The Ceremony - Invito mortale

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.

According to Hollywood, everyone in England is either insanely rich and lives in manor house, or is a servant for someone who is insanely rich and lives in a manor house.

Or possibly they may be a farmer. Or Sherlock Holmes.

This is a fun, yet gigantically predictable tale about poor, orphaned American girl who is swept of her feet when she discovers that she is related to a rich English family. Then bad stuff happens, but the bad people don't realise that their target has more fight than they bargained for.

If you can get past the avalanche of cliches, then there is some entertainment to be had here. We've all seen this story (in one form or another) a thousand times before. Just go with it...

I was excited to see this because I knew the lead actors for playing support roles only like Nathalie Emmanuel in GOT and fast and furious or Thomas Doherty in high fidelity and legacies. I love how it starts off dark, it's not uncommon for recent horrors to ease you in by starting out like any regular movie before throwing you into the dark. It maintains it's gloomy nature despite the characters having a more cheery aura, but you feel something's off. It's like a blend of midsommer, Ready or Not and Get Out, with a fantasy element to it. Midsommer and Ready Or Not were more bloody thrillers than actual horrors in my opinion while this was actively trying to scare you. It has a more old fashioned horror feel compared to recent 'blockbuster horrors' (I don't know if that's a thing); everything happens in the dark, there's a lot of build up and I loved how 3AM was made the hour the devil comes out to play. It also leaned on it's gloomy atmosphere and jump scares for the horror element.

There's a lot of build up to most scenes so it was slow paced, I felt some silences were literally just 2s too long. Second twist in the third act of the movie wasn't pretty underwhelming, and this was meant to be the big closer. I also try to avoid trailers but i saw a teaser that ruined the suspense and thrill of one of the scenes, so I suggest doing a better job at avoiding them than I did. For that same reason, when everything unveiled I was pleasantly surprised it's not the genre of horror I thought this was going to be, won't say 'cause I don't wanna spoil it for you but I haven't seen a horror in this fantasy genre in a while so I loved it.

All in all, I think it's a good movie that was supposed to be better than it is because the climax scenes don't hit as high as they're meant to, with a rushed finale to top that. Otherwise the movie doesn't do much wrong and is worth a watch for me. Somebody said it's a feminist movie, I see where they're coming from but that's such a reach man.

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.

"The Invitation" reminded me of 90s superband "Backstreet Boys" and their video for "Everybody: Backstreet' s Back" with dancing vampires, werewolves, and zombies in a gothic castle under the fool moon (yes, I am such a boomer, I know!).

Even few naïve Americans and very dramatic red dress included!

The bad thing: "Everybody: Backstreet' s Back" had a better plot (yes, you read me correctly). And you can watch it free of charge on Youtube in three minutes.

The good thing: there are few nice jokes in the movie. Actors look so much better, and no one is singing. That' s a really big bonus, you have to agree.