Anna's Eve

'Anna's Eve" is a promising debut. This first feature, while not without it's flaws, manages to simply create a feeling of dread that has been lacking from American horror for far too long. While this film harkens back to some of the classic Val Lewton films of the 40's, "Anna's Eve", is not without its shock moments. The cast is appealing, with Grayce Wey holding the films focus with a strong performance, as her character begins to question her own sanity as those around her succumb to the mysterious specter of Eve (Lorielle New). The film suffers from its budget constraints, but still manages to deliver what it promises. The surprise ending will definitely give you the chills.

Budget constraints- sure. But 10 mins into this film I found myself surprisingly engaged. The story is solid and the acting is so much better than I was expecting. Those things that make you rate so many of this genre of movies at a 2 or less aren't here - the story is solid, engaging and creepy, you really do that feeling of dread very early on, the acting is good and the dialogue is natural.

OK its not an 8 but def a 6. I just think its an injustice that its showing up w/ such a low rating when its a really good little chiller!! Its entertaining from the get-go and the pay-off is there. You'll definitely enjoy this film.

When the dedicated social worker Anna Liu (Grace Wey) finds the boy Michael Duncan dreadfully murdered in the kitchen of his house and his mother Eve Duncan (Lonelle New) missing, she has a nervous breakdown. Eight months later, she is still recovering using pills and living with her friend Josie (Angie Landis). Meanwhile detectives Jake Freeman (Chris Eckles) and Frank Richards (Cevin Middleton) are investigating the murder using the psychic Vivian Kuo (Mae Hi) to find new evidences. Out of the blue, Anna is haunted by the ghost of a scary woman and frequently listens to laughs of a child, and Michael's Ted bear and a knife insist to be on her way in Josie's apartment. Anna gets close to Jake when her friends and acquaintances begin to die, and she recollects painful lost memories from her past.

"Anna's Eve" is an awful and messy collection of inconsistencies. The lame camera, lighting and edition are very poor not only due to the budget constraint, but mostly because of technical limitation of the crew. The messy plot is a collection of inconsistencies, and I could list some of them: (1) Why the ghost of Eve kills so many people if her issue was with Patrick and Anna? (2) The jealous Anna kills Eve because she was in love with Patrick, but divorces him when he has an affair with his secretary. (3) Patrick loves Anna so much that covers her crime, but betrays her with his secretary. (4) Why Anna is haunted only eight months after the death of Eve? Why she, and not Patrick? Was the ghost still in love with him? (5) The conclusion is confused and I did not understand what actually happened with the ghost of Michael. Is he going to reborn? (6) Did the ghost of Eve "die"? If she was seeking revenge against Patrick, why haunting Anna? If she was seeking revenge against Anna, why she spares her in the end? (7) Which father would bring an evidence of a hideous crime as a gift to his pregnant wife? This 2004 movie has been released on DVD in Brazil last 16 December 2010, but the Brazilian distributor Imagem could have spared the Brazilian viewers from this mediocrity. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Espírito Assassino" ("Assassin Spirit")