Criatura Voraz

I look for little things when rating horror movies. Does the acting have emotion? Facial expressions? Is it good? After all we don't really get to see anything new but we can see slightly different plots with good acting. I this point I think we are rating horror movies on acting and effects (although the latter isn't entirely necessary). Anyway with that said I love Ashley Greene. I like her in aftermath, all the twilight movies, and the apparition. She's a very talented and beautiful actress and she really does only get more beautiful with time. Fine wine. Now Ellie O'Brien??? I was absolutely blown away at how good of an actress this woman is. I think she just turned 23 and her acting is really good for her age. Absolute natural. In one of the opening scenes she's arguing with her mom (Ashley Greene) and I think I replayed that scene like 7 times because of how natural and on point her acting was. She's really good at drama. I say that to say this movie is easily a 7 because of these 2 women selling the movie. It's really a 5 but I put 6 because they did a really good job. The movie itself has been done 100 times so don't expect anything new. It didn't break the internet but it did put me to bed on a Sunday.

Ah, a world premiere! It's been a while since I attended one of those. It is somewhat important (or, at least, more than welcome) for the first user-comment here on IMDb to be positive and encouraging others to go and see the title. Now, I know the title of my comment doesn't sound too enthusiastic, but -rest assured - "It Feeds" is a more than adequate, entertaining, and professionally made piece of monster/demonic horror from Canada!

Beautiful Ashley Green stars as Cynthia Winstone; - a psychiatrist with an authentic psychic gift/talent. You know how they say psychiatrists are trying to get inside your head? Well, Cythia does this literally! By putting her finger on the patient's forehead, she joins him/her on a mind and memories' trip to uncover repressed traumas. She protects herself, and her 17-year-old daughter Jordan, by not accepting cases that are too involving and mentally exhausting, because that's how she lost her husband. When a teenage girl with horrible scars on her body comes begging for help, claiming an evil entity is literally feeding on her from the inside out, Cythia simply knows the case will be pure hell. And she's right, of course!

The term "suspension of disbelief" seems to be invented for horror movies like these. It's an absurd plot, there aren't any explanations or backgrounds given, people make the dumbest decisions, police officers are beyond incompetent, etc. Etc. And yet, I can't be too harsh on "It Feeds" because writer/director Chad Archibald clearly didn't have the pretention of making an intelligent & psychological supernatural thriller, but merely a fast-paced and feisty B-horror with a nasty demon in it. And from that angle, Archibald succeeded, as his film is chock-full of jump scares (some of which are quite effective) and extremely loud and eerie sound effects. I watched "It Feeds" at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, and at several times I saw people jump in their seats and hurl with fright. That's a mission accomplished then, I'd say.

Additional score of half a point because the animated end-credits are really cool.

This isn't the first horror film starring Ashley Greene in the lead role, and compared to "The Apparition" from years earlier, "It Feeds" is an improvement.

Because of the title, "It Feeds" may have you thinking it has something to do with "It Follows" from eleven years earlier, but that isn't true. They are different films with barely anything in common. The idea of some evil creature that has no name does not yet make "It Feeds" a copy of something that came before.

The main character portrayed by Ashley Greene may remind you of either The Warrens from "The Conjuring" horror film series or Shaun San Dena, the psychic from Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell", but neither is "copied and pasted", they just have an element or two in common, which isn't a problem. Also, and one should be able to tell this from the very trailer, "It Feeds" is reminiscent of "Insidious".

A more interesting comparison, and a more accurate one, would be "Nosferatu" by Robert Eggers from just a year earlier. One may end up thinking writer and director Chad Archibald saw that film and wanted to try his own take at the villain from that film, only Archibald with "It Feeds", unlike Eggers with his "Nosferatu", isn't disgustingly cheap when it comes to physical violence, mind over matter, indeed.

Long story short, the film may lack originality, but it does work. Why? Because of the characters and the script, interestingly enough, again, it may not be all that original, but it, the script, is put together with care, is no stranger to detail and the concept of "set up and pay off", and as for the characters, they have lives, histories and motivations, they do come across as real human beings, and you care about them.

Visually, there isn't anything special, and the sound isn't outstanding either, they are both competent, nothing more, but nothing less. That is a good way to describe this film, competent, no more, no less.

It Feeds had potential, but unfortunately, it gets lost somewhere between its own confusion and a lackluster delivery. The premise could have been chilling - a mysterious force feeding off fear, maybe guilt, maybe something deeper - but the movie never quite figures out what it's trying to say, or how to say it.

The acting ranges from wooden to wildly over-the-top, making it hard to feel connected to any of the characters. The pacing drags in parts where it should build tension, and when things finally start to pick up, it's too little, too late. The "twist" (if you can call it that) lands with a dull thud, and any meaningful horror is undercut by odd dialogue and strange editing choices.

On the plus side, the creature design is decent, and a couple of atmospheric shots manage to evoke some eerie vibes. But those fleeting moments aren't enough to salvage the experience.

Overall, It Feeds feels like it's trying to ride the coattails of smarter, scarier horror films - but ends up a half-baked mess that neither feeds the fear nor the imagination.

The movie was really interesting as a concept and Ashley Greene was incredible in it. I really didn't know how much of good actress she was, she really embodied the role and made it so believable, I was surprised. Not sure what I expected, but not this good.

I can definitely see this having one or even multiple sequels as a lot more stories can be told with the main characters and the premises let us as viewers wonder how she got to do what she does and other patients she could have helped or might help in the future.

The actress playing her daughter also did a fantastic job.

Really enjoyed the movie.