Live Chat During “The Invitation”

I’m finally getting around to reviewing THE INVITATION. Sorry it’s taken me a while, but I put it off until the live-chat with the Graveyard Shift Sisters. Check them out HERE

WARNING!!! THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!!! SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!

So let’s movie on to the film!

THE INVITAITON is about Will(Logan Marshall-Green) being invited to a dinner party along with his current girlfriend and some of their mutual friends. But this isn’t any old dinner party…the hosts are is ex-wife, Eden(Tammy Blanchard), and her new husband, David(Michiel Huisman) at the home where they were once a happy family. As dinner progresses and a few more strange guests show up, Will senses that something is wrong and that danger is just waiting to jump out at every corner. But is it just his paranoia playing tricks with his mind or is this party going to be the end for everyone invited?

This movie does the trick in getting your skin to crawl! It covered a lot of topics like how we respond to awkward situations, how we come to terms with traumatic events, death, cults, and gaslighting. Here’s some of the things I enjoyed about the movie.

First is Will’s state of mind: From the beginning, he was uncomfortable with the idea of going back to the house where his child once lived, where he was happily married, and see his ex-wife with someone else. Anyone would hate being put in that situation, but we are programed to be polite and not ruffle anyone’s feathers. If he didn’t go then he’d be the asshole ex-husband still bitter about the divorce. So he goes in and the very moment he steps into the house, he is hit with a memories of his son. Although it’s not spoken about, you understand that it was the death of their son that ended Eden and Will’s marriage.

Which leads me to the second topic: Death. While Will tried to move cope with his son’s death one way, Eden ran to Mexico where she found some guru who supposedly had the answers to her grief. That’s where she met David and made friends with Sadie and Pruitt. To make this dinner awkward to start off with, the hosts and their friends decide that they want to share a video about the cult(because we all know that’s what it is) called THE INVITAITON and share stories about why they sought help with this guru. Death is such a morbid and taboo topic to bring up even among friends. It’s especially more uncomfortable when a stranger talks about how he accidentally killed his wife and being shown a video of a terminally ill woman’s final moments. If it was me, I’d have left at the beginning of the party.

Third topic: how to deal with traumatic events. While Will seems like he’s handled the divorce and his son’s death as well as can be expected, being in that house has made him truly face his inner demons. Someone in the live-chat on Twitter pointed out something that described it perfectly. There’s a point where Will is talking to his girlfriend, Kira(Emayatzy Corinealdi), and says that he feels like there is a scream trapped in his throat. That was a beautiful way to describe how trapped he feels with his emotions. With Eden, she attempted suicide before and then sought out this cult for answers and hasn’t been seen by her friends for two years. These two showed that everyone reacts differently in grief. Some try to move on and have to wrestle with their heartache constantly while others run away to find the answer they want with people who feel the same as they do. This makes the relationship between Eden and Will so tragic because they never really had the time to find closure with each other. Only in the end when Eden shoots herself in the stomach does she confess her grief to Will and apologize for everything.

Fourth topic: Cults. This film reminded me of Jonestown so much that I got a little uncomfortable. Like most religious ideologies, THE INVITATION group claimed to answers for how to deal with pain whether physical or emotional. This cult advertised itself as a spiritual group that tried to get people comfortable with the inevitability of death hence the video of the terminally ill woman and how easily Pruitt could talk about his wife’s death. Most people wouldn’t bring that up EVER let alone at a dinner party. I thought of Jonestown because the true motivations of this cult is revealed when the party is about the give a toast, but Will senses that the wine has been poisoned. Turns out his paranoia served him well. The hosts and their friends had planned to kill their guests and themselves so they could be free of their earthly pain. Jonestown is notorious for its Mass Suicide event or Mass Murder depending on how you look at it. What makes it more terrifying is that this dinner party wasn’t the only one of its kind. In the final scene of the film, chaos has erupted in L.A. when the surviving guests see red lanterns all across the neighborhood like the one David lit in the yard along with screams, gunshots, sirens. Can you imagine living in a neighborhood where your neighbors are part of a death cult and committing murders all around you? HELL. NO.

Fifth topic: Gaslighting. For those who don’t know, gaslighting is used in abusive relationships where the abuser twists situations and information to make the victim doubt themselves. Throughout the movie, Will is clearly uncomfortable and anxious. Rather than say “You don’t have to stay. Please go home and we’ll talk when you’re ready” both the hosts and the other guests make Will out to be the bad guy. They make it seem like he’s the crazy one, that he’s just emotional because of the house, that he’s the one being a jerk, and he’s the one being unreasonable. David even pulls Will aside and shames him by commenting that Will is being ungracious by “being suspicious of our hospitality”. When Sadie starts making out with the other guests, Claire is the only one who has the guts to say “I want to leave”. David tries to convince her to stay and, I felt, that he was kinda making it out that she was being a prude and that Sadie is just a “free spirit” and she meant nothing by her erotic behavior. He even blocked the door. It’s like he was trying to guilt her into staying. I would have ran right out the door!

All together, THE INVITATION was an amazing movie. The live-chat on Twitter was so much fun because I got to read someone else’s thoughts on the movie. Some people brought up some interesting things like the music, the “scream trapped in my throat” line, and even how the color red became important. I hope we get to do another live-chat during a horror movie soon!

Let me know what you thought of THE INVITATION!

Why Netflix! WHY!

Sorry for missing out last week. I took a little break because I received some good news. I got my acceptance letter into Graduate School! I’ve been on edge for two months! I’m happy to finally have the suspense end. Anyway, sorry for missing a post but I’ll do my best to keep up!

So moving on to what this post it about. I’m flipping out about the beloved shows that are leaving Netflix. We’re losing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Roswell, and The X-Files. I’m annoyed because these were the best shows growing up and sometimes I just want to watch something that isn’t crap on TV. I already mentioned in the last post about Buffy being one of the main reasons I love the horror genre. I guess it was nice to have easy access to this show. I’ll have to save my pennies know to just by the box sets for these shows. This way I’ll always have them.

Yeah I realize that it’s probably a licensing thing and that maybe it’ll come back. But that’s what they said about Doctor Who and I’m not holding my breath about that one coming back ANYTIME soon. So right now I’m binging Roswell because I can recall most of Buffy, Angel, X-Files, and Firefly. I remember some of Roswell but it’s kinda fuzzy.

So enjoy it while you can guys…..

 

The Moment I Loved Horror

I was reminded recently of an article from Glamour magazine that was floating around Twitter. This article basically called all us Horror Lover freaks and that we must’ve had a horrifying childhood to love this genre. Check out the article HERE incase you haven’t seen it.

Anyway, I can’t really tell you the exact moment I feel in love with Horror but I can tell you the important moments that I really came to love it.

The first moment was when I was a little girl. There was a show called WISHBONE that I used to love. It was about a Jack Russell Terrier that would reenact classical literature for kids. I learned about stories like Ivanhoe, Pride & Prejudice, The Odyssey, etc. My favorite story, however, was The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As a kid I loved the story of how a man wanted to separate the animal within but ended up making himself the monster. Don’t we all wish that we could remove the evil within ourselves so we can have peace?

The second moment I really loved Horror was when I was in my tweens. I LOVED watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer! In my house is was the forbidden fruit of television. My mom believed that Buffy was the devil and that watching that show would invite him in. I watched it anyway. What I loved was this badass chick killing monsters, saving the world, and still having a social life. I also loved the makeup of the show! The way the vampire faces changed was awesome for my tween brain. They were creepy looking but in a good way. I also thought that the backstory of the “Fanged Four” was pretty cool. That’s how I love my vampires…completely unapologetic.

The third moment was when THE WALKING DEAD premiered on AMC. My father traveled to Afghanistan for work so we could pay for university. My father and I are really close and I missed him so much. While I was emailing him, I told him about the show and he said to spoil every episode. So every season of THE WALKING DEAD, I would have my laptop out with an email ready. During the commercial breaks I would write everything I just saw and when the episode was over I’d send my message. What we both loved about this show was that it’s not about the zombies, it’s about the survivors. Watching the show you can find a least one character that you can relate to or have your own ideas of how you would survive. My father and I do that all the time. It’s funny how a zombie show was the one thing that my father and I could share while he was so far away.

The fourth moment came to me recently. I watched THE TRAIN TO BUSAN and I was amazed by how well this Korean zombie movie was made. I won’t spoil anything because I’ll write a review for it later. But I will tell you that it had me at the edge of my seat and even made me cry. Not because I was terrified but because I came to love the characters and it hurt to see some of them die. You see, horror movies can bring out a number of emotions if it has the right cast and the right script.

To me the horror genre is more than just boobs, blood, and gore. Although those are entertaining too. If this glamour magazine writer used half her brain, she would know that horror is filled with symbolism and various themes. I think Glamour Magazine needs to stick with the hair and makeup tips with articles of “love your body” right next to the picture of the size zero supermodel.

What was the moment for you guys? When did you love horror? Which moments stuck out to you the most?

 

Goth Art is Underappreciated

So I’m taking a moment to talk about one of my most prized possessions….My gothic oracle cards. The reason why I love this deck of cards so much is because of the artwork. I LOVE gothic art! I honestly can’t describe what it is that I love so much. I think it’s that even dark and sad subject matter can be beautiful. I have some pics of my oracle deck below.

The artist for this lovely set is Victoria Frances. She has published numerous art books so please check out her website HERE

Here’s a few pics for you

 

I really need to order some prints and hang them in my room. So beautiful! Anyway, please check out her art and let me know which is your favorite piece! These ones are my favorites from this deck!