This movie must have grown out of the near death experience of the writer or a close relative of the writer. When the experience happens and a person gets another chance at life, everything changes and with it the urge to let our loved ones know about the secret. A secret so hard to explain that it can only be heard in the mind's eye by going through the door of knowledge that brings many things into a clearer perception. The urge for Roland takes us viewers on a journey to educate not only us, but the characters in the movie and all of those involved in it's creation as well. I think that this visual story teller will inspire many to think.
21 Reviews
The finale doesn't come soon enough.
michaelRokeefe28 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A philosophical movie that seems to lumber. It does have its moments and is worth your time if you have it to spare. Lance Henriksen plays Roland Levy, a prominent horror writer that resides on a remote wooded island. He has just returned from a globe-trotting adventure and thinks he has discovered a soul-cleansing tactic while in the Andes. Levy invites six friends for dinner and some conversation that turns heavy and dark. He tells of how Andes locals poisoned him and brought him back to life. He wants to share this experience with his friends. At dinner they are unexpectedly poisoned. The antidote...a truthful amendment of their lives. The cast also includes: Stephanie von Pfetten, Christopher Shyer, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Stellina Ruisch, David Livingstone and Doug O'Keeffe.
Book of Revelations
movieman_kev11 December 2008
Six friends (and a dog) each harboring a deep dark secret (minus the dog, of course) are invited to an old friend, Roland's (Lance Henriksen), secluded island retreat. Where they are promptly poisoned via wine at dinner. Seems Roland had experienced a near-death life-changing experience when he unknowingly drank poison while traveling abroad, and he wishes to share this 'gift' with the others in order to free them of their inner demons. But as one by one they start dropping dead, is his reasoning truly sound?
Henrikson is a magnificent actor who has been in some dreadful films (Pumpkinhead 3, the Mangler, etcetera) but with even a mediocre script, he can and does take the ball and run with it. Here he pulls off a pretty good performance, sadly however the rest of the cast can't hope to excel and pale in comparison. The movie itself is good enough until it devolves before your eyes into something akin to a Made-For-Lifetime TV movie. (you'll understand after watching it) But it still kept my interest for the most part, thanks in no small part to Lance.
My Grade: C-
Henrikson is a magnificent actor who has been in some dreadful films (Pumpkinhead 3, the Mangler, etcetera) but with even a mediocre script, he can and does take the ball and run with it. Here he pulls off a pretty good performance, sadly however the rest of the cast can't hope to excel and pale in comparison. The movie itself is good enough until it devolves before your eyes into something akin to a Made-For-Lifetime TV movie. (you'll understand after watching it) But it still kept my interest for the most part, thanks in no small part to Lance.
My Grade: C-
Don't Rent This (unless you've been poisoned and they only way to live is to see this crappy movie)
24-24 December 2003
This film had a great premise, and it just goes to show you that an idea IS NOT EVERYTHING.
I don't know if the script was good and they killed it, but from what I watched, NOTHING MADE ANY SENSE.
Instead of setting it up in a believable way, we never find out who the people are or how they connect. Then instead of starting off in a normal way and then saying, oh by the way, you know that little story I told you, well I did the same to you, they just some how guess that they have been poisned. Joke about it for 10 minutes and barely react when they find out it is true.
If your friend told you they just poisoned you, first thing you do, is KICK THE SH%% T OUT OF THEM. Second, you ask, WHY. And third, TRY TO FIND THE CURE. I don't think anyone did any of these things in the movie.
This movie made me sick it was so bad.
I don't know if the script was good and they killed it, but from what I watched, NOTHING MADE ANY SENSE.
Instead of setting it up in a believable way, we never find out who the people are or how they connect. Then instead of starting off in a normal way and then saying, oh by the way, you know that little story I told you, well I did the same to you, they just some how guess that they have been poisned. Joke about it for 10 minutes and barely react when they find out it is true.
If your friend told you they just poisoned you, first thing you do, is KICK THE SH%% T OUT OF THEM. Second, you ask, WHY. And third, TRY TO FIND THE CURE. I don't think anyone did any of these things in the movie.
This movie made me sick it was so bad.
They tried...
raptors22 December 2003
The DVD box made this one seem really good, in spite of the lack of a "name" cast (with the exception of Lance Henriksen). It started out slow and never really picked it's speed up. The curves aren't enough to keep your interest and at times, you get the impression that some of the cast isn't interested either. A couple of things never quite get explained and the ending lacks.
Bad movie
Megcur101 May 2005
The Invitation is about a guy who invites 6 people to his house and makes them confess their worst secrets in order to live. They have no way of leaving the island or escaping. He poisons them and if they don't tell the truth, they won't get the anecdote and they will die. He does this because the same thing happened to him when he went to another country. People start getting sick and don't know what it going on until he tells them they must reveal their worst secrets or else they will die. This movie sounded pretty good from the cover when I went to rent it, but was one of the worst movies I've ever seen and I've seen some pretty bad movies. Everything that happens is so random and way out there. The idea of the movie was pretty good, but everything was really confusing and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The people who made this movie must have been crazy and I don't know how anyone would be able to understand it.
B is for "blows", "bad", "bogus", and "boring".
=G=4 December 2003
"The Invitation" is a B-flick from the get go. Telling a silly story about a man (Henriksen) who invites a bunch of friends to his island home only to poison them and hold back the antidote so they'll have some kind of near death experience or life altering epiphany or whatever, "The Invitation" starts off like a B-flick, ends like a B-flick, and everything in between is claptrap B-flick drama with poor performances, an awful story, psychodramatic overtones which don't work, a hidden agenda ploy which is utterly ridiculous, and huge plot holes which aren't even spackled up with titilators. Watch for this one on broadcast....so you can miss it. (D+)
Oh So Very Bad
ikeybabe29 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I really like Lance Henriksen as an actor, so I decided to give this rather old flick a chance. And it really did not age well at all. The whole thing was super painful to watch. The whole movie was a snooze- fest. I figured there would be some big reveal at the end. That was the big hook - they each have a secret connecting them to one another. The main character said they all had a secret and you'd think these secretes would be sinister right? Well, they were pretty lame secrets. The movie was boring and the secrets were pretty basic, even for way back then. But especially for 2014. And my goodness, the flashbacks were blah...nothing too spooky. This wasn't worth my time, unfortunately. You'd be better entertained reading the dictionary.
Rollercoaster ride
cbarboneassociates11 January 2019
Didn't know what this was about. Radom click on Netflix. It was a shock to watch the story unfold and the last scene was really a surprise. It was unsettling and indicative of a world gone a bit wild. Like the one we live in now. Up is down. In is out and yes is no. I like movie makers who take risks.
Warning: Not a horror movie!
SkdRow828 March 2004
Do not be fooled by the poster and cover art or by the trailer for this film, it is not a horror film. It is a morality play, and a pretty intriguing one at that.
The basic plotline: Roland (Henriksen) invites his six best friends to his island estate for a getaway. He tricks them into taking a poison and tells them that the only way he will give them the antidote is if they tell their greatest secrets, if they atone for their sins.
This film is actually quite well done, with the characters each struggling with their own demons, wondering whether their secrets are worth dying for. Henriksen is excellent as always, and relative unknowns Christopher Shyer (Joel) and David Livingstone (John) stand out from the rest of the cast by giving fantastic performances.
The Invitation is not a horror film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a very intriguing morality play with solid acting from an ensemble cast of anonymous unknowns, with the exception of Henriksen. Well worth a watch. 7/10.
The basic plotline: Roland (Henriksen) invites his six best friends to his island estate for a getaway. He tricks them into taking a poison and tells them that the only way he will give them the antidote is if they tell their greatest secrets, if they atone for their sins.
This film is actually quite well done, with the characters each struggling with their own demons, wondering whether their secrets are worth dying for. Henriksen is excellent as always, and relative unknowns Christopher Shyer (Joel) and David Livingstone (John) stand out from the rest of the cast by giving fantastic performances.
The Invitation is not a horror film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a very intriguing morality play with solid acting from an ensemble cast of anonymous unknowns, with the exception of Henriksen. Well worth a watch. 7/10.
Beautiful and Thought-Provoking.
shippermd4 September 2005
The cover suggests a horror or thriller, but instead, WOW, it was an awesome, quite deep, philosophical and sweet movie. Roland wanted to share his 'gift' with his friends and boy did he! Hats off to the quiet intensity of Lance playing Roland, who just wanted to impart a very rare and profound gift to those he loved.
Some of the lines he spoke in the movie, along with the beautiful scenery and music that accompanied it...will leave you feeling strangely serene and peaceful by the end of it.
Give it a chance. The story is a bit weak, not really explaining and resolving everything, but all in all, it's a must-see for lovers of deeper, profound type movies.
Also recommended: What Dreams May Come, The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, What the Bleep Do We Know, Waking Life.
Shipper
Some of the lines he spoke in the movie, along with the beautiful scenery and music that accompanied it...will leave you feeling strangely serene and peaceful by the end of it.
Give it a chance. The story is a bit weak, not really explaining and resolving everything, but all in all, it's a must-see for lovers of deeper, profound type movies.
Also recommended: What Dreams May Come, The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, What the Bleep Do We Know, Waking Life.
Shipper
Chilling tale that rings true to everyday life and the secrets we keep from the people we love and ourselves
autmntoashes23 February 2005
I really liked this movie. It had a great story line and though some elements of the story seem unlikely and weird they are true. If you liked this movie then i also recommend My little eye. This movie isn't a crazy thriller about a guy that lost his mind and tries to kill his friends it is a story of secrets and lies that everyone has and keeps. Even though some things in the movie are not completely explained it still is a modern day tale of morals and a real release of the mind. After I first watched it it really made me think. It stayed in my mind until I got the movie. Then I watched it again with my brother and it really made me look at him and what he may have done. After you see this movie you will look at the people around you in a whole new light.
I avoid writing too much about the story, for it should be experienced with as little knowledge as possible.
tobiasweinald2 February 2020
When reading Lance Henriksen's biography "Not bad for a human" (Highly recommended btw), I was sure to make some discoveries here and there. Amongst the more obscure titles was "The invitation", though he talks about it in high praise. He does in fact note that the American DVD Cover leads you on a wrong track, giving the vibe of a cheap horror flick. Well, it isn't.
It's a film with less of a narrative structure, but analyzing its characters piece by piece. As the story progresses, a lot of background stories are thrown in. Not to explain you everything in detail, but enough for you to puzzle together the pieces about everyone's motivation and intentions. Produced by a noticeable small budget, the locations are limited and the cinematography is spare, yet creative. But that's not the focus anyway.
What drive me to it, was the reference to the Millennium series. And while the plot and style of the film differs to a great extend, there are certain scenes which give you that unnerving and surreal atmosphere. It's one of the rare experiences where you cannot predict what's coming next.
I doubt a lot of people will discover this film and I doubt a lot of people will get into it. It's no life-changing experience whatsoever but if you are willing to expose yourself to it's rough premise, you'll get one of Lance's finer performances and a film that will surprise you and make you reflect. It echoed with me still days after I watched it.
What drive me to it, was the reference to the Millennium series. And while the plot and style of the film differs to a great extend, there are certain scenes which give you that unnerving and surreal atmosphere. It's one of the rare experiences where you cannot predict what's coming next.
I doubt a lot of people will discover this film and I doubt a lot of people will get into it. It's no life-changing experience whatsoever but if you are willing to expose yourself to it's rough premise, you'll get one of Lance's finer performances and a film that will surprise you and make you reflect. It echoed with me still days after I watched it.
A very good movie
lyecoatha4 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I was going through the Starz! schedule looking for good movies to see and I saw this movie and I thought the name sounded familiar so I came to this site to check it out and it was a movie I had seen last year on the same channel. I thought it was just amazing.
Here this man (Lance Henriksen as Roland) has been running from something that he feels he cannot escape. *I remember a scene where he is on a cliff,I think he wanted to die.* Then some people found him and he was given this liquid and told that it was poison and the only way to get the cure was to tell them his deepest darkest secret. After that his life changed dramatically, he was a free man with no regrets.
So Roland invites his friends over to his home and at dinner he tells them of his experience and then tells them he put that liquid in their food or drink. He does this because he wants to give them a chance to be free, he does this out of love. It's a messed up thing to do but I understand why he did it. And he helps each one of them to get past their pain, or their guilt and regrets.
It's a wonderful movie I hope you watch it and feel the same way too.
Here this man (Lance Henriksen as Roland) has been running from something that he feels he cannot escape. *I remember a scene where he is on a cliff,I think he wanted to die.* Then some people found him and he was given this liquid and told that it was poison and the only way to get the cure was to tell them his deepest darkest secret. After that his life changed dramatically, he was a free man with no regrets.
So Roland invites his friends over to his home and at dinner he tells them of his experience and then tells them he put that liquid in their food or drink. He does this because he wants to give them a chance to be free, he does this out of love. It's a messed up thing to do but I understand why he did it. And he helps each one of them to get past their pain, or their guilt and regrets.
It's a wonderful movie I hope you watch it and feel the same way too.
For Lance Henriksen Fans Only
John-Juliano13 August 2004
Warning: Spoilers
If you've followed Lance Henriksen's up-and-down screen and TV career and mostly enjoy his acting, you may like this movie. That's because Lance's performance is about the only reason to see this B-movie in search of a reason to be. The set-up here is a familiar one: just think "And Then There Were None" (1945) or "Ten Little Indians" (1966) or, most recently almost good "Identity" starring John Cusack (2003). The twist here is that instead of the victims being killed off one by one by an unidentified member of the group or staff, the killer identifies himself early on and in godlike fashion, reveals the well-intentioned motivation for the coming mass murder. This seeming horror movie without a plot is actually just an excuse for the screenwriter, the director and cast to spend half the movie in self-indulgent psycho-babble and feel-good-through-confession antics that you see on a typical Jerry Springer show. The acting is flat and the ending is telegraphed to those viewers who make it past the film's 1st 60 minutes
Satisfying ending I do not get the low rating
jordondave-280859 October 2023
(2001) The Invitation
THRILLER
Shoe-string, low budget straight to rental film co-produced, co-written and directed by Pat Bermel starring Lance Henrickson as he plays Roland Levy, inviting a group of old friends (more like six people) to a secluded island for the intention is so he can poisoning them in exchange for information (revealing of some dark secrets) for the antidote!. Satisfying ending, and exceptional acting by cast because the budget is sometimes appear to be quite evident, like from a hand held camcorder for instance. Except that I didn't care too much about some of it's revelations.
Shoe-string, low budget straight to rental film co-produced, co-written and directed by Pat Bermel starring Lance Henrickson as he plays Roland Levy, inviting a group of old friends (more like six people) to a secluded island for the intention is so he can poisoning them in exchange for information (revealing of some dark secrets) for the antidote!. Satisfying ending, and exceptional acting by cast because the budget is sometimes appear to be quite evident, like from a hand held camcorder for instance. Except that I didn't care too much about some of it's revelations.
Very moving and thought provoking
sophiesmybaby14 September 2007
I really liked this movie. It was not the best movie I have ever seen, but it did move me more than any movie has in a long time. The acting was for the most part very good, especially on the part of Lance Henrickson. When is he ever bad?
I have read some negative comments,but it seems obvious the author of those comments weren't really paying attention to, nor did they watch all of, this movie. They would have found the answers they were looking for if they had.
It's the kind of movie that makes you think. It makes you wonder if the secrets you hold inside are preventing you from enjoying life the way you should. It also makes you wonder if the people in your life who seem so closed off emotionally are only afraid of revealing their own secrets.
I have read some negative comments,but it seems obvious the author of those comments weren't really paying attention to, nor did they watch all of, this movie. They would have found the answers they were looking for if they had.
It's the kind of movie that makes you think. It makes you wonder if the secrets you hold inside are preventing you from enjoying life the way you should. It also makes you wonder if the people in your life who seem so closed off emotionally are only afraid of revealing their own secrets.
God is talking to himself, pretending he's us
vincentpricesnephew6 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
When i saw this film on the video store shelf, i thought "hey, another cool horror movie with Lance Henriksen", but what i got was much more meaningful. What starts out as a mystery dinner where several guests are invented to their friend's remote mansion, turns into a psycho/dinner party. Henriksen poisons all his guests to make them all experience the enlightenment he experienced in South America. The guests start dropping like flies because they won't follow his directions, and by the end, only one guest seems to be left alive. this character we find out is Henriksen's son and as he takes him out into the early morning sunlight he tells him there really was no poison and that it was just to make then appreciate how special life really is. if you view this as a Taoist or a Buddist would, you will find yourself looking at the next dawn the same way. enjoy
We are the beauty, everything else is just a story
sol121819 December 2005
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Really deep and heavy stuff here about a number of persons invited to writer/philosopher Roland Levy's, Lance Heriksen, private island for a night. A night that they'll never forget since what Roland planned for them is to relive the most darkest secrets of their lives.
Having gone through a series of personal tragedies, one having his pregnant wife get killed in a traffic accident, Roland traveled the world to find out what life is all about and why there's all this suffering in the world. Roland traveled from the wilds of darkest Africa to the dizzying heights of the Himalayas, on the Indian/Napla border, to the steaming jungles of the Amazon and finally, where he found the truth, on a cold and windy slope high up on the Andes. Roland has seen the truth, a truth he want's to share with his closest friends, the truth that finally set him free.
Having dinner with his guests Roland had secretly, with the help of his two houseboys Jesus & Manola(Lideo Baldeon & Michael Leisen), spiked the food. As the guests start to hallucinate and go under Roland induces them to "open up" and let it all out about the dark secrets that they kept to themselves and from everyone else including those closest and dearest to them.
Whatever Roland had put into the food and drinks it starts to act a lot fasted on his guests then he expected. Before you know it two of them John, David Livingston, and Michael, Douglas O'Keefe, go into cardiac arrest and shock; John with a massive heart attack and Michael after he foolishly tried to swim to safety, and die.
Back at the island Michael's wife Liza, Stellina Rusich,cracks up when the truth comes out, due to Roland's revelations, about her involvement with John whom she was very upset with when she found out that he's one of the invited guests; as well as his sleazy and criminal ventures in the stock market. Joel, Christopher Shyer, who at first thought that this whole party was some kind of joke on Roland's part starts to lose his eyesight and goes into a paranoiac fit, As the ghost of his father takes over Joel's mind and starts to remind him of how he treated him in the last hours of his life.
Both Joel's wife Maria, Sarah-Jane Redmound, and Anne, Stefanie Von Phetter, start to see vision of Anne's sister who killed herself and whom they, in their minds, were accountable for her death. Joel with the help of Roland gets back to normal but is shocked to find that everyone on the island, minus Roland and the busboys, are dead and ready to be buried including his wife Maria!
Angered at what Roland put him, his publisher, through as well as having his wife and friends die in this crazy game that he concocted Joel has just about had it and is about to blow his brains out, with an antique gun from Roland's gun collection, that it's then that the truth is finally revealed to him! It changes his life and what he thought was his sense of reality forever! Yes Joel finds out to his great relief that his father, whom he feared and hated, was not really the man that he thought that he was and forgave Joel for all the bad things that he did, or thought that he did, to him in the last days of his life.
Having gone through a series of personal tragedies, one having his pregnant wife get killed in a traffic accident, Roland traveled the world to find out what life is all about and why there's all this suffering in the world. Roland traveled from the wilds of darkest Africa to the dizzying heights of the Himalayas, on the Indian/Napla border, to the steaming jungles of the Amazon and finally, where he found the truth, on a cold and windy slope high up on the Andes. Roland has seen the truth, a truth he want's to share with his closest friends, the truth that finally set him free.
Having dinner with his guests Roland had secretly, with the help of his two houseboys Jesus & Manola(Lideo Baldeon & Michael Leisen), spiked the food. As the guests start to hallucinate and go under Roland induces them to "open up" and let it all out about the dark secrets that they kept to themselves and from everyone else including those closest and dearest to them.
Whatever Roland had put into the food and drinks it starts to act a lot fasted on his guests then he expected. Before you know it two of them John, David Livingston, and Michael, Douglas O'Keefe, go into cardiac arrest and shock; John with a massive heart attack and Michael after he foolishly tried to swim to safety, and die.
Back at the island Michael's wife Liza, Stellina Rusich,cracks up when the truth comes out, due to Roland's revelations, about her involvement with John whom she was very upset with when she found out that he's one of the invited guests; as well as his sleazy and criminal ventures in the stock market. Joel, Christopher Shyer, who at first thought that this whole party was some kind of joke on Roland's part starts to lose his eyesight and goes into a paranoiac fit, As the ghost of his father takes over Joel's mind and starts to remind him of how he treated him in the last hours of his life.
Both Joel's wife Maria, Sarah-Jane Redmound, and Anne, Stefanie Von Phetter, start to see vision of Anne's sister who killed herself and whom they, in their minds, were accountable for her death. Joel with the help of Roland gets back to normal but is shocked to find that everyone on the island, minus Roland and the busboys, are dead and ready to be buried including his wife Maria!
Angered at what Roland put him, his publisher, through as well as having his wife and friends die in this crazy game that he concocted Joel has just about had it and is about to blow his brains out, with an antique gun from Roland's gun collection, that it's then that the truth is finally revealed to him! It changes his life and what he thought was his sense of reality forever! Yes Joel finds out to his great relief that his father, whom he feared and hated, was not really the man that he thought that he was and forgave Joel for all the bad things that he did, or thought that he did, to him in the last days of his life.
Beautiful Film!
yzgvfvpkm1 July 2022
I don't write reviews much, but felt the need to with this one. I loved everything about this movie. The acting and cinematography were well above average. I also think it had a great message. Just don't go into this thinking of it as a typical horror movie. This doesn't have the monsters and jump scares. The "horror" is much more on a psychological and spiritual level.
soundtrack
monicac-2183620 May 2019
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