We got our first official look at John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in the upcoming The Raven back in June, and he looked pretty fantastic.

We then got an utterly stunning first poster for the film a month later, followed by a great batch of images, and then a second follow-up poster that was yet another brilliant work of art.

Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), and written by Hannah Shakespeare (Loverboy) and newcomer Ben Livingstone, the film is led by John Cusack and also stars Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Our first look at Alice Eve as the female lead in the film came with the batch of images back in July, and we’ve now got our first hi-res look at her courtesy of Bloody Disgusting. Rest assured, though, the picture is far from bloody disgusting, showing Eve fit for a ball at the seat of a (forte)piano.

“In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta,Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).

When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper—part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.

Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe’s writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author’s help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer’s next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it’s too late.”

That synopsis sounds like an awesome premise for a film to me, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. McTeigue is a fantastic director with so much potential, and it will be interesting to see his take on a period thriller like this. Everything we’ve seen from the movie so far shows a lot of promise, and I have every expectation that it will live up to its prospects and then some.

The Raven currently has a 9th March release date in the States next year, and though there’s no word on a UK release date yet, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before one comes through. With any luck, we won’t have to wait much/any longer after the US gets it until it arrives in our cinemas. Without further ado, here’s the lovely new image of Alice Eve. As usual, click to enlarge.