Styria (2014) Reviews

• Styria

  a_baron2015-03-24

  This starts reasonably enough, an academic travels behind the then Iron Curtain to undertake a restoration project on what in the UK would be a listed building. Travelling with him is his daughter, who is a troubled young woman, not the least on account of the razor blade she carries around with her which has been used to, well, just look at the scars on her arm. Then there is Carmilla; she is real enough on account of her escaping from a crashed car, but exactly how real are her nocturnal visitations, and is she a vampire or a witch? The former, 'twould appear, because this is an update of the novel "Carmilla", a precursor to Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Alas, unlike the 2013 adaptation of "The Monkey's Paw", our Gothic lesbian femme fatale does not age well, and is more than a little confusing, as is the end of this extremely disappointing film.

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• So now Hulu is in the business of writing fake reviews?

  david69952015-02-28

  For shame!!! I can honestly say that if it wasn't for those two suspicious film "reviews" (who both seem to coincidentally promote Hulu) that were heaping unending words of praise and wonderment for this "film", I would have let this snooze-fest pass me by without allowing it to steal any more time from me than it already has; however, every time I see a fake review, I get so angry so as to allow that emotion to motivate to write my own. At least this way, people have access to at least one review not promulgated by a shill or anyone else with a pecuniary interest in promoting a film. So I felt as though the story was lacking in any substance which kept my interest. Characters underdeveloped, nothing in the plot which got me to care what happens next. In fact, the only redeeming part of this endeavour was Stephen Rea, although methinks that he is the type of actor who always shines no matter where he's put. Long story short, I quit watching about halfway through. So to be fair, it is possible that the last half of the film could have been the greatest cinematographic event of a lifetime, but I wasn't in the mood to stick around and find out.

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• Puerile Teen Angst Vampire flick

  s32761692015-02-27

  Styria should have been called "Her-styria". Bad joke but then Styria is a badly made movie. Styria is confused, much like its target audience, clumsily mixing 60's style cinematography, teen angst, awkward psychological elements and vague references to vampire mythology. Its gruesome fare for all the wrong reasons. There are hysterical daddy complexes on offer, issues with mum, rejection of adult authority (surprise, surprise) and a lot more emotional baggage besides. This icky mess is all topped off with a with a bit of fake blood and a beautiful teen vampire temptress. Simply put, Styria is codswallop, that can only appeal to snotty teen girls who wear dark clothes and make up. Three out of ten from me.

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• Incredibly well-crafted Gothic film!

  bernieoutthere2015-02-27

  Styria (Aka Angels of Darkness) is a superbly made independent Gothic thriller. I noticed one of the reviewers was thoroughly confused. I guess some people like movies like their chain restaurants. Not me. I was excited to let go and experience something unique and unexpected. The title of Angels of Darkness doesn't do this film justice. It's way to generic and unsubtle. This film is more like a classic supernatural tale. It's very dreamlike and beautifully shot. The acting is wonderful as well. I think the key to watching this film is letting go of expectations about what a supernatural movie or a vampire story should be about. There are lots of ideas and well explored themes. But I think the the thing that I loved the most was the overall MOOD! I can't wait to watch it again!

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• Welcoming, but disappointing effort to bring to the screen this modern version of Carmilla, the classic horror/Gothic/romantic vampire story written by Sheridan Lefanu.

  gralfredo102015-03-01

  Welcoming, but sort of disappointing effort to bring to the screen this modern age version of Carmilla, the classic horror/Gothic/romantic vampire story written by Sheridan Lefanu. The movie has a crafted cinematography (probably the plus of the movie) and direction. It succeeded to create a bittersweet horror dream like atmosphere that by the last third of the film makes us completely hooked into it. Contributing to that is the awesome performance of Julia Pietrucha on the hole of Carmilla, a seductive young lady that end up becoming an supernatural entity that feed from the blood of virgin women. The things go south when we see the high potential that the script could had have and was thrown away. Seeing that it putted the story in a modern age era and created an intriguing situation for the reason why Lara and her father are brought to this ancient castle in Styria is a good point but at the same time, it turned some of the characters, that are so intense and romantically tragic in the book, in flat weak evil characters for the example of the General Spiegel. The glimpse of women empowerment message that it brings with the character of Carmilla, and the hole situation of her possible "transformation" don't pay back when her supernatural objectives come to life in a really distorted way... and when we have such weak character as Lara, that sometimes is over exposed as a goth teen spoiled teenager that cut herself and has pictures of Ian Curtis on her walls. Not that the hole new wave and goth looks aren't cool but it's sometimes just too much. Though the soundtrack is good, the visuals are great, it's just the text and editing that could be better to live up to the expectations to bring a great reinterpretation of this great novel to life.

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