Delayed Reaction: The Invitation

The Pitch: Some friends get together for a dinner party and discover that their hosts belong to a cult and may be up to something more.

Now that's a slow build. If nothing else, the film is patient and confident in that patience. I prefer a simmering dread over jump scares and this delivers the former with pleasure. That said, it didn't quite work for me. Either the build-up took too long or the pay-off wasn't interesting enough. It's hard to say which. My attention started to drift before all the shit when down at the end. When the shit when down, I wish it could've found a way to maintain its earlier tone rather than turning into a survival thriller. Clearly, I wanted something more from the movie, but I'm not astute enough to identify what it would be.

John Carroll Lynch is pretty perfect for his role. Even though I still most associate him with The Drew Carey Show, a close second is the number of different movies in which he's played a creep. The rest of the cast looked like well-to-do Los Angelinos, so good job with that. 

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend