I do have a soft spot for these atmospheric 19th Century pieces. The long expository conversations are appropriate to the entire genre. It harks back to the literary style of the day, which I enjoy.

That said, did I miss something? Please educate me if I did!

We find out at the end who the killer is, but a couple of things about the resolution left me scratching my head.

1. Poe's devotion to Lea. I mean, the girl was about to cut his heart out of his living body. Well, hell, that's true love, isn't it? I don't care her motivations for doing it, we should have had more compelling reason to explain why she would go through with it.

(Also, those big oak beams in those old southern houses don't burn to crumbling cinders quite that fast, particularly in a fire that small.)

2. We learn that Landor is the killer, and that Lea and Artemis couldn't POSSIBLY kill anyone, and yet, there at they end, they're about to do just that. Why now? Why weren't they desperate enough sooner? It's all just too coincidental that their time of extreme need coincides with Landor's acts. If, somehow, their need and the events behind Landor's revenge could have been more closely, even inextricably linked, maybe I'd buy it. And of all people to kill, they pick (even GROOM) Poe, who Lea loves, when they could have chosen, literally anyone? It seems love is a prime component in the ritual they're performing, and there are hints that they were grooming at least Frye for it as well. But then, wouldn't they have eventually killed Frye, too? So we're going round and round in this loop of liability and motivation that isn't satisfactorily tied up.

For me, it was a hugely disappointing ending to a film that, stylistically and character-centered, I'd really been enjoying up to that point.