The Invitation

I prefer the classic vampires over the modern, pharmaceutically produced vampires. So, I had hoped that “The Invitation” would be better than “Morbius.” It is, but not by much. While the relationship scenes are endearing enough, albeit unoriginal, the horror and entrapment scenes fall completely flat. The attempts at building suspense before delivering a terrifying thrill are tepid, at best, save for one exceptionally brutal bloodletting. The ambiance is there, but the delivery is amateur and dull.

This movie also commits one of the greatest sins of vampire narrative. One that is seen with infuriating frequency. Somehow, centuries-old beings with the cunning to hide amongst their prey while amassing great wealth and influence are outwitted by one scrappy New Yorker. The idea that immortals somehow always succumb to juvenile impulses cheapens the mythos of such beings and undermines any human victory over them. Had the villain been willing to maintain his psychological manipulation for longer, he would have been much more formidable and interesting. As it is, he falls upon his conceit like a wooden stake and underestimates his opponent just to give the writers a fighting chance of resolving the conflict. Yet another vampire movie is ruined by its weak villain.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Not so much Alithea’s story, the narrative revolves more around the Djinn. Rather, the story is a collection of tales in which the Djinn plays a role, including, eventually, the tale of Alithea. The movie is definitely not what I expected, but it does weave a tapestry of mystical locations and intriguing characters. Even with its mix of familiar legends and new twists, though, the movie never feels satisfying. For the most part, it does entertain, but the concluding moral does little to tie back into the events of the story’s beginning.