The Invoking (2013) User Reviews

Sader Ridge: Being a tad generous here to be fair

[Platypuschow · 3/10 · 27 October 2018]

The Invoking otherwise known as Sader Ridge is........wait.....why would you have an alternate title when The Invoking is an actual franchise? Weird call.

Anyway I digress, The Invoking is an independent extremely low budget horror that tells the story of a young woman who inherits a house and goes to visit it with her friends. She begins to see strange things and the caretaker isn't helping matters.

Yep, we've seen it before and alike the rest the plot neither goes anywhere or ultimately makes a vast amount of sense.

Considering the budget it all looks solid and the makers wisely avoided using any special effects at all instead relying on atmosphere and character development. The latter is fairly good, the former simply doesn't exist.

This is one of those movies you get the impression used clipart as its cover art. Woman randomly screaming like that? Nope. And that house? Nope, that doesn't look anything like the house in the movie! For crying out loud it's a bungalow in the film!

As mentioned this is a franchise, in fact at time of writing the 5th movie is in production! Because I'm a total masochist I'll end up watching them all, I do hope they get better than this.

The movie has a 2.2 on IMDB which for anyone familiar with the ratings system will know is outstandingly low, very few films get close to that. Does it deserve it? Perhaps not, but make no mistake it's bad stuff.

The Good:

Andi Norris

The Bad:

Dishonest cover

Poor story

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

It's movies/franchises like this that confuse me as to how the creators make their money back

Horrible! Complete waste of time!

[Patient444 · 3/10 · 18 February 2014]

6.1 is such a beautiful grade, especially for a horror, here on IMDb. So let's talk about it. Does "The Invoking" provide what it has to? Does it act as it suppose do? What exactly is it that it does?

First of all the acting, was OK, quite acceptable, well, except those moments when they try to cry; then the camera work, good for its budget; the characters were good; And this is why I graded it 3!

This is NOT a horror! You will expect something spooky, maybe a cliché even, as the story is about a young girl that inherits a house, and then strange things begin to happen, but not here. Time barely crawls, as this is one boring film, and then, something, finally happens, but it ends just at it appeared: without a warning!

Sure, they tried to make a natural movie, and yes, they succeed!

The Invoking is NOT a horror. It is a C+ thriller, which will bore you to death, and you will regret the time spent with it. Try anything else, but not this. Try Cabin Fever for example, that one is quite fun.

Aww, and by all means, do NOT trust the other reviews, cause I have no idea what they talking about.

The Other 3 Reviews Must Be Self-Promotion

[MattShade · 3/10 · 18 February 2014]

The other 3 reviews must be self-promotion, or from the crew, because without a doubt this is one of the slowest, most boring movies I have ever had the displeasure to sit through. Wooden acting from all - the blonde girl irritating 'acting' beyond belief..At the 48 minute mark I had to check to see how long the movie had to go..only 32 minutes!?! wtf? But NOTHING has happened! Nothing at all of any real substance..Nothing at all. And not even psychologically speaking..Do yourself a favour and pass this one on bye - It's a stinker! I watch Horror movies all the time, and find it hard to see one I haven't seen, so therefore I see a lot of rubbish, but very few make me want to write a bad review. I cannot believe that this piece of rubbish has a vote of 68% Just doesn't deserve anywhere near that..

Totally overrated. Can't understand why it rated over 5 stars! (19-02-2014)

[Michael-Hallows-Eve · 1/10 · 19 February 2014]

I saw the trailer and the poster for this movie, and when I saw that reputable Horror websites like Fearnet say "Must-see" and Fangoria say "Chilling", I thought, "this movie must be at least decent"...well I was proved wrong! Here's what this movie ISN'T; thought provoking, original, riveting, engaging, well acted. It was long (even though it was only 80 minutes), boring, mediocre, and just plain bad. The cover/poster closely resembles the hit film 'THE CONJURING' (even the name was changed from 'SADER RIDGE' to 'THE INVOKING' to cash in on its success). But those are the ONLY similarities to that movie, the acting is poor, the story is totally cliché and been done before (in a much better context mind you), and yet again I'm left thinking how did this movie get financed?? People must want to throw money away. And as for the rating being at 5.7 out of 10 (on the date of this review February 19, 2014), in my opinion this does NOT deserve it, more like an average of about 2.5 out of 10 at most! So with that said, I give this rubbish a 1 out of 10. Do not waste your time.

A painful waste of time

[djvaast · 1/10 · 23 February 2014]

As other reviewers have mentioned, I was drawn into watching this movie because of the misleading (in my opinion) advertising surrounding the poster and the synopsis. Once the movie started, I was struck by the "amateurish" quality and low-budget feel of the movie. I know that some VERY GOOD movies are amateur and low-budget as they can have compelling story lines and thought-provoking concepts. This movie had none of that. We start the movie next to a radar dome that was given a lot of screen time and conversation that was never mentioned again. The acting was awful. None of the characters were remotely engaging or sympathetic and I couldn't wait for them to disappear. I kept counting down the time and hoping something would happen. Sadly, the ending was confusing and unresolved and I was left feeling that was 80 minutes of my life I will never get back again. The only good thing about this movie (other than it ending) was the cinematography - some of the still shots were amazingly well framed. The movie on a whole was awful. Miss it.

Depressingly terrible;

[wtsallw · 1/10 · 3 March 2014]

I would give it a zero if I could, I was so excited for this movie because I knew someone that worked on it.

bad actors that make you want them all to get killed off (except the one bad guy who may have a future in acting).

wasted plot line that drifts slowly and endlessly.

and the title makes no freaking sense in regards to the movie, not a single thing is invoked in this movie, it's not in the kind of forest that is on the poster, that's not the same girl and it definitely isn't the same house.

this movie just wants you to get it confused with the Conjuring and mistakenly rent it.

on the bright side this confirms the idea that anyone can make a movie, regardless of mental handicaps or lack of talent.

Total waste of time

[u992491 · 1/10 · 21 February 2014]

What's there to like about this film:

1. The location

2. The creepy guy

3. Ummm

4. The end credits, which didn't come soon enough

In a nutshell, this movie can be characterised by:

1. Its terrible acting

2. Its terrible characters, who are also uninteresting and annoying (with the exception of the creepy guy who didn't spend enough time on set for me to have a chance to dislike him).

3. It doesn't make sense. No really, it doesn't. Is it or is it not a super natural flick?

4. It's just simply dumb.

5. No, it's super dumb, dumb on steroids, stupendously stupid... etc., etc.

6. Oh, and it's just plain boring.

If you like your horrors to be blah and dumb with characters that are borderline retards with either too much emotional baggage or lack thereof, then this movie is for you.

Brainless

[devinlhoffman · 1/10 · 20 February 2014]

This movie was absolutely brainless. Look, the term "psychological thriller" is just a pseudonym for "movie that has not satisfying ending." Either the movie is interesting in the beginning, because the plot presents some "unexplainable" occurrence, and has you hooked wondering "how's that possible?"

You get to the end, and "surprise!" It wasn't possible. The character was really crazy! Ha ha! Got you! The only good thing about those story lines is that, even though you are ticked off at the end, at least for the part of the movie you are interested.

If you asked, before I watched this movie, what was worse, a psychological thriller that provides some "unexplainable" plot twist and then cops out and doesn't explain it at the end OR one that doesn't and just sort of lets you know the person is insane from the get-go, I might have said the former.

The truth is, I now realize that it's the later. You're going to be disappointed either way, but at least with the former you are interested at some point in time.

I trudged through this brainless movie and it was a total waste of time. This is by far the biggest waste of cinematography to come to film that I have seen in some time.

The main character is obnoxious. The antagonist, who apparently is supposed to be scary, is a wimp. Anyone of the other characters would have kicked his backside in real life. I could do it with my pinkie finger.

Save yourself! Don't waste your time. Unless you happen to like monotonous ambiguities that no one else likes so you can act all snooty and academic ... in that case, by all means ... you intellectual. ...

The guy below me should have commented before I watched.

[guyver2006 · 1/10 · 18 February 2014]

This movie was not something I would recommend. I love seeing low budget films. This was um for a lack of a better word Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, actually that would be more entertaining than this. Watch at your own risk.The film seemed to have no direction. You'd hope for something more "INVOKING" to happen. *spoiler* there is nothing that is actually pertaining to a horror film in this *spoiler* The title is great but don't judge a movie by its tittle. I wish someone would have stated this earlier. The person below me has hit the nail on the head with his review. If you watch this then god bless. Good luck and hopefully you have a time machine to get back the time you wasted on this.

Don't wait for it.....

[malewizard · 1/10 · 21 February 2014]

Your going to be drawn in by some eerie looking photos at the beginning credits. "Hmmm this might be good",I said to myself...wrong! The entire movie you will wait for something,anything, to make sense or even scare you...Wrong! The writer,producer and director (all the same person) attempts to pull you in with some sort of weird back story and then drag you painfully (trust me its painful waiting for anything in this movie),through the innate written dialog only to find out nothing is scary,chilling,dramatic, or even entertaining.I don't blame most of the actors,but I can't figure out why they would do this after reading the script. Money I guess,cause it can't be fame. The worst aspect of the entire synopsis here is that the title of the movie,has nothing to do with this movie at all.I concur with another review here..DON"T waste your precious time. Don't wait for it..nothing happens.

"The Invoking" is a worthy entry in the Gothic horror sub-genre

[ersinkdotcom · 8/10 · 3 April 2014]

Southern Gothic supernatural thrillers seem to be gaining some momentum lately. "Last Kind Words" and "A Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia" immediately come to mind. The middle of nowhere is a cheap and easy place to make a movie. There's no denying that there's very little creepier than the darkness of the woods and the isolation felt in a rural setting. RLJ Entertainment's "The Invoking" is another fine example of what can be done with a small budget in the backwoods of any state's countryside.

Samantha Harris and her friends embark on a trip to visit a house she's inherited from a family she's never met. As soon as they arrive, Samantha starts having terrifying visions she can't explain. Are these haunting experiences trying to reveal something about her forgotten past? Can she trust the young man commissioned to watch over her new property as he slowly opens up to Samantha about their past friendship she can't remember?

Producer/Director/Co-writer Jeremy Berg knows how to drum up scares without the use of fancy special effects and CGI. His style is reminiscent of Hitchcock and the likes. He works more on your nerves and jump scares than most new filmmakers. Sometimes having less money to work with makes you try harder to create genuine scares without the crutch of modern technology.

Although it's not rated, "The Invoking" does contain material some might find objectionable. There's violence, adult situations, and language in it. However, no nudity is found. I would say if it were put in front of the MPAA, they'd give it a PG-13 rating.

"The Invoking" is a worthy entry in the Gothic horror sub-genre. The movie is made even scarier because it takes place in a house that's fairly modern (think 1980s style) versus the overused centuries-old mansion we're so used to seeing in supernatural films. Although it's not perfect and some of the acting is rough, the overall atmosphere and story trumps any negatives you could pick out.

Mixed Bag! Help me understand the ending!

[ghatfield69 · 6/10 · 12 March 2014]

We just watched the film and enjoyed up until the ending. We know Sam and Eric are brother and sister and were abused as kids. Questions: Who killed the family, Why did the police have pictures of the friends that show them at a younger age, and why were bro and sis kissing at the end. I want to like this movie but, it seemed that the end was rushed and not thought out well enough. The viewer couldn't understand the conclusion. Can someone elaborate on the ending! As for the rest of the movie the acting was just OK. The area was spooky and fit the atmosphere. I like movies on a small budget because it gives the feeling of reality. Big budget films have a polished look to them, which doesn't work well with horror films. I grew up on Halloween, Prom Night, Carrie, Phantasm, and many more. Younger people might not get this idea. Horror film buffs will.

What?

[pjcguy-963-677261 · 1/10 · 23 February 2014]

"The Invoking"-Something, a spirit maybe, is being called forth from some beyond. Is the whole title based on invoking her memories? If so, then the villain/hero should have given her more information. There is no foreshadowing at all. She appears completely normal. Does the villain plan for her to see the ghosts? If so, he has great talent that is never revealed in his other interactions. Realism? Where? No one would allow this creep to hang around and no one would like Mark. Ah, they are only symbols of her emerging memories--then this is very poorly done. It was clear from the beginning that they would all die, but how? By strained idiocy. The title is misleading and worst of all, if that is actually the cover of the DVD, then it is false advertising at best. No house even vaguely resembles the house on the cover. What a piece of crap this is. I will say that with a proper script, these people may have been better, but the villain is clearly a creep, a poorly done creep, and his goal is simply non-predictable and, therefore, fails to provide a satisfying conclusion.

Crap happens in the beginning. I can't speak of a middle or end because the rest was also crap.

[jdchestnutt · 1/10 · 24 February 2014]

The worst movie I've seen since Bend It Like Beckham. I'd call it a monstrosity but monsters are meant to be scary and anything scary has nothing to do with this garbage. A waist of time and doesn't deserve another breath except to say the one idiot who wrote, directed, and produced it must be a spoiled rich child with too much money and unquestionably the worst possible taste. I don't feel bad saying the actors should never find "acting" work again for associating themselves with such unspeakable nonsense. IMDb is saying I need at least ten lines to post this. Some things are better said with fewer words and now I am forced to ramble and take away from what I definitively said.

My Review Of "The Invoking"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 3/10 · 3 March 2014]

Jeremy Berg's "The Invoking" tells the story of a young woman out to discover a past she never knew existed when a house is left to her by family she never knew was there. Samantha Harris (Trin Miller) and three of her friends take a trip to Sader Ridge to investigate the property, in the care of someone from Sam's past. "The Invoking" stars Andi Norris, Brandon Anthony, Trin Miller, Carson Holden, D'Angelo Midili, and Josh Truax.

The story in "The Invoking" is a pretty cool, classic adventure turned nightmare and that works for the first half of the film. The characters are emotive and portray some pretty convincing roles. There is some lag when the story arch hits the midway point, and instead of rushing into a thrilling overload of horror and melodrama, things fall a bit flat. The vision goes from one of almost paranormal chills to one that seems patch-worked between missing intent and scattered dramatics. I felt that something got lost in the translation toward the last act of the story. The first part created a great character building connection between me and the characters, the second act created an atmosphere of haunting unease but the last act seemed lost or held back. Plus there is absolutely nothing paranormal, supernatural or invoking in the story save the lead character's, Sam's, recovered memories of a sketchy past. I felt the marketing for this film is very misleading and that is really off-putting.

The special effects and horror elements in this film are almost non- existent. I am not sure if that was intentional or a budget crunching thing but I really expected more from "The Invoking" and was left with a major feeling of disappointment. The few horror moments in the film are lightly braised upon with standard effects tricks that work but considering there were so few moments and most of the film is melodrama I feel Lifetime Movie Network is more this film's audience. The ending was a total miss and made very little since. The meat of the mystery caretaker and Sam's relationship is almost missing from the story. The moments touched upon are not enough to justify how this film ends. So really most of the film is a fail considering the pay-off, after such a suspense build-up, is really not worth the time invested. I say skip "The Invoking".

Boring non-horror movie

[ms_sdak · 1/10 · 20 February 2014]

Please don't go by the three reviewers that said "Fantastic!" and "GREAT!" and "Memorable!" Please. They obviously have not seen it, were paid to 'review' it or both.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

There really isn't much to spoil since the plot is so lame. Girl inherits house, brings friends, has weird flashbacks of her past when she was 5 (yes 5!), and male groundskeeper/neighbor/brother (who is NOT scary) kills her friends. Why? Beats the heck out of me. Maybe they needed killings to make it watchable. There was no point to it.

Trust me when I say this is NOT a horror movie nor does it even classify as suspense. Take away the R language and you have a Lifetime movie.

Rubbish

[ahmegy-914-445509 · 1/10 · 21 February 2014]

Horrible movie, slow moving, boring, amateurish acting, silly naive plot, just pure waste of time. One of the worst movies I've ever seen this year. It really amazes me why would anybody make such bad movies with obvious weak script, cast, everything. It is disappointing to start off with high expectations for something thrilling that gets you glued to the screen but eventually you keep looking at your watch, when will things start to happen? Then, when will anything happen and it is a bit of a challenge to make out the ingenuous plot whether there is something spiritual going on or is it just some kind of hallucinations. Stay away from it unless you want to squander 80 minutes of your life.

Boring,Dull, Proper Waste of Time

[e689861 · 1/10 · 18 February 2014]

I don't even know where to start, that's how bad this film actually is.

I am losfer words, to actually describe, how slowly it felt watching it. One of the reasons, why i watched it was the comments of the 3 reviewers above.

Boy was i in for a totally useless treat, nobody should experience. Why the 3 reviewers above me speak so highly of this "whatever you want to call it" is beyond me.

The longer i watched it the more i just wanted to stop, because it seemed to get worse by the minute. The dialogues are boring the acting is bad nothing that would hook you. Even if it is a low budget film you still expect some good stuff in there. Nope not in here.

So don't even bother to consider watching it.

Kiosk <1

[westsideschl · 1/10 · 9 March 2014]

Who writes the plot summaries for movies. Some writers who do this are either being paid well or have an honesty issue. Any film put out by "Ruthless Pictures" immediately reeks of cheap. 1. So subtitles; poor inconsistent audio level control. 2. Lots of wasted time (50% of the movie?) watching people drive around; sit; stand; sit some more and really cheap mood enhancement technique of prolonged shots of trees and more trees. I will admit that without leaves these trees looked pretty dead. 3. Acting and dialogue was the usual cheap memorize a short line say it for the camera; edit; shoot the next short memorized line; on and on and on. 4. The old standby assistant to the hand held shaky camera was having an actor carry around a Goodwill/pawn shop castoff cassette tape recorder. Why? Who knows. Well, he like to record sounds which ended up being more wasted film time and went nowhere.

Do Not Watch!

[randerson112 · 1/10 · 18 February 2014]

Okay this movie just outright sucks. It does have great and beautiful countryside portrayed with lots of good sounds... Then it hits Hell.

This is an amateur at best portrayal of kids still being kids to a not so well liked judge on their material in College. God! Who the Hell said these kids could act?! And who the Hell approved this script?! Kudos to the scenery. It reminded me of back home. Screw this movie! I'd sooner take in Friday the 13th original. At least we get a taste of young Bacon! I'd avoid it considerably. I've seen a lot better on either the same or lesser budget.

Just watch the original Evil Dead and you'll get a better atmosphere and acting than you will out of this.

Memorable and engaging psychological thriller

[Stewartahowell · 8/10 · 7 January 2013]

I really enjoyed my watching of Sader Ridge. I feel it was a solid Indie Horror/Thriller (more of the latter, though) movie.

D'Angelo Midili playing the standoffish grounds keeper was definitely my favorite character of the film. His nonchalance and awkwardness made for an endearing and complex character. The whole crew did great with the darker scenes. Those scenes, and the one on one interactions are where I feel the movie did it's best. Sam's descent from sanity is subtle and reminds me of Poe's story "The Black Cat". I also loved the ending.

The music is very atmospheric and interspersed, and fit well with the country scenery.

I enjoyed the cinematography a great deal. There are many wide shots of the beautiful landscape around the California countryside, as well as some interesting close ups that work well for setting the creepy atmosphere. You couldn't ask for a better location for a dark movie like this.

The weak points in the movie were probably the interactions in the full group scenes. It sometimes feels like people are waiting for their lines. But that didn't really bother me that much, when the one on one scenes were so well done. Some of the writing is a little wonky at times as well, but for the most part it feels like natural dialogue.

Overall I would recommend seeing this movie if you get a chance. It was engaging and has a simple and well executed story.

(Also, what was up with that cat? Super creepy.)

unexpected quality

[slowmoninja1 · 7/10 · 26 February 2014]

I really don't understand the hate for this film. I bought it based on the reviews of Fangoria and Rue Morgue. After I received it I saw the reviews listed here on Amazon. Needless to say, I was a bit worried that I had wasted my money and was about to waste my time.

Let me get this out of the way first: is the movie perfect? No. There are definitely issues with the film. But the good things in the film, are handled very, very well. There is a palpable sense of atmosphere and doom over the proceedings. And the two main leads (Sam and the creepy caretaker) are fantastic! On top of that, the cinematography is very striking.

If you're tired of Cinemaplex horror (i.e., The Evil Dead remake) then you will dig this movie. It gets back to the roots of what horror is all about. It's not about gloss and gore (though sometimes, admittedly, that's what I want to see), it's about crafting a story that really gets under your skin and stays with you. People forget that horror doesn't always have monsters and blood.

This is movie is very effective. It's definitely a slow burn film, but I thought that really sold the atmosphere and tension. It's creepy in a way that gets under your skin.

Now that I've seen the film, I know there's a lot to recommend it. People on message boards love to hate on things. Is this movie worthy of hate and 1 star reviews? Not at all. That being said, if you don't like the movie, that's fine and I respect your opinion. But that doesn't mean you have to come after people that do like the film. It just makes you sound like you have no conviction in your opinions.

Check the film out and make your own decision. Most of you will be happy you did.

FATHER KNOWS BEST

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 15 June 2019]

Sam (Trin Miller) inherits a house owned by her aunt. It is one she lived in as a child until five when her parents put her up for adoption. Her memory of the place is worse than a Watergate defendant. Her friends include Mark (Brandon Anthony), her ex-boyfriend who just broke up with his girlfriend. Roman (Josh Truax)is bummed out because Caitlin (Andi Norris) who has all the decent lines is leaving for six months. We really don't know what the heck their relationship is. Eric (D'Angelo Midili) is the caretaker. He remembers Sam, but doesn't give her any important details as why she was put up for adoption at five. All three guys are loosely and sadly based on the creepiness of Norman Bates. Is there a writer in the house?

Things escalate as Sam sees and hears things blending the past with the present. The green monster complicates matters among all the testosterone. At an hour into the film you get your first WTF moment as someone slips out of character...or perhaps into character.

The downfall of the film is that it creates only one decent character, Caitlin. The ending becomes bizarre and doesn't offer up any real closure, except what the audience might surmise. The film for the most part was boring. The ending should have brought the story together and gave meaning to all those boring parts. And what was that abandoned building they stopped at in the beginning? It looked like the dome of a small experimental reactor. A good script would have tied this stuff together, instead we get the sloppiness too often found in indie productions, i.e. let's start shooting and see what looks good afterwards.

Totally wasting time non herror

[bagazi · 1/10 · 17 October 2020]

Waste of time. Boring movie No story , no actor , nothing good on this movie just wasteing time Non herror

A waste of time and energy

[emmabreedlove · 1/10 · 15 August 2020]

This movie was confusing from beginning to end. There was no plot. A waste of $15k. It was extremely hard to figure out, I wouldn't recommend it to my dog.