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 t... Read allA 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.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.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
- Cadet Hamilton
- (as Jack Irving)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie title is drawn from a passage in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843): "One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever."
- GoofsThe ceiling/floor/timbers on the lower level of the ice house would be constantly damp from the melting ice on the floor above. This is further evidenced by the constant sound of dripping water when Landor investigates earlier in the film. As such, it is not realistic that fire would spread as quickly as it did, if in fact at all, when the candles are knocked over during the climactic ritual.
- Quotes
Augustus Landor: I do believe that the Academy takes away the young man's will. Advances him with regulations and rules. Deprives him of reason. It makes him less human.
Captain Hitchcock: Are you implying the Academy is to blame for these deaths?
Augustus Landor: Someone connected to the Academy, yes. Hence he Academy itself.
Captain Hitchcock: Well that's absurd. By your standard, every crime committed by a Christian will be a stain on Christ.
Augustus Landor: And so it is.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Nightmare on Film Street: Top 10 Horror Movies of 2023! (2023)
- SoundtracksPleyel's Hymn
Written by Ignace Pleyel (as Ignaz Joseph Pleyel)
Performed by Peter Yarin
Produced by Stewart Lerman
To its credit, this two-hour film definitely gets livelier in its final half hour; but overall, any random episode of "Inspector Morse" is likely to be better plotted, better written, and more gripping. While I haven't read the novel the film is based on, I strongly suspect that despite its nifty premise -- "Hey, let's set a murder mystery at West Point when Poe was a cadet there!" -- it is probably, in execution, as plodding as this film.
Disappointingly, you actually get to see very little of the military academy; instead, most of the action takes place in taverns and cabins and fancy dining rooms, or in the snowy woods. Despite the lengthy run time, we never get a good sense of the geography. West Point itself looks ridiculously understaffed, as if the entire institution is run by the same three British actors! All of them strut around looking sinister and secretive and bad-tempered for no apparent reason, except, I guess, a need to make the proceedings seem more interesting.
The good news is that Christian Bale makes an appealing 19th-century detective -- he wears an air of authority and seems genuinely sympathetic and intelligent -- and Harry Melling makes a dramatic, vividly romantic young Poe. Granted, it's unlikely the real-life Poe was as mannered and eccentric as the character in the movie, who also seems a bit too old and wise beyond his years. Still, as Melling plays him, he's never less than watchable.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Los crímenes de la academia
- Filming locations
- Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, USA(United States Military Academy at West Point)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $72,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 8 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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