Evangeline (2013)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Brilliant Conflict

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie starts with some voice over about evil. We then see some serial killer having his way with a victim. Next we meet Evangeline, some religious girl starting college. Her roommate is some Asian girl who looks like she's in her 30s. Together with some other friend they decide to take the innocent Eva to a frat party where she gets completely drunk.Some other day she meets a frat guy who takes her to a cabin in the woods where he beats her up. He calls his friends to get rid of her and they beat her up some more and dump her somewhere in the woods thinking she's dead. But she's not. Instead something possesses her and she revives. She's found by some guys who live in the woods. One of them wants to take advantage of her, while the other two guys protect her.Now she/it begins her mission to take revenge on the guys. And things get bloody, but also weird. There's a torture chamber with a woman there, and I thought this was the serial killer's lair, but I'm not sure. Eventually though, as if things weren't bad enough for Eva, she also has a run-in with the serial killer.After she's beaten up, the movie takes a turn and emphasizes visuals over story and dialogue. We get lots of jarring sequences of Eva/the creature. Things aren't clear, not much is said. In the end though this is somewhat of a supernatural version of I Spit on Your Grave that's also less graphic. The turn toward the visual is more characteristic of a horror movie made in the 2000s instead of a movie made in 2013. So if you put it among those violent sepia-colored movies Evangeline isn't all that bad. It succeeds at getting the audience to feel for Eva and despise the villains, but not much else. It's not an involving movie, you only care for the lead character once she's beaten and abused. It could have been stronger movie had there been more character development.

I think maybe the people who put this thing together wanted to tell the story of a woman scorned. I'm guessing that there was some sort of proverb, or old wives tale, possibly from an Asian culture, that fed into this idea, as well. I'm also guessing that the writer and director wanted us as viewers to travel emotionally with Evangeline throughout this film.I say these things, because they never actually made themselves apparent. If you've seen "The Crow" or "Jennifer's Body," skip this one. At least then, you won't have to watch those in the future and be reminded of this.However, if you want to take notes on what to avoid when making a movie, please, indulge. You'll learn how to create a movie containing one dimensional characters, no back story, plot lines that come out of no-where and disappear mid stream, and a general feeling of "what the...?" when the credits start rolling.Tip of the hat. Good day.

This movie has some bad reviews here, but I thought it was quite good. The movie isn't so much scary as it is interesting. I found it very artful in it's delivery of the plot, leaving a lot for the viewer to interpret. Which is kind of refreshing compared to the hit you over the head style of Hollywood plot development. I also enjoyed how there wasn't a lot of talking in the movie. A lot of the character development was done subtly. The acting was decent, and the special effects are pretty much what you'd expect for a low budget movie. I found it intriguing and open to interpretation. Very well directed, and a worth while watch.

I saw (simply by just reading a little on the "title" page here) there was no "tag line" for this movie. That is very understandable because I watched it, and STILL could not tell you what it was supposed to be about.The movie opens with a sequence of a young girl being buried alive by someone the audience can easily identify as a serial killer. Flash-forward to the next scene and the title character is now attending some university. It seems she has lost her little sister due to some sort of illness. This is the first sub-plot that is never really explained. "Eva" (as she is called in the movie) meets her roommate and friend and the next thing you know she's off to some frat party where she gets smashed, apparently flirts with the president (or Grand Poobah--whatever you want to call him), gets knee-walkin', commode-huggin' drunk...and then you have the obligatory puking scene. Hungover and not wanting to leave campus for a long weekend, Eva trots herself down to the rec room on campus to shoot a game of pool...where she meets (again) the president of this frat. He takes her to his cabin-in-the-woods and all hell breaks loose. Left for dead, some sort of evil forest spirit possesses Eva, and she now looks like someone in real bad Kabuki makeup. NOTE TO DIRECTOR: Next time at least TRY to have the makeup go BEYOND the jaw line of the character. After this, the movie turns into a quasi rip off of "I Spit on Your Grave." This movie appeared to be made by people lacking opposable thumbs. Everything is thrown together, with nothing being explained. My major questions surrounded this frat president and his goons. Did EVERYBODY on campus know they were killing innocent girls just for sh*ts and giggles? Why didn't anyone go to the police? When Eva encountered the campers in the forest, was she dead? Half-dead? Gaseous? What?Rated "R" for brief nudity, graphic violence, and language, "Evangeline" leaves your with way more questions than answers. Not recommended.