Welcome to Knockout Horror. We are back with another Found Footage horror suggested by Reddit. Today’s movie is screenlife horror Invited from 2024. You can check this one out completely free on the Terror Films YouTube channel which is pretty neat, to be fair.
Found Footage Suggested by Reddit
For those of you who don’t know, which is probably everyone. We have been checking out movies suggested by Reddit’s Found Footage community. In all honesty, it has been a bit of a mixed bag. In fact, for a minute there, I was a little concerned that Reddit was just a tad too easy to please.
The Devil’s Well was severely lacking in excitement and Curse of Aurore was a serious drag. It was only The Lost Footage of Leah Sullivan that actually managed to square things up a bit. Today’s entry was received very enthusiastically by the community. And I am happy to report that Invited is about to even up the score.
Enjoyable Screenlife Horror
I’m probably more of a fan of screenlife horror than most people. It has been a sub-genre I have enjoyed going all the way back to The Collingswood Story and I am happy to see the format still being utilised. Hell, it has even made its way to Hollywood with well regarded thrillers like Searching and Missing.
The aforementioned movies are, probably, two are the more noteworthy examples. But mid-2010s films like Unfriended and The Den also brought the style to prominence among the horror community. The last specific horror movie to strike gold with an entirely computer screen based presentation was 2020’s paranormal horror Host and that is the movie Invited most resembles.
Well, I say that purely from a stylist viewpoint and the real time nature of the events taking place. The plots are entirely different. Invited eschews the webcam based paranormal scares in favour of a more realistic and far more believable scenario. The movie sees a family jumping on a Zoom style video call to watch the wedding of their daughter who has eloped to Russia. Little do they realise that there is a more sinister side to the ceremony than they initially thought.
Simple and Undemanding
Much like Host, Invited is a fairly undemanding and easy to follow movie. It doesn’t ask too much of the viewer and manages to accomplish a little with a lot. We are introduced to the character we will be spending the most time with, Linda (Martina Schabron). Before being offered up some minor exposition on Linda’s familial problems and struggles with alcohol. We are then introduced to other members of the family before learning of their strained relationships.
It’s pretty nicely done. It is hard not to admire how much scene setting and character establishing director Navin Ramaswaran accomplishes in such a small space of time. We find out about the mother’s alcohol issues. It becomes clear that she has caused an accident that has injured her son. We learn that her parents don’t approve of her and that her daughter has drifted away from her.
It’s impressive stuff and continues throughout the movie. We are drip fed information about the characters slowly but clearly. The story consistently being built on throughout. It is made clear that there is a far more sinister motive for the ceremony than initially assumed. And the well developed and fleshed out threat is slowly unfurled. For the first 30 minutes or so, Invited is an interesting movie with great pacing and an interesting plot. Unfortunately, that is where things fall apart a little.
Gets a Little Ridiculous
As things begin to escalate; everything turns just a tad bit ridiculous. And by ridiculous I mean that every character in the movie reverts to an almost caveman like level of intelligence. Certain events take place that would, at their worst, demand only basic levels of common sense for the average person to solve. The characters here are completely lacking in that common sense and do the complete opposite of what they should.
I get it, you have to add some stakes and further the plot. But the levels of stupidity on display here are beyond eye rolling. You won’t be screaming at your television in frustration. There is just no point, these characters would be too dumb to understand a single word you were yelling. It, unfortunately, ruins the climax of the movie and undermines the carefully built story preceding it. The final 20 minutes, or so, are pretty high octane but just too silly to actually buy into.
Still Watchable
Despite these issues, this is still a watchable movie. I mean, let’s be real, we have to grade found footage on a curve. It is a genre that implies DIY levels of filmmaking and should be thought of as such. And as far as movies like this go, Invited is enjoyable and shows a lot of potential.
Story and characters are well developed and established quickly and effectively. Acting is fine, for the most part. The interactions between characters are a little inorganic at times but typically okay and the pacing is decent. There are even a few moments here and there that may prove quite shocking for some viewers.
The ending lets things down a fair bit and characters are stupid beyond belief. But for a free movie that you can watch on YouTube, you could do a lot worse. Both my partner and I enjoyed Invited and while I wouldn’t put it up there with Host, it is a good effort.
Should You Watch Invited?
If you are a fan of DIY filmmaking or love screenlife horror, you should definitely watch Invited. It’s a good effort with an interesting story, decent pacing and competent acting. If, however, you hate these types of movies or seriously dislike found footage of any kind, give it a miss. It deserves criticism for the ending and how dumb the characters are. But it deserves equal praise for the many things it does right.