Right off the bat, you get "indiehorror.com" presents, and yeah, it looks it. The video-y look, the static camera shots, the drab color - I've used the tag micro-budget for these before (the super bad Knight Chills), but really indie horror is more apt. Plus, for a $7,500 budget, this is pretty damned good.
So, bearing in mind that you're grading these indies on a curve - for this curve it's pretty okay. A little effort and affection for the genre go a long way for me, and Invitation has both. And it knows it's limitations - I respect that. It has a relatively unique (if not particularly well told) story and decent characters. And while it's not a home run (to continue the baseball theme), it does the job. Maybe a bloop single or a sacrifice fly.
Our story starts out with a bunch of kids at a sandlot baseball game. (Amazon Prime may be vague, but it doesn't lie.) All of the other kids are teasing this one fat nerd, but they need him to field a team. So they put him in the outfield, where he has to chase a ball that is hit out into the street. He is promptly hit and killed by a truck. I would think our ghastly tale of revenge would have to do with the truck driver, but whatever.
Flash forward fifteen years - the group of friends from the sandlot that fateful day are all mysteriously delivered invitations (titular!) to a weekend retreat - one of them (named Lee) wants to get the whole crew back together! They turn up, one by one (or in the case of Lex & Dan, as a couple - are they maybe going to get married? Or maybe have a kid? Or maybe both? Maybe!) at this isolated, rustic-looking - resort thing? It's way too big and nice for a cabin... although the tried and true "cabin in the woods" is where this movie resides spiritually. There is this big den-type area (where guests check in and sit around the fireplace) where most of the movie takes place. They are greeted by the caretaker Henry Chambers (Bill Vincent), who seems vaguely creepy but could just be tall and weird looking - Lurch-ish, I guess. They reminisce about "the good old days," and experience some drama - reliving some flings from fifteen years ago, sitting through an awkward mention of the fat dead nerd, and enduring a crazy old lady harbinger who tells them to "leave here before it's too late!" But they more or less get along.
As day turns into night, Lee (the inviter) still hasn't shown up. So why are they here? As the hours pass, stranger and stranger things begin to happen, and people start to disappear. What is happening at this resort? Will the friends make it out alive? Where is Lee? Tune in to find out!
What I Liked
The acting and characters are good (again, grading on the indie horror scale). Basically, all I want out of this is for them not to be noticeably terrible actors or totally grating. So the fact that they are neither is a testament to both the cast and writer/director Jeff Burton. And, the comic relief guy is actually kind of funny. I can't see any of them graduating to mainstream fare, but still - they're pretty good.
There is kind of a mean streak in the movie too - more bad stuff happens than you might expect. It's never too gory or anything, but I was still surprised at the fate of most of the characters. It was never too boring either. Things moved along at a decent clip, and escalated appropriately.
There was a lot of fog, which I am always a fan of. And, the caretaker was a delight and a legitimately entertaining presence. (Apparently he's the "Fake Shemp" in the Evil Dead series, I've only seen them once or twice so that doesn't mean anything to me.) He's a little odd for this particular movie (where everyone else in the cast just seems like "normal people"), but I think he'd be an awesome late-nite horror host, or something along those lines.
What I didn't like
It's not really that scary. Most of the scares of are either of the psychological or the "I swear I saw someone standing there" variety - there isn't a lot of tension in any of the scare scenes.
It's not a great looking movie. It does the job, but is a bit workman-like - there just isn't much artfulness to it. The shots are pretty blandly-framed and there isn't much pretty stuff to look at. But, I think this falls under director Jeff Burton knowing his limitations (budgetary and otherwise) - I'll take workman-like any day over clearly over-extending yourself.
The overall idea of the story is fine and kind of unique, but the execution is a bit lacking. There are just too many coincidences and gaps in logic. There is not enough explanation as to what the evil resort/spirits can and can't do, and when and where they can do it. Plus, what happened to Lee?
Ultimately, it's a decent indie flick, if you're into that sort of thing. It's not for everybody, but grading on my indie horror curve:
I would recommend this film.
As day turns into night, Lee (the inviter) still hasn't shown up. So why are they here? As the hours pass, stranger and stranger things begin to happen, and people start to disappear. What is happening at this resort? Will the friends make it out alive? Where is Lee? Tune in to find out!
What I Liked
The acting and characters are good (again, grading on the indie horror scale). Basically, all I want out of this is for them not to be noticeably terrible actors or totally grating. So the fact that they are neither is a testament to both the cast and writer/director Jeff Burton. And, the comic relief guy is actually kind of funny. I can't see any of them graduating to mainstream fare, but still - they're pretty good.
There is kind of a mean streak in the movie too - more bad stuff happens than you might expect. It's never too gory or anything, but I was still surprised at the fate of most of the characters. It was never too boring either. Things moved along at a decent clip, and escalated appropriately.
There was a lot of fog, which I am always a fan of. And, the caretaker was a delight and a legitimately entertaining presence. (Apparently he's the "Fake Shemp" in the Evil Dead series, I've only seen them once or twice so that doesn't mean anything to me.) He's a little odd for this particular movie (where everyone else in the cast just seems like "normal people"), but I think he'd be an awesome late-nite horror host, or something along those lines.
What I didn't like
It's not really that scary. Most of the scares of are either of the psychological or the "I swear I saw someone standing there" variety - there isn't a lot of tension in any of the scare scenes.
It's not a great looking movie. It does the job, but is a bit workman-like - there just isn't much artfulness to it. The shots are pretty blandly-framed and there isn't much pretty stuff to look at. But, I think this falls under director Jeff Burton knowing his limitations (budgetary and otherwise) - I'll take workman-like any day over clearly over-extending yourself.
The overall idea of the story is fine and kind of unique, but the execution is a bit lacking. There are just too many coincidences and gaps in logic. There is not enough explanation as to what the evil resort/spirits can and can't do, and when and where they can do it. Plus, what happened to Lee?
Ultimately, it's a decent indie flick, if you're into that sort of thing. It's not for everybody, but grading on my indie horror curve:
I would recommend this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment