埃德加·愛(ài)倫·坡是美國(guó)的短篇小說(shuō)家先鋒之一，并被公認(rèn)為推理小說(shuō)的創(chuàng)始者，以其懸疑、驚悚小說(shuō)最負(fù)盛名。影片聚焦愛(ài)倫·坡生命中最后的一段時(shí)光，講述發(fā)生在巴爾的摩的連環(huán)兇殺案。兇手十分沉迷于愛(ài)倫·坡的作品，一次又一次按照愛(ài)倫·坡小說(shuō)中提到的種種殺人手段接連犯下罪案，甚至綁架了愛(ài)倫·坡的愛(ài)人埃米莉。面對(duì)身邊的恐懼，愛(ài)倫·坡攜手菲爾茲偵探追蹤這名兇手。

影片情節(jié)純屬虛構(gòu)。在現(xiàn)實(shí)中，愛(ài)倫·坡的死因至今不明，但據(jù)說(shuō)，他確實(shí)在死前的一個(gè)晚上嘴里不停地重復(fù)“Reynolds”，可是無(wú)人知道他所指的是什么人。

影片故事性一般，推理辦案?jìng)商降氖侄我膊凰愀呙?，但它的賣(mài)點(diǎn)是整部影片都圍繞愛(ài)倫·坡的多部作品展開(kāi)，這讓愛(ài)倫·坡迷大呼過(guò)癮，而此前不熟悉其作品的觀(guān)眾也借此大開(kāi)了眼界。

Are you up to the task, Mr. Poe?

您有接受挑戰(zhàn)的本事嗎，愛(ài)倫·坡先生？

(After Poes beloved Emily is kidnapped, a note is delivered to Poe.)

“I challenge the brilliant detective mind of Edgar Allan Poe. A game of wits with Emilys life in the balance. You will 1)immortalize for the 2)exquisite pleasure of your readers this, your very own *Descent into the Maelstrom, which shall appear in serial form in the Baltimore Patriot. Know that I will kill again, and on that new corpse I will leave you clues that will lead to Emily. If I do not read a vivid accounting of this 3)convergence of fact and fiction, then dear Emily will die. Your only hope is to imagine a way to save her. I dare you to try to conceive of the painstaking care I have taken to secure her and the elegant means leading 4)inexorably to her end. Are you up to the task, Mr. Poe? Are you even capable of imagining the means to save your beloveds life? Or shall this tale end as all your stories do, with madness, sin and horror, the soul of the plot?”

（愛(ài)倫·坡深?lèi)?ài)著的埃米莉被綁架后，有人給他送來(lái)一張紙條。）

“我挑戰(zhàn)埃德加·愛(ài)倫·坡的超凡偵探頭腦，用埃米莉的性命與您斗智。您要為取悅鑒賞力敏銳的讀者寫(xiě)一個(gè)以您自己為內(nèi)容的《大漩渦底余生記》，在《巴爾的摩愛(ài)國(guó)者》報(bào)上連載刊登，您會(huì)因此而不朽。您要明白，我會(huì)再殺人，并在尸體上留下線(xiàn)索帶您找到埃米莉。若我沒(méi)有讀到這樣一個(gè)由事實(shí)和虛構(gòu)相結(jié)合的生動(dòng)逼真的故事，那親愛(ài)的埃米莉就死定了。您唯一的希望就是想出救她的辦法，您要像我這樣為了把她弄到手，為了讓她凄慘地死去而費(fèi)盡心思。您有接受挑戰(zhàn)的本事嗎，愛(ài)倫·坡先生？您能想盡辦法保全愛(ài)人的性命嗎？或者這次的故事結(jié)局也會(huì)和您寫(xiě)的其他故事一樣，情節(jié)的核心盡是瘋狂、罪惡及恐怖？”

You cant take it as your fault, Mr. Poe.

您不能歸咎于自己，愛(ài)倫·坡先生。

(A murder crime scene similar to Poes The Mystery of Marie Rogêt leads the Detective Fields and Poe to a theatre where a stage hand, a sailor on leave, escapes.)

Fields: Now, please, think. Start with the sailor. Have you ever written anything about a sailor?

Poe: No. Did you speak with the ship captain?

Fields: I did.

Poe: And?

Fields: Robichaux was a valued crewman. Well liked. Had a family back home.

Poe: Where?

Fields: In France. N?mes. Anything?

Poe: No. Yes. Possibly. Who knows?

Fields: You see, what I keep asking myself is, why Baltimore? I mean the Fortunato had docked in several ports around the world.

Poe: The what?

Fields: Its been all over the world.

Poe: The name of the ship, say it again.

Fields: Fortunato.

Poe: “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could.”

Fields: What is that?

（一個(gè)謀殺現(xiàn)場(chǎng)與愛(ài)倫·坡的《瑪麗·羅杰奇案》非常相似，這把愛(ài)倫·坡和菲爾茲偵探帶到了一個(gè)劇場(chǎng)。在那里，一名后臺(tái)幫工——休假的水手——逃走了。）

菲爾茲：現(xiàn)在請(qǐng)你仔細(xì)想想。先從水手開(kāi)始。你寫(xiě)過(guò)有關(guān)水手的故事嗎？

愛(ài)倫·坡：沒(méi)有。你問(wèn)過(guò)船長(zhǎng)了嗎？

菲爾茲：是的。

愛(ài)倫·坡：結(jié)果呢？

菲爾茲：羅比修是一名優(yōu)秀的船員，人緣很好。在家鄉(xiāng)有妻小。

愛(ài)倫·坡：在哪里？

菲爾茲：在法國(guó)的尼姆。有印象嗎？

愛(ài)倫·坡：沒(méi)有。有，也許有吧，誰(shuí)知道呢。

菲爾茲：你看，我一直在想，為什么選擇巴爾的摩？我的意思是佛圖納托號(hào)曾經(jīng)?？吭谑澜缟系暮脦讉€(gè)港口。

愛(ài)倫·坡：什么？

菲爾茲：它已經(jīng)周游世界……

愛(ài)倫·坡：那艘船的名字，再說(shuō)一次。

菲爾茲：佛圖納托號(hào)。

愛(ài)倫·坡：“佛圖納托所受的傷害皆起因于我?！?/p>

菲爾茲：那是什么？

Poe: The first sentence of *The Cask of Amontillado.

Fields: Go on.

Poe: A story I wrote about revenge. A man kills his rival by walling him up. The victim Fortunato is 5)entombed alive.

Fields: Where?

Poe: In the 6)catacombs of a 7)palazzo. The story is set in Italy.

Fields: But there are no catacombs in Baltimore.

Poe: No, but there are tunnels underneath the city.

Fields: Tunnels?

Poe: The waterworks.

(The sailors body is found in underground tunnels. The clues on his body lead the Detective and Poe to the Holy Cross Church where the detective is shot and Poe fails to capture the killer. Desperate, Poe begins to write a new column in the newspaper.)

“The 8)gossamer white of bone was now visible beneath the 9)tattered meat of her fingertips, as Emily clawed madly at the wooden slats of her coffin, a desperate, drowning animal. The dirt rose around her, the inescapable sand of an 10)hourglass, as her final breath of air slipped her into the 11)twilight of consciousness until….He knew now that all hope was lost. He had failed his beloved, and there was but one last thing left to do. One last act.”

愛(ài)倫·坡：《一桶白葡萄酒》的第一句。

菲爾茲：繼續(xù)說(shuō)。

愛(ài)倫·坡：這是我寫(xiě)的一個(gè)關(guān)于復(fù)仇的故事。有人通過(guò)把對(duì)手砌在墻內(nèi)將其殺死，名叫佛圖納托的受害者被活埋。

菲爾茲：在哪里？

愛(ài)倫·坡：一座大宅的地下墓穴，故事發(fā)生在意大利。

菲爾茲：可巴爾的摩沒(méi)有地下墓穴。

愛(ài)倫·坡：對(duì)，但這里有地底坑道。

菲爾茲：坑道？

愛(ài)倫·坡：排水溝。

（水手的尸體在地下排水溝里找到了，尸體上的線(xiàn)索把菲爾茲偵探和愛(ài)倫·坡帶到圣十字教堂。在那里，菲爾茲偵探遭槍擊而受傷，而愛(ài)倫·坡也沒(méi)能抓住兇手。絕望的愛(ài)倫·坡開(kāi)始在報(bào)紙上開(kāi)辟專(zhuān)欄。）

“那抓破的手指上，肉里的蒼蒼白骨清晰可見(jiàn)。埃米莉瘋狂地抓她的棺木板，宛如一頭絕望溺水的野獸。她四周塵土飛揚(yáng)，她就像沙漏里的沙一樣無(wú)處可逃，在昏迷之前咽下最后一口氣，直到……他現(xiàn)在知道希望盡失了，他辜負(fù)了他的愛(ài)人，如今只剩下最后一件事要做，最后一件事?！?/p>

Ivan (Typesetter): (reads on) “A final desperate plea: one life offered for anothers…” Oh, Mr. Poe, no...No, you cant!

Poe: Set the print, Ivan.

Ivan: But, sir...

Poe: Do it!

Ivan: You cant take it as your fault, Mr. Poe.

Poe: Is there someone else youd blame?

Ivan: Its the killer whos to blame, sir.

Editor: Let me read that.

Ivan: Sir, I need to...

Editor: (reads on) “Poe could feel the poison already feeding on his blood, as the 12)maggots were soon to do.” Jesus...

伊凡（排字工）：（繼續(xù)往下讀）“在最后關(guān)頭絕望地懇求：一命抵一命……”哦，愛(ài)倫·坡先生，別，別，您不能這樣。

愛(ài)倫·坡：付印吧，伊凡。

伊凡：可是，先生……

愛(ài)倫·坡：快去！

伊凡：您不能歸咎于自己，愛(ài)倫·坡先生。

愛(ài)倫·坡：不然你想歸咎于誰(shuí)？

伊凡：要怪就怪那個(gè)殺人魔。

編輯：讓我看看。

伊凡：先生，我要……

編輯：（繼續(xù)讀手稿）“愛(ài)倫·坡已經(jīng)感覺(jué)到毒藥隨著血液遍布全身，很快就會(huì)有蛆蟲(chóng)?！碧炷摹?/p>

Artist to artist.

兩位藝術(shù)家。

(The next morning…)

Poe: What time is it?

Maid: Just past six, sir. The papers here for you. Heres something else for you, Mr. Poe.

Poe: (reads the note) “It is a masterpiece, Mr. Poe. An 13)epitaph worthy of your gifts.” When did this come?

Maid: I dont know exactly, but before the paper was delivered.

Poe: How do you know that?

Maid: It was underneath the paper.

Poe: Impossible. Look at the 14)streaks in the ink.

Maid: I dont understand. Im sorry, Mr. Poe…

Poe: Its been rained on.

Maid: It rained last night before dawn.

Poe: But the newspaper is bone dry.

Maid: Im not sure what...The paper was delivered later, after it stopped raining.

Poe: This note was written in response to what I wrote in this newspaper. He delivered the note before the paper. So he knew the story in advance. Hed already read it.

(Poe rushes to the newspaper office and finds the editor dead. He turns around and sees Ivan, the typesetter.)

Poe: Ivan.

Ivan: Surprised?

Poe: Where is she?

Ivan: Dying. More quickly than I expected. So I had to speed things along and deliver the morning edition so you could finally realize it had to be none other than your humble typesetter and biggest fan. A drink?(Ivan pours a drink for Poe.) You dont know how Ive looked forward to this moment, sir. Sit here like this, no more masks, artist to artist.

Poe: Artist to artist?

（第二天早上……）

愛(ài)倫·坡：幾點(diǎn)了？

女傭：剛過(guò)六點(diǎn)，您的報(bào)紙送來(lái)了。還有一張給您的字條，愛(ài)倫·坡先生。

愛(ài)倫·坡：（讀字條的內(nèi)容）“這是一部杰作，愛(ài)倫·坡先生，是您名副其實(shí)的墓志銘?！边@是什么時(shí)候送來(lái)的？

女傭：我不太確定，不過(guò)是在報(bào)紙送來(lái)之前。

愛(ài)倫·坡：你怎么知道？

女傭：它被壓在報(bào)紙底下。

愛(ài)倫·坡：不可能，你看墨水都暈開(kāi)了。

女傭：我不明白，抱歉，愛(ài)倫·坡先生……

愛(ài)倫·坡：紙條被雨水淋濕了。

女傭：昨晚天亮前是下過(guò)雨。

愛(ài)倫·坡：但報(bào)紙一點(diǎn)兒都不濕。