The start of this movie is actually a bit of a slow burn that is too slow. And also I feel not well done. We start with the character Evan. He is sitting by a bed with his dying mother. Who, well… dies. A bad bar scene results in Evan beating the shit out of a dude. The guy actually threatens him and Evan doesn’t react until he sees him pick up a beer bottle in a manner indicating he is about to bash Evan’s friend in the back of the head. He does punch him perhaps a few times too many. Evan worked at the bar, even though he wasn’t at work at the time, up until that incident. He got fired. 

His life spiraling a bit, he decides to leave the US for Italy. He meets some guys who he travels with in a manner that made me think he was going to end up dead somewhere. Because being in a foreign country and deciding to get in a car with strangers and just see how it goes… well that never ends well. They don’t kill him. They go to some small town where he sees Louise and is instantly smitten with her. 

When she approaches him at an outdoor bar, he asks her out. She counters with lets go have sex right now. Surprisingly, he rebukes that idea and says lets go for coffee in the morning instead. To which she walks away.

When the other guys leave the town, he stays. Finds a room at a farm where he works the fields and begins to learn some Italian. Tracking her down, she succumbs to going out which leads to him succumbing to having sex with her. 

At this point (about 45 minutes into the movie) I paused and went online to double check that I wasn’t simply watching a romance movie. In the past I have watched something that wasn’t what I was expecting. Google confirmed it was a category called Horror/Romance. 

Unpause.

And ten seconds later we see her apparently in an alley being creepy and eating a cat. To be fair, I don’t think there is a non-creepy way to eat a cat. But when you watch it, you will see what I mean by it being creepy.

So now we know there is something nefarious going on with her. She didn’t eat him though, so she isn’t totally bad. Right? 

At this point the movie shifts gears a bit and begins focusing a bit more on her. She has a more interesting story anyway. Something inside her wants out. But she has a mysterious syringe that she injects a milky like substance into herself when she sees a change start. 

At one point, during a dinner date at her place, she senses a change coming and goes for an impromptu shower. Where she seems to be turning into a werewolf! In the alley scene, I would have described it as more of an “I Am Legend” style type of vampire creature. So I got confused by this inconsistent narrative about her monster side. To clear it up, the next time she starts changing there’s a tentacle. And spiny things. Kinda feels like she has a genetic magic 8 ball that her DNA shakes and says “You have tentacles now.”

At this point my perspective on the movie has changed. I’m intrigued by Louise and want to see and know more. Which brings me to a stopping point, because as more is revealed the interest rises. And I don’t want to spoil that. 

This is worth watching. As I was writing this I wanted to give the first half of the movie 5 stars. Evan’s story isn’t that fascinating. Or original. The most fascinating part of it is what does Louise see in him that makes her want him. But as we see more of Louise, I want to know more. And as I write this I find myself thinking about the idea of a full movie just of her. Louise makes me want to give this closer to 10 or at least 9 stars. 

This movie reminds me of Audition. Because with both of these movies there is a drama at play for the first half of the story. And it could have stayed with the drama and been a wildly different movie. Turning and embracing horror makes for a fascinating experience. And something I have long felt the best horror stories have is a grounding in reality. I’m going to stick with my familiar territory of giving this an 8. I can see wanting to watch it again, but also feel like if it was just me sitting down to it that I would fast forward some of the early bits.