Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Horror Movie Review -The Invitation

Title: The Invitation
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writers: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
IMDB Link:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2400463/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO SPOILERS

After seeing this movie on Netflix, I will never say…

 

I no longer want invitations to anyone’s dinner party.  Keep your invites, really.

 

Synopsis

Will and Eden were once a loving couple. After a tragedy took their son, Eden disappeared. Two years later, out of the blue, she returns with a new husband… and as a different person, eerily changed and eager to reunite with her ex and those she left behind. Over the course of a dinner party in the house that was once his, the haunted Will is gripped by mounting evidence that Eden and her new friends have a mysterious and terrifying agenda. But can we trust Will’s hold on reality? Or will he be the unwitting catalyst of the doom he senses?

Drafthouse Films

Opinion

I admit, the beginning of this movie bored me.  The man seemed out of it and his mood was flat.  I thought he was on some kind of medication.  It also made me wonder why the woman was with him.  Then, it turns out that they’re going to a party at the home of his ex-wife….with the new girlfriend.  That earned an eye roll, because, I wasn’t sure this was going to be a good idea.

Plus, the party was in the hills of California somewhere.  Ugh.  I don’t like going out into old crazy country without a way to get out of there.  In some of those places, you can’t even call a cab or Uber!!

Anyhoo, what a bunch of weirdos at the party. Folks not wearing any shoes.  Folks with vacant smiles and blank eyes.   As soon as all the characters get together, there’s a general feeling of unease. The folks seem loving and accommodating, but there is something just off about the entire gathering.  The man finds strange things around his ex-wife’s house.  In addition, we are subjected to hazy flashbacks about their shared past.

As the film rolls on we eventually realize that there is something going on, and it bubbles over the surface in a shocking scene.  Obviously, I won’t give it away, but I will say I was glued to the screen until the end.  

The film starts quite slow and threatens to lose the viewers’ interest.  But I advise you to stick with it and go along for the ride.  The ending will make you sit back in your seat, mouth open and head shaking.   Additionally, this movie will keep you from going from any strange dinner parties in isolated areas, I promise you that.

Grade A-:  Jeez, this was creepy and unsettling as hell.  

The Invitation:  Trailer

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Here’s to watching horror movies in the morning!

Dahlia

 

Horror Movie Review – Grave Encounters 2

 

Title:  Grave Encounters 2
Genre: Horror, Found Footage
Director: John Poliquin
Writers: The Vicious Brothers
IMDB Link:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2231554/

NO SPOILERS

PLOT SYNOPSIS: (imdb.com) A film student who is obsessed with the movie Grave Encounters sets out with his friends to visit the psychiatric hospital depicted in the original film.

We’re back!

After seeing Grave Encounters, I just had to see if there were a Grave Encounters 2.  And, lo and behold, it was!  I quickly queued it up and sat back, prepared to be as scared as I was with the first one.

Alas, this was not the case.  Now, this is not to say the movie wasn’t pretty good. It just took a bit of a time to get to the point.

Don’t go into this expect a retread of Grave Encounters.  The screenwriter and director  went in a bit of a different direction, which saved the movie from being a boring retread of the first movie.

A film student who is obsessed with the movie Grave Encounters sets out with his friends to visit the psychiatric hospital depicted in the original film.

I will say the characters are a little less likable in this movie than they were in the first one.  They skewed younger and were less the “seasoned professionals” of the first movie and more snot-nosed college students.  Being a woman of a certain age, their antics grated on me a bit, but I was eager to see what the asylum would do with them.

And the haunted asylum didn’t disappoint.  

Things are not what they seem at the old homestead and the place starts acting up right away.  We, the audience, know what they’re in for, having seen the first movie, we’re just waiting to see how the asylum plays with the new crew.

There’s shouting, there’s yelling, there’s running. There’s spooky stuff afoot and a surprise.

Watch it, if just to have the story continue. Grave Encounters 2 is not as good or as chill worthy as Grave Encounters, but it’s still a pretty good ride. 

My advice:  Push through the annoying college age antics at the beginning and stay for the scary parts.  There is some lore added and maybe a door opening for Grave Encounters 3.

Here’s to watching horror movies in the morning!

Dahlia

 

Music Monday – Top 5 Songs – The Police

There were five Police studio albums released between 1978 and 1983.  I know this because I owned them all.  For Music Monday, let’s take a trip down memory lane and name my favorite track from each of these studio albums.

Outlando D’Amour was the first album released by The Police.  They “broke out” with the hit “Roxanne”.  I don’t need to go into the whole story now, everyone knows what the song is about.  However, while I did like Roxanne, my oh-so-favorite track from this album is “So Lonely”.

 

Reggatta de Blanc

Released in 1979, the hot “hit” from this album was Message in a Bottle. While I do love Message in all its iterations (the acoustic version is especially stirring), here’s my go to from this album:

 

Zenyatta Mondatta

The song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” hit the U.S. charts with a bang and spent three years there.  I guess….people liked it? 😉  The songs did have staying power.  My personal favorite, because I know you’re waiting for it is…Shadows in the Rain.  Who can resist a song that begins “Woke up in my clothes again this morning/Don’t know exactly where I am…”

 

 

 

Ghost in the Machine

Their fourth studio album.  My pick:  Secret Journey

 

Synchronicity

The final studio album before Sting broke out on his own, although after listening to some of the early “demos” on YouTube, it seems that The Police was mostly Sting and two guys.  Regardless of who wrote what when and where, my pick from this album is Tea in the Sahara.

 

There you go, there it is…my five favorite Police songs!

Peace, Love, Unity

Dahlia