The Eve (2015)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Excellent but underrated film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"The Eve" is the perfect movie for a cold night in front of the fire. Excellent storytelling that pays homage to many of the familiar thriller elements (jump scene with the girl in the shower), without ever feeling tired and clichéd. That good, solid storytelling is supported by meticulous attention to detail in the camera-work, scripting, lighting, continuity, and score. All these elements combine beautifully to give the unsettling sense that as the doomed foursome arrives in Martha's Vineyard for their New Year's Eve vacation, something is deeply wrong. Those deeper elements work their way out as the plot unfolds, and everything they set up early in the film ultimately pays off.One movie critic described a good movie as one that "casts a spell and doesn't break it." The Eve does this very well, and it kept me in suspense all the way until the closing credits. I recommend this movie for any fans of the genre. Although this was an independent film, I believe it has broad appeal for anyone looking for a date-night thriller. I'll be watching this one again!

I very rarely write "spoiler reviews" because I generally won't read them myself. However, this movie would be very hard to review without some references to the plot. I will try and minimize the "spoilage".I have a somewhat different point of view than many of the other reviewers. This movie was reasonably well-acted despite the hackneyed script and the weak dialogue. The actors didn't have much to work with so I think they did the best they could.The movie is quite low-budget, suspense film "formulaic" with the old/stereotypical murder order. You will see what I mean as to who gets killed first and why. They vary it somewhat by combining three of the stereotypical kill elements into one person. Nonetheless, it's not the best way to foreshadow and build suspense.It doesn't take long to figure out "whodunit" so it doesn't really qualify as a mystery "whodunit". There is also the now grossly clichéd stupid behavior by the characters. The film could have done without that but then it would have needed more creativity in the script. There is also the clichéd and stereotypical vehicle scene. That got old about 25 years ago and had me shaking my head.The interactions between the characters were not formulaic because no sentient individuals behave like that (unless they are Bonobos). Or, maybe, I'm getting old and that is the expected behavior now. I'm not talking about sex or drugs, that's normal and expected human behavior. Rather it's how the characters get involved and deal with things.I was gratified to see a woman go for a weapon as soon as it could be obtained. Unlike the old stereotype, you don't have to wait until the end of the movie to see it. With Hollywood sooo politically correct, I'm surprised self-defense was allowed. That added one star to my original two star rating. Though it almost lost it again because of a character's use of a fireplace poker...like we've never seen that before!Anyway, the movie was about average-B-grade in cinematography, production values and scene set-up. Again, I've seen much worse (and far, far better). This movie would be good to watch if you are young, with friends, no raves available and it's free or on a monthly-fee streaming service. It's good for a laugh or two (not deliberately) and it's a good lesson in script stupidity. Don't see this if you are in the mood for a real mystery, thriller, suspense or horror film. It is none of those. I read a reference to "Hitchcock" by a reviewer. Trust me, it is NOTHING like a Hitchcock film!Good Luck! Regards, Other ViewThis an update to my original review. After it was posted and positioned on the 1st.page of reviews, shortlytherafter, another ridiculously positive review was added to move mine and make the reader who only reads a few reviews think this was an excellent movie. If you are a regular IMDb user you know that garbage, low budget films get friends, family and staff to write gushing reviews for the movie so the casual review readers will buy it. Common signs of a shill review frequently name the entire cast like they are friends (they often are). Another sign is 9 or 10 stars on an obvious "B" movie with B-movie stars and B- directors. If you check carefully you can often find shill review before or on the day of release. Further checking and you will frequently see the shill reviewer has written very few reviews (usually one). The final clue is the use of superlatives to describe the movie "fantastic" "brilliant" "a gem" etc. etc. ad nauseum.Don't buy into the fake shill reviews. It's best if you start at the latest review and then Read on to earliest. Shill reviews REALLY annoy me but they are a fact of life here with crap movies. The shill reviews for this movie are very obvious and contain numerous " fibs" and are trying to either pimp you out of your time, money or to gain "brownie points" to be thought of well by their industry. In any case they are dishonest and make a mess out of IMDb's review process. They are completely selfish, proof that the movie is poor.BTW, the shills work together in giving themselves likes and dislikes to honest reviewers. Like no one will notice. I hope that these deceivers NEVER get a or job in the industry and get spotted every time they write a review. If I was director, I'd be mortified by these people's disingenuous natures. If possible I'm reducing the movies' star count to 1 (one) a and will do soEVERYTIME I find more than one shill review. I made a mistake here giving 3 stars that I will try and fix. I repeat, whatever you do Don't pay anything to watch this movie! Best regards, Other view!

First of all, let me start by saying that this movie is shot quiet beautifully! Very nice job on the cinematography. But there's more to it than that. And I want to point out that I disagree with anyone who is saying this is a standard Hollywood type setup. It is not the standard set up. Most Hollywood type films have a group of teenage kids, with no character development, just randomly go off somewhere isolated to drink, party and just be annoying. Then they methodically get picked of one by one. In this movie what the filmmakers focus on are a group of adults. Not kids. And they have purpose and reasoning behind what they are doing. The setup for this movie is nicely done. The filmmakers are not in a rush to get to the dramatic twist and that should be applauded. I'm curious to see what else these filmmakers do in the future.

...it was just terrible. Not a horror movie. No chills. No thrills. No suspense.My wife and I are horror fans and have spent time on the Vineyard in the winter so we were really excited about an indie horror movie shot in that setting. Unfortunately, the 2 stars I give the movie are for the setting only, the movie itself was a miss on every level. Poor acting, poor script (dialogue forced, unnatural), poor execution.The characters couldn't die fast enough for me. The only one character I enjoyed at all goes first. And in an unexplained way, bringing about a near comical response by his 'friends', who determine quickly that he has expired- without any visible signs of trauma- and left where he lay with a rising tide approaching.Too many contrived scenes with ridiculous dialogue delivered poorly to mention, but when you find yourself begging for a lame jump scare you know it's a bad movie. It was sealed when the girls ask Harrison why he was gone so long when he went to sneak into the neighbor's house in the dark to use their phone and he responds: "It was harder to get there than I thought it would be. I couldn't see and I had to deal with the bushes and thorns." Wow.As for the reviews invoking "throwback" type of horror, don't buy it. It is just so fundamentally weak in all respects that it can only be deemed an homage to other equally poor movies. Great to see the sleepy island in winter but other than that, a huge disappointment.