While I’m a big fan of horror, my criticism gets to be quite intense. If the story and production are good, I’m the first one to commend the filmmakers. When it sinks below par however, it won’t get much praise and with The Invoking, now on DVD, it’s a miss in all phases. The story gets hung up in trying to form a surprise twist, characters are not very likable, the woodsy old house setting commonplace and the production value doesn’t rise above average. While I certainly can appreciate the fact that it tries to stretch its “no” budget, the entertainment value just isn’t there.
The story centers on Samantha (Trin Miller), a college student who has just inherited a house in a secluded area from parents she never really knew. Her strange situation comes with being put up for adoption when she was five and has since lived a life apart, not knowing who here parents were. She picks up her friends Mark (Brandon Anthony), Roman (Josh Truax), and Caitlin (Andi Norris) and head out to see what she has inherited.
Along the way we get introduced to her and the friends, finding out their love lives, idiosyncrasies and attitudes. Director and script writer Jeremy Berg moves the story along at first shelling out his characters to the viewer so upon their arrival, we have some semblance of why they are accompanying Samantha on the trip. He then introduces his last main character Eric (D’Angelo Midili) the caretaker of the property, when the group arrives at the house. Here he tries to set up some mystery and intrigue within the predictable horror flick, but the success is fleeting.
The characters are not very likeable, even Samantha has her own problems having history with Mark who has just split with his present squeeze at the beginning of the trip. Roman is a brooder and you kind of get the idea that he was overlooked as a possible love interest by Samantha and therefore tries very hard to make it known that he’s her protector. The most annoying person in the group, Caitlin played by Andi Norris, forces attention to her character with a good bit of overacting, and she gets it in the worst possible way.
What the film doesn’t have is the feeling of dread that comes with most good films in the genre. At no time did I feel that the group was in danger, until the first foot drops in the last act. While Berg tries to make things look spooky by showing Samantha seeing and hearing strange people doing unspeakable acts, his camerawork and mood establishment create very little terror.
The Invoking has not been rated by the MPAA but contains violence, gore and language. There is also a scene that briefly shows spousal and child abuse.
The video and sound qualities are not the best, although passable. During their car trip the dialogue becomes hard to understand (but remember you can rewind) as well as when the four are walking around the woods. Even with the Dolby Digital 5.1 the sound effects are not striking for horror and the conversations Samantha hears inside the house have an echoing effect. The flashbacks are amateurish and the filming of them very harsh and not disquieting enough to be startling. I do like the 16×9 widescreen with the 1.78:1 aspect ratio since it fills my whole HD screen without bars top and bottom.
The bonus features that accompany the film are very interesting. After you watch the film, if you want to know the reactions of the director, producer and other members of the filmmaking staff you can put on their commentary. They sound like they are having fun, but don’t add much to what you already know from watching the movie. If you didn’t get enough from the filmmakers, then you can choose to put on the commentary by three of the actors Trin Miller, D’Angelo Midli and Andi Norris.
The DVD also comes with a Behind the Scenes Documentary that’s interesting and gives some tips on how to make a film on a low or even no budget as they commented in the special feature. They go into how it all came together and how they changed the name of the film at the last minute from “Sader Ridge”.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Trin Miller, Brandon Anthony, Josh Truax, Andi Norris and D’Angelo Midili
Director/Writer: Jeremy Berg
MPAA Rating: Unrated, Contains Violence, Language
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr 22 min
Video Release Date: February 18, 2014
Original Film Release Date: March 16, 2013
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: TV Full Screen 16×9, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: Closed Captioned only
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
