Le Bal de l'enfer

"The Invitation" is a movie with a simple script and nothing avant-garde but it manages to entertain, it also presents some well-written characters, it is worth noting the gothic romance story. The best thing is its cinematography that is outstanding and that together with the filming locations achieve a great gothic atmosphere, the cinematographer Autumn Eakin takes a fantasy nightmare to a spectacular level. The performances are well done and the director knows how to translate her ideas on the screen. Without being a masterpiece, "The Invitation" is a decent movie that deserves some attention!

Evie traces back her family tree, and travels to England to meet her relatives, it isn't long before she discovered her family's dark secrets.

Wasted potential, that's the first thought I had a jury this movie, it could and should have been a good watch, but ultimately it disappointed.

First off, this ridiculous portrayal of The Brits, how come Americans ways get it so wrong, Britain felt like a strange setting for this vampire story, but the first stumbling block, the setting. Clearly not Britain, actually Hungary, it looked totally foreign, Hungary itself may have been a better setting.

That house looks as English as an Eagle sat on top of The Capitol building.

I really did enjoy that initial setup, and the characters, but as the horror element is revealed it just falls apart, the mystery and intrigue vanishes, along with the enjoyment.

Too predictable, it offers nothing new, and almost every other vampire film I can think of offers a whole lot more. The only plus, some of the special effects looked decent.

4/10.

Although it's not the best horror movie in the world, I enjoyed it and I don't understand why it's getting so much hate. I will agree that the spent a lot of time on the build up and that the ending happened fairly quickly but I honestly didn't mind that. I don't give away any spoilers but sufficed to say, it's a satisfying ending. It's not one of those horror movies with an ending that feels incomplete or hangs in the air. I thought the acting was good and the sets were absolutely beautiful. I also appreciated that it was an hour and 40 mins. So many filmmakers think all movies have to be 2 hours now and this was clearly an example of a movie that did not. I won't be rewatching it, but I still felt like it was a good use of my time.

At first I thought it was a movie about a random woman who, by chance, is invited to a party full of vampires, and she resourcefully kills them all using her wits. So I was not really that interested when it first came out because I was tired of seeing all powerful vampires being easily killed just because our characters know they were vampires. However, the interesting thing about this movie, is that it plays like a romance movie mixed with vampire horror. There are a few kills sprinkled to remind you this is a horror movie, but a majority of the time is Nathalie Emmanuel romancing with Thomas Doherty in an aristocratic setting until the vampire horror stuff starts. This is where Emmanuel believably plays victim to circumstances, and she is not become an all powerful heroine who easily kills the villain in the end. She struggles in every thing. Another interesting is how the movie drops hints throughout the story, and you would see how it all fits. But I think the ending was too rushed and not impactful enough. The build up was slow and when it reached the part where the conspiracy unfolds, and everything is revealed, some characters change so inorganically to look menacing but it does not work. Fortunately, Nathalie Emmanuel's character seemed consistent, and many others too. So you even after the reveal, you could understand why they are acting that way. I also like the after credit scene. I don't know if it hints a sequel, or just an epilogue but it is interesting.

It has an enjoyable build up thanks to the likeable leads, but it took far too long and after the big reveal, it was over all too quickly. There wasn't really any horror or mystery, just a few jump scares and glimpses of the monster, although the awkward social engagements might tap into modern horror. The action packed finale was ridiculous and along with the lack of originality, completely spoiled the whole film. The Lord performed his role admirably and the setting and costumes were good, but overall it was far too tame to really get your teeth into.

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Overall, I'd score it as 3 out of 10.