I don't know much about this movie. Like for instance, I didn't know it was also released under the title "Sader Ridge," but both of the movie posters are pretty cool. Honestly, I only knew that it was a horror movie and it had Josh Truax in it, and I like him as an actor, so I wanted to watch the movie. Unfortunately I also promptly forgot about it, and it wasn't until I saw a movie poster for "The Invoking II" that I remembered it again. Gotta watch this movie before I check out the sequel yo.
So this movie is about some college friends who are on a road trip. One of the girls, Sam, was raised by adoptive parents, and while she's in college she's contacted by a lawyer who informs her that she has an aunt who died and left her a house and several acres of land in a rural area. Since her adoptive parents are sensitive about her asking questions regarding her birth family, she doesn't tell them about the lawyer and instead heads out to explore the house and property with three of her friends. She has no memory of the place, even though she lived there for the first five years of her life, but once she's in the house she starts seeing things and hearing things, and soon she and her friends are driven to the brink of madness by some force they don't understand.
Ok, why do people in these movies always go on trips with their ex boyfriend or girlfriend? It keeps happening in these movies, and I don't get it, especially when the relationship had some dark secrets, and they're dating someone new who doesn't want them going on a trip with their ex (no shit, seriously, I wouldn't want them to do it either). There's enough tension going on a trip to some creepy place in the dark and digging up past memories that might be painful without adding a heaping dose of relationship drama on top of that.
People online have written lots of bitchy reviews complaining about the acting in this movie, but I don't think it's that bad. I've seen worse. Hell, I've seen worse acting in movies I've watched TODAY. Maybe everyone should try watching 100 horror movies in October. It definitely gives you a better perspective on what "bad acting" truly is. And I like the characters in this movie. Along with Sam and her ex, we have another guy and girl who seem to have some romantic tension between them, even though they're not dating (see, again, I wouldn't want to go on a road trip with the person I have a crush on who doesn't like me back, that seems like a recipe for a nightmare even if there aren't evil ghosts attacking us). But the characters have history, so it was entertaining watching them interact. There's also a young man staying on the property who is a caretaker for the house and grounds, and it turns out that he and Sam played together as kids, though she doesn't remember it.
Because of the kind of movie this is, haunted people in a place haunted by memories (if not ghosts) there's a lot of scenes of people bickering, staring off into space, and looking tormented by memories. I get that it has to happen to set the scene, but I think these scenes are a big part of why people call this movie boring. I will agree that the movie drags a lot more than it should. The scenes Sam sees in her head that play out in the rooms of the house like they're real but turn out to be like, waking nightmares or something, they're interesting, but not interesting enough to carry a whole movie. There's way too much space where just nothing is happening, and the characters start to get really annoying. They're always fighting. and the caretaker guy is hiding something, so it's frustrating when no one will just come out and tell the truth about whatever the hell is going on. It's less an "introspective thriller" and more a boring, confusing, jumbled mess. I hate to say it, because I really wanted to like this movie, but I understand now why everyone was so bitchy about it. It has potential, but it never realizes that potential. And now I'm bitchy. Thanks a lot, movie.
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