Review: ‘Welcome to the Blumhouse: Nocturne & Evil Eye’
A mesmerizing performance from Sydney Sweeney elevates the otherwise schlocky Nocturne while Sarita Choudhury and Sunita Mani impress in the surprisingly heartwarming Evil Eye.
The latest films to be released under the Blumhouse and Amazon Prime partnership Welcome to the Blumhouse, the intense and melodramatic Nocturne and the surprisingly heartwarming Evil Eye, are fine additions to the studio’s long list of horror films. Although they never quite reach the thrilling highs of some of their better offerings, they’re far from their worst. Both clock in at exactly 90 minutes, never overstaying their welcome and giving audiences plenty of intense thrills and unexpectedly poignant moments to tune in to come this Halloween.
Led by Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, Nocturne centers on musical prodigy Juliet (Sweeney) and her fraternal twin Vivian (Madison Iseman). Both sisters are competing for a position at their prestigious school’s yearly recital, a slot which only opened up after the mysterious death of another student. Vivian is generally considered the more talented sister, a fact that Juliet begrudgingly comes to terms with, but Juliet’s discovery of the deceased student’s personal notebook, which contains insidious drawings and inscriptions scattered across its pages, allows a dark and mysterious entity to enter her life, giving her an edge over her sister and resulting in tragic and dire consequences for the both of them.
The Priyanka Chopra-produced Evil Eye stars Sarita Choudhury as overprotective mother Usha and Mr. Robot star Sunita Mani as her daughter Pallavi. As the single Pallavi’s 29th birthday approaches, Usha desperately tries to set her up on a date with a man she has preemptively approved of, believing it to be a curse to remain unmarried after your 29th birthday but a meet-cute with the wealthy Sandeep (Omar Maskati) throws a dent in her plans. Cautiously optimistic about her daughter’s new relationship at first, Usha starts to worry when she notices things are moving too quickly and after hiring a private detective to perform a background check on Sandeep, dark secrets are uncovered and Usha starts to suspect that her daughter’s new boyfriend is not at all who he appears to be.
Just like Welcome to the Blumhouse’s previous offerings (review here), both films aren’t technically horror movies. Although they do contain some horror elements such as disturbing visuals and in the case of Nocturne, frequent jumpscares, Evil Eye is more of a moving drama revolving around the fraught relationship between a rebellious young woman and her overbearing mother while Nocturne is a psychological thriller that explores themes of sibling rivalry and the pursuit of perfection. While Evil Eye proves to be a better film both visually and conceptually, both movies seem tailor-made for a streaming debut, never reaching the scale or ambition of Blumhouse’s theatrical offerings.
There is a great movie hiding somewhere within Nocturne, a tonally confused mishmash of Black Swan, Whiplash and Death Note that isn’t sure if it wants to be a psychological character study or a schlocky teen horror movie. Several interesting concepts are introduced and never fully realized; the supernatural aspects of the film, in particular, are sorely underdeveloped, only used as a plot device to further the plot and conveniently ignored when deemed no longer necessary. Writer and director Zu Quirke proves to have an eye for interesting visuals, framing Juliet’s simultaneous rise to greatness and descent into madness with a real creative flare and mesmerizing quality. Nocturne suffers in terms of narrative, however, with Quirke attempting to duplicate Black Swan’s plot points almost to a T, following the same beats and leading to a similar show-stopping conclusion that ends up feeling manipulative instead of earned by the end of the film’s short runtime. Sydney Sweeney proves to be a captivating on-screen presence, however, perfectly capturing both Juliet’s repressed and frustrated nature as she is thrust into a dangerous situation. Madison Iseman also delivers a wonderful performance as the cool and confident foil to Sweeney’s anxious and antsy Juliet.
Elan and Rajeev Dassani’s Evil Eye, which is based on Madhuri Shekar’s audio play of the same name, starts off like an Indian remake of Crazy Rich Asians, with Pallavi embarking on a relationship after an endearing meet-cute with a man that she doesn’t know is secretly wealthy, before it turns into a thrilling and intense tale of reincarnation and inherited trauma. Evil Eye is not without its faults: it is frustratingly and oddly paced. A series of phone call scenes between mother and daughter, who live on opposite sides of the world, will leave viewers with a sense of déjà vu, wondering if they managed to hit the rewind button accidentally. The film’s flashback scenes are also poorly edited, their choppy nature giving Evil Eye a tired and dated feel. A trio of great performances from Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani and Omar Maskati, who effortlessly establishes a magnetic and charismatic presence that lingers throughout the course of the film, as well as a tense and exhilarating final act, however, manage to elevate Evil Eye beyond its faults.
Ultimately, much like their Welcome to the Blumhouse predecessors, both Nocturne and Evil Eye are worth watching for their exceptional performances and interesting set pieces, even if they do have their frustrating share of faults.
Nocturne:
Rating: 3/5
Evil Eye:
Rating: 3/5
‘Nocturne’ and ‘Evil Eye’ debut on Prime Video on October 13.