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The Invitation
(Screen Gems)
By Lucas Allen
With the end of summer and the beginning of fall, the change of season not only brings a change of color in the leaves and the rise of pumpkin spice, but also the growing need to watch horror movies before Halloween. While the zombie genre continues to generate attention, the vampire genre is still clinging to life (or death) with its cinematic legacy spanning 100 years from “Nosferatu” to “Morbius.” The latest iteration, “The Invitation,” tries to deliver a modern-day take on the classic gothic vampire lore of Universal and Hammer. Let’s see how co-writer and director Jessica M. Thompson delivers on that promise.
After the death of her mother, struggling single artist Evelyn (Nathalie Emmanuel), who has a sassy best friend Grace (Courtney Taylor), takes a DNA test. The results reveal she has a distant white cousin named Oliver (Hugh Skinner) from England. Oliver invites her to a countryside wedding to meet the family. Upon arriving in the Carfax Abbey mansion, Evie meets the uptight butler, Mr. Fields (Sean Pertwee), as well as handsome Lord Walter (Thomas Doherty), who she instantly becomes attracted to.
Although she’s reluctant to be there at first, Evie soon becomes comfortable with her extended family, while getting along with the bridesmaids Viktoria (Stephanie Corneliussen) and Lucy (Alana Boden). However, she senses something’s not right after experiencing unexpected visions of the supernatural. Things come to a head during one big family dinner when Walter’s ulterior motive for her coming to the mansion is revealed.
The plot is basically a cheap knock-off version of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” but without the timely satire or any mere originality. The story cannot muster any genuine drama or laughs to make it work especially when putting vampires in the mix. Plus, it feels like amateur hour in the script with cheesy dialogue and too many predictable plot points to string them together like a garlic necklace. Whether or not you’ve seen the spoil-filled trailer, the mystery part is 100% obvious that is really silly.
With the whole horror aspect that they’re trying to pull off, it’s impossibly lame. Besides some tacked-on jump scares, the dark atmosphere is muddled by some of the worst cinematography, editing, and effects in any recent horror film. There are some parts where the scenery becomes too dark to see like they’ve set the dark filter too high, while the editing suffers from ADD-induced fast cutting that becomes a big headache to watch. The only real merit is the production design of the gothic mansion that’s a real compliment, but it’s sad to see it ruined by filmmaking incompetence.
Things get worse in the climax when their solution to terrible camerawork is fill an entire room with CG fire. Then you have certain death scenes, where the effects are either unfinished or cutaway from the editing. Imagine the big vampire death scene where the villain just lays dying then cut to the other character just reacting before cutting to the aftermath. It seems more evident this movie doesn’t have much of a budget or pushing the PG-13 rating too far that it becomes too aggravating and unsatisfying to any horror fan.
Much of the acting is also flat and uninspired. While Emmanuel is fine in the role, her chemistry with Doherty remains unimpressive with the actor being a worse version of Dracula like Count Duckula. It’s nice to see Pertwee play an evil version of Alfred he played in the Gotham TV series, but it seems like a desperate piece of typecasting.
“The Invitation” is just an ugly excuse of a vampire film turning a horror story into a complete mockery. So bad, it makes Morbius laughs at its immoral ineptitude. Not to mention, it makes Tim Burton’s version of “Dark Shadows” look like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for terror, violent content, some strong language, sexual content, and partial nudity)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 1 Star (Out of Four)
