not as dark and scary as Burton's movie , but it is somehow more mature and realistic science wise. Great cinematic appeal , what makes it beautiful is this chilly, gothic lonely and at times frozen in time scenery which is breathtaking in this movie. No fake Green studious or design sets and obvious film stages, its all real nature with rich scenes. Its a A dark mystery that cuts deep, and leaves you empty once you understand the painful ending. Bale did good , getting old with his skills but he delivers. All in all this movie is worth two hours of your time.

This is a movie that caught my attention early into the year. This came out on January 6th to Netflix if memory serves. I put it on my list of things to check out when I found out that this is horror. Having Christian Bale was a plus as well. What I didn't realize until settling in was that this is directed by Scott Cooper, who also co-wrote this. He worked with Bale on Out of the Furnace which I liked.

Synopsis: a world-weary detective is hired to investigate the murder of a West Point cadet. Stymied by the cadets' code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case - a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling).

We start this with a quote from Poe about the boundaries of life and death. We then see someone hanging from a tree. It is foggy outside. It then shifts over to Augustus Landor (Bale). He is washing his hands in a creek. It is also quite snowy. What I will say here is that he is the world-weary detective. Life has given him a raw deal. His wife passed away and his daughter is missing. He lives in a cabin in the middle of the woods.

His life is changed with Captain Hitchcock (Simon McBurney) visiting him. They want this detective to solve what happened to the cadet we saw hanging. This was Cadet Fry (Steven Maier). A contract is agreed upon between Superintendent Thayer (Timothy Spall). The pressure is on due to politicians in Washington D. C. wanting to shut down West Point. This incident could give them the ammunition they need.

Referring to the synopsis, things aren't easy for Landor. That is when he enlists the aid of Cadet Poe. He is an odd boy who is bullied. He is fond of poetry and if memory serves, he is already published. Landor takes a liking to him as Poe is a brilliant code breaker already. He also can relay information the other cadets won't.

There are other players to deal with in this murder mystery. Dr. Daniel Marquis (Toby Jones) works at the school. His son also attends, Cadet Artemus Marquis (Harry Lawtey). Their mother is Julia (Gillian Anderson). There is also a daughter, Lea (Lucy Boynton). She is sickly, but brilliant at the piano. Poe takes a liking to her. Cadet Fry was friends with Randolph Ballinger (Fred Hechinger) and Cadet Stoddard (Joey Brooks). They all attended this school together. Landor also seeks the company of Patsy (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who works at the local tavern. There is also a professor who helps him in Jean Pepe (Robert Duvall).

Things heat up when Cadet Ballinger is also killed. Both his and Cadet Fry's hearts were stolen and a room is found where a ritual might have taken place. Landor and Poe have secrets they hide from each other, plus this school has ones of their own that complicate this story as well. Not everyone is as they seem.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that we have a solid murder mystery here. Having this set in the past is good. Also being at this isolated military academy as well. It is also in the early 1800s, that limits things in a way that helps the story. It also had my mind working. I originally wondered if this was a 'Jack the Ripper' story, but I double checked the years and this would be too early. From there, I focused on the fact that we have Poe as a character.

I think that is where I'll go as that is one of the best parts here. It feels to me that the writing duo of Cooper and Bayard have a good grasp on Poe lore as well as his works. I was picking up on references that sucked me in. The title The Pale Blue Eye made me think of 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. I believe that is the story where the narrator goes crazy due to this odd eye of the person he works for. Other references I notice is that Lea seems to be the basis for Poe's 'Lenore'. There are siblings here where the sister is ill could be referred to 'The Fall of the House of Usher'. There is also a raven seen throughout with the obvious one there. I appreciated the care and the knowledge that was put into this.

Then to go from there, I read trivia about how many believe Poe wrote the first detective story with 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue'. It is fitting that Poe as the character is helping Landor solve this case. What I want to include here is the pacing as well. Overall, I think that the mystery is good. It had me guessing at different things and trying to piece it together. I do have to say that I think this drags on in the third act as we move toward the resolution. I lost interest since I feel this at times tries to fit in too much. Where it ended up was good. I appreciated that. I just think we could get there a bit quicker without needing as much filler.

Now I did want to discuss if this as a horror movie. At the heart of it, we are getting a crime mystery/thriller. The horror comes from how brutal the crimes are. What is interesting though is that the first one is a hanging. The body is then mutilated. The crimes get more vicious from there. We also get an angle there whomever is doing this could be a Satanist. A ritual might be the reason for the murders. I still think this is light in this department, but we are getting them for sure.

That should be enough for the story so let me go to the acting. We have an amazing cast here. Bale is good as our lead. He is a tortured man who is trying to get by. He is tormented by things from his past so he turns to drinking. This investigation gives him purpose, at least until it is done. I liked Melling as Poe. He has a look about him that matches the images I see as well as just the demeanor of the stories/poems he wrote. I like that we had the likes of McBurney, Spall, Jones, Gainsborough, Boynton, Duvall and Anderson. There is also the younger cast who are cadets like Lawtey, Hechinger, Brooks, Maier and even Charlie Tahan. It is strong across the board in my opinion.

Then all there is left to into would be filmmaking. I did like the cinematography. It captures the era that we are set which is good. The costumes and the setting also helps there. There is a bleakness having this set during the winter. It almost drains all the color out. I appreciated that. We don't get a lot in the way of effects. We also don't need it either. What we got though looked practical, which I appreciated. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a solid murder mystery. It is light on the horror elements so if you are a fan there this might not be necessarily right for you. The story is interesting. There were twists and turns that kept me interested in most of it. I do think that it runs too long where it could be trimmed a bit. The cast is strong. The setting, cinematography and how this was made was also good. If you are fan of Poe, I think you can pull a lot from this. I'd also recommend it if you are into mysteries like this as well.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Not an extraordinary detective, but a really solid one.

The good; director Scott Cooper is a craftsman at building up suspense. In many scenes where seemingly nothing much happens, there is still that AIR OF EERY SUSPENSE. That feeling under my skin that something is about to happen.

A mysterious, eery feeling permeates throughout this entire, mesmirizing story. And it gets more intense and mysterious towards the final...

More good: Christian Bale, Christian Bale, Christian Bale. One of my favorite actors and he has got the gift of method acting. He becomes the part. He is the part. And it is such a joy to watch him perform this role in such a way that it mesmirized me from start till finish...

Any bad? This movie starts out quite slow, but the tension and suspense, slowly but steadily, build up until the very fascinating end. So have some patience and you will be rewarded by a solidly made detective.