Claustrophobia in Full Effect

Edgar Allan Poe Comes To Life In This Dark Thriller Became Available on Blu-ray and DVD October 9th. 

The scenes that stick with The Raven audiences the most are those of Emily trapped in the coffin underground. For this feature, we’ll look at other parts of films that take a claustrophobic approach for scares including in Kill Bill Vol. 2, The Game, The Vanishing, and of course, Buried.

Baltimore, 1849. While investigating a horrific double murder, police detective Emmett Fields (Evans) makes a startling discovery: the killer's methods mirror the twisted writings of Edgar Allan Poe (Cusack). Suspecting Poe at first, Fields ultimately enlists his help to stop future attacks. But in this deadly game of cat and mouse, the stakes are raised with each gruesome slaying as the pair races to catch a madman before he brings every one of Poe's shocking stories to chilling life...and death.

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Quentin Tarantino has quite the reputation for making films that are action-packed, violent, and arguably disturbing. In his film Kill Bill Vol. 2, the main character, played by Uma Thurman, continues her mission of revenge on the Deadly Viper Assassinations Squad. During a failed attempt to ambush her enemy, she is shot, sedated and buried alive in a coffin. Luckily she applies her past martial arts training to punch through the planks of the wood to escape. 

The Game

David Fincher’s 1997 film The Game is a psychological thriller that uses mind-twisting events to break down the main character Nicholas, played by Michael Douglas. After a series of tricks, Nicholas is suspicious of the company facilitating the game and confides in a new friend he believes can help him. Unfortunately this new “friend” ends up drugging him and turns him into the company’s authorities. Nicholas ends up buried in a cemetery in Mexico and is forced to sell his valuables to return home. 

The Vanishing

In the 1993 thriller The Vanishing, Jeff Harriman played by Kiefer Sutherland, is determined to solve the mystery behind his girlfriend’s disappearance. Barney Cousins, played by Jeff Bridges, is the man responsible for the crime. He confesses to Jeff and offers to give him a first-hand account of what happened to his girlfriend. Jeff obliges and drinks a cup of coffee that has been drugged. When he awakens, he realizes that he has been buried alive in the same cemetery as his previous lover.  

Buried

One of the most traumatic claustrophobic moments in film history is from the 2010 movie Buried. Ryan Reynolds stars as a truck driver based in Iraq who has been captured and buried underground in a coffin. His kidnappers leave him with the following items as a challenge for his escape: a lighter, flask, flashlight, glow sticks, pencil, and a BlackBerry. Using the cell phone, Reynolds’s character has access to the outside world however his phone calls raise more issues for his life rather than a hopeful plan for escape. 

The Raven 

One scene that is especially thrilling in The Raven is when Poe finally comes face to face with the killer. He not only learns who the murderer is, but also discovers that his lover Emily has been buried beneath the floorboards. His short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” is the inspiration for her burial since the murderer Poe writes of hides a dismembered body under the floorboards. Once he makes the connection, Poe immediately breaks through the floor in an attempt to save Emily before it is too late.

Where to purchase: You are able to purchase Raven [Blu-ray] from Amazon and local retailers for $27.86. 

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