Didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to be a straightforward, if slightly creepy, murder mystery set in the 1830s, but the last 20 minutes or so really blew me away. Excellent tone and atmosphere as well, really fits the events of the film. Some scenes seemed unnecessarily too dark though.

Christian Bale gave a good performance as usual, but Harry Melling was just excellent as Edgar Allan Poe. Also, I was surprised to learn only upon reading the credits that Gillian Anderson and Robert Duvall were in the film, I did not recognize them at all!