Evangeline (2013)

Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Very very dark - so be prepared for that. However it is original and stunning visually and the casting for the lead, well, she was perfect. The actress playing Evangeline looks like a normal girl, almost forgettable, but there is something more to her, a sad past that brings wisdom and yet youth that wants to let lose, fall in love, live life. She happens to have the worst night ever, first getting targeted by some bad fellow students and then by an even worse person, but supernatural things occur and some redemption albeit gory comes. I appreciate that there was a wonderful Japanese actress playing the good friend, thank you for not casting all white actors. And I love that this comes from a female horror director which there is hardly any of at all! If you liked this movie you would also like HoneyBee (also a female director) and It Follows and Jughead.

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.

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.

The premise is nothing really original. There have been many many other movies with certain and slight variations of this theme. Some that come to mind are "The Crow" and "Pumpkinhead" just to mane a few. I'm sure there are plenty of others.The acting was OK but nothing spectacular. No potential Oscar material here.The special effects again are just OK but no eye candy here. I always thought blood was opaque however in this movie it looks kind of like dark fruit punch.There are some serious plot holes throughout the movie. There is such a lack of character development that its amazing anyone watches the whole thing through. Where some very simple dialogue should be, there is none, just bizarre images. Images don't make up for plot explanation. I guess there is a certain amount of viewer imagination and or interpretation required here. I detest movies with plot holes and character under-development. Anyhow that about sums it up. Enjoy and use your imagination.