The Eve

As I write this it's Halloween. To keep the vibe of the spooky season going I've been watching a lot of horror flicks, many of them slashers. I was pleasantly surprised to see this film, given that they took a different approach to their setting in general. One can always say that suspense/horror films take a similar formula, but I greatly appreciated the filmmakers shaking things up with their locations and time of year.

It's a well pieced together film that takes a look at the personal relationships we all deal with on an every day basis. The trailer and poster pulled me in right away and I wasn't disappointed. I'm personally a big fan of independent filmmaking so I had a special interest in this movie. Give it a watch for yourself and enjoy the ride.

I watched The Eve on Amazon Instant Video and I enjoyed it. The movie is not a horror movie, but more of a low budget drama/thriller. The first half of the movie is all about the characters and awesome Martha's Vineyard setting. Until the first death, I forgot that this was a thriller. After the death it is a slow build of tension until the climax. I'm not going to spoil anything, but there is a clear narrative and where the movie ends up makes sense (there is nothing out of left field thrown in). I knew this was an indie going in and was surprised at how great it looked and how clean the movie was (great technical all around- sound, editing, picture). Overall it was an enjoyable movie, but don't go in thinking it is a horror or gory movie.

A claustrophobic, old-school thriller, making very good use of a (mostly) single location. Great ensemble acting and a nice twist ending which rewards viewing all the way through. As someone who has only visited Martha's Vineyard in the summer and heard tales of the "off-season population", I was very curious to watch this film. It captured the atmosphere and sense of place very well and made me want to go back again, despite making me way more wary of those "off-seasoners"! Recommended.

A bit of a mix of Twilight Zone, Psycho, and Alfred Hitchcock. I actually found this thriller fun to watch and the cinematography was great! Make some fresh popcorn, put your feet up on a hassock, and enjoy. I sure did.

Ritchie Steven Filippi shows some real talent in controlling the story and moving it even paced from start to finish. The cast all give very strong performances and really emote. The dialog moves nicely between character development scenes, and allow for you to really buy into these people and the nightmare situation they are in. Plus for the first 40 minutes or so you really don't get a sense to who is the killer. More on that later.

The special effects are very minimal, as I stated before-everything is really PG here. There are some small moments with blood and a bit of quick violence, but everything stays mostly off camera and suggestive. Filippi nor writer Evan Bass, every get visceral, or gory with the horror so the effects remain mostly driven by the struggles and fears of these characters. Plus the atmosphere has elements of Hitchcock that play up the melodrama and shadowy backgrounds. Most of the film happens at night so the psychological side really does play out well in "The Eve". The film has a nice, classic thriller soundtrack mixed in that carries the atmosphere and emotion of this nightmare.

Overall "The Eve" is a nice thriller for fans of the more 'Lifetime adjacent' stories that works more on emotion and less on horror. The film really does show Filippi and the rest of the cast and crew's talent, I really could find no fault in the performances, the story, the cinematography or even the toned down scenes that call for violence. My only real complaint is that I wanted to see some more blood and carnage, I wanted to really get into the kill scenes on this one. Plus it would have been nice if there was a bit of decor or something that really played on the whole "New Year's Eve" horror aspect of "The Eve". Still it is a decent "soft" thriller with a devious ending, and it does have the Auld Lang Syne used in a dark and creepy way!