Nocturno

I liked this one a lot more than I thought I was going to. I am a little surprised at the 5.7 rating as I am giving it a 7 no normally it's the other way around. Maybe people were expecting a little bit more classic horror, but I felt it had a very atmospheric, creepy vibe throughout that served up a solid, new age horror vibe.

I thought the story wasn't wildly original but just different enough to make it feel fresh. The pacing felt very good and kept me solidly engaged from start to finish. I wish there was a little bit more background as far as the supernatural aspect and where and how it manifested in the modern day.

The acting was hit or miss. The main blonde twin did an excellent job throughout. Her range of emotion was really quite good and she gave a solid performance. The other twin did a decent job and while her delivery often felt natural, many times it felt situationally "inappropriate". Some of the side characters were not all that great.

I really liked the score/sound design, the overall vibe of this production and I was quite pleased with the ending as well. It felt in-line with the story and not a cop out like so many are nowadays. I would definitely recommend checking it out.

The fourth and in my opinion best of the four announced Blumhouse films for Amazon Prime has arrived with "Nocturne". The film stars Sydney Sweeney and Madison Iseman as twins Juliet and Vivian. Both attend a noted music school and Vivian is a prodigy who has been accepted to Julliard upon completion of her studies.

Juliet had applied only to Julliard but was not accepted and this has caused issues with the faculty who had encouraged her to apply to other schools as well due to the 7% acceptance of Julliard and the longs odds of one or both of them being accepted.

When the top musician at the school kills herself, a spot to do a featured performance at an upcoming showcase arises and Vivian is asked to perform as she is clearly the next in line. Juliet comes into possession of a mysterious notebook filled with strange drawings that belonged to the recently departed former prodigy and she becomes obsessed with the drawings which seem to predict the future and in turn cause her to add drawings of her own to them. This starts a chain of events where Juliet sees a change in personality where she begins to covet her sister's talent, success, boyfriend, and more and begins a chain of events that will upturn their lives.

The film like the prior three Blumhouse Amazon films is not scary nor overly intense but it does have an engaging story and characters which will keep you watching and delivers an entertaining twist on films such as "The Competition" which depict the struggles and conflicts of aspiring musicians.

3.5 stars out of 5

While watching 'Nocturne' it can be really hard not to notice the similarities between this and 'Black Swan'. It's slightly less sexual but the story follows a very similar pattern. To be fair there are far worse films to base yours off. It's just something I noticed. The opening scene of 'Nocturne' sets up some intrigue. It's not a scary or suspenseful scene, but it is strange and leaves you wanting to know why it happened. From there the film sets about telling its story, and does so in a surprisingly compelling way.

I'm not a big music fan (and certainly not classical music) but I didn't find that hindered my enjoyment of the film at all. If that's putting you off seeing the movie I would suggest not to worry about it. The film is a horror, but more in a bizarre way than a suspenseful or gory way. If horror isn't for you, I would say that isn't necessarily a deal-breaker on this one. I could imagine non-horror fans finding a way to enjoy this movie.

Sydney Sweeney was really good in the lead role here. She played a big part in making the film as watchable as it was. She's in every scene so it was very important she got her performance right. I liked 'Nocturne' without ever perhaps loving it. It's worth a look but don't set your expectations too high.

Very surprised by this film. Not your typical horror but I would say this is way better than most. Solid acting, great use of music, well directed. This is definitely a film that will keep your attention. It is a little slower paced but the mood and setting more than make up for that.

"Music is a blood sport." Dr. Cask (Ivan Shaw)

Having just viewed The Wolf of Snow Hollow, which combines the satiric with the traditional horror genre, seeing writer-director Zu Quirke's Nocturne made me realize that a horror film with no digitized scares or much blood to boot can be a most terrorizing rendition of that durable formula. The scare is in the mind, you see.

Juliet (Sydney Sweeney) and her more talented sister, Vi (Madison Iseman), compete at their high-class music school for the chance to play in the school's final concert. They both choose Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No 2 (remember the concerto competition with the demanding Rachmaninov 3rd in Shine?). Although Vi wins the right to play it at the concert in the end of the year, Juliet makes an implied Faustian pact with the devil, whom she found in an old playbook, to reverse her sister's fortunes and enhance her own.

What is so impactful is the lack of blood and screams; in fact, there are few, if any, jump scares. The terror is in Juliet's head, her obsession to win, her jealousy as the guiding principle. It's all very sotto voce, so to speak, a quiet doom tamped down by beautiful music and feelings kept just low enough to allow effective dialogue and feel the presence of a malevolent force, which may be the devil but surely is the "green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." In some sense, I am reminded of the rivalry in Black Swan

About the Saint Sens, pianist Lise de la Salle wrote: "The highly lyrical first movement is an expression of late Romanticism. The second movement is as effervescent as a glass of champagne. And the final movement, a real whirlwind, a fantastic ride (wonderfully captured in this quasi-perpetual movement in triplets), is quite dizzying." These elements could be found in Nocturne.

"Welcome to the Blumhouse" is a "program of eight terrifying genre movies coming to Prime Video," and if the other seven are as good as this one, Halloween viewing will have matured to an intelligence and psychology worthy of a genre rarely this high class or intellectually satisfying.