Ivanna

Ivanna_360P

ivanna

ivanna

Ivanna-1080P

Nothing especially original here - lots of ghost story tropes, like hidden basements, records playing themselves, etc...not to mention the huge influence Ring has over modern supernatural Asian horror movies (yeah, we know... look in the well)... but hey, Ivanna is executed pretty decently! I won't go over the plot, since you've likely read the synopsis, but this tale of a partially blind girl versus the 'statue' of a headless WW2-era Dutch woman is eerie enough to be pretty entertaining. The lead actress is charismatic. It's well filmed and creepy. This is a good, solid ghost story; whether you feel the been-there-done-that nature of the story/scares drags it down or is exactly what you were looking for will be a matter of personal preference.

When I sat down here in 2023 to watch the 2022 Indonesian horror movie "Ivanna", I had never heard about the movie. So I only knew that I was in for an Indonesian horror movie experience, which was actually all that I needed to want to watch the movie. Writer Lele Laila put together a fair enough script and storyline here, based on the novel by Risa Sawaswati. Not that I am in any way familiar with the novel, so I had no idea how true the movie's script is to the source material from the novel. Clearly the writer had no concept of how decay and decomposition works, especially with about 50 years passing and having a body part exposed to such a long time. While "Ivanna" was a watchable movie, it was by no means a particularly outstanding foray in the Asian horror cinema. And for a lifelong horror afficianado such as myself, then director Kimo Stamboel's 2022 movie was a relatively slow paced trek. The acting performances in "Ivanna" were good, and they definitely helped to keep the movie afloat. And my limited exposure to Indonesian cinema means that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble. Leading actress Caitlin Halderman, playing Ambar, really carried the movie quite well with her performance. For a horror movie, then I have to say that I found "Ivanna" to be a bit on the generic side. Sure, the storyline was nice enough for a single viewing. But that is about it, a single viewing is all that the movie has to it. My rating of "Ivanna" lands on a five out of ten stars.

The film is actually really good in the horror aspect and one of the scariest in than all the other in the danur universe lol. The story line is also wayy better than the first. The cgi is also better than I had expected and imo dwell in the area of uncanny valley during the beheading scene. The camera and cinematography imo is really good because it creates a horror feeling, personally this is one of the best horror movies i've seen where the ghost is actually scary (likely because there's no head lol). Despite the usual ending where it's kinda wack (bc the ghost dissapear like thanos snapped them away, it's still way better than the usual dramatic ending). The sound play is imo also really nice because they play it well to match the scenes.

The plot works as it is. It's simple but the movie executions made up for its plot. It does waste some time to explore the "mystery" (Though from my personal experience, it's pretty predictable). Now, the eerie/creepy moment at the start of the movie is the best part of the movie for me. Watching a headless body walks in the background with unaware characters really sells it. The atmosphere support these scenes. The problem came with the slasher part of the movie. Without spoiling much, the movie only uses one kind of execution. Usually, one of the fun part of a slasher movie is watching how the killer creatively execute his/her victim. In Ivanna there is only one method, and it start gets boring aftering watching it done for the third time. Overall, it's entertaining enough for me, for an Indonesian horror movie, it does a decent job.

I'm not familiar with the Danur film series and just watched this on a whim, but I was impressed with the camera work and the sets were quite cinematic. Of course, that in and of itself wouldn't be enough to recommend the film, but fortunately it has more to offer. I like how they brought this extended family together (plus a policeman) and then wreaked havoc on their lives...you never really know who is going to fall victim to the ghost. Caitlin Halderman in the lead role of Ambar delivers a terrific performance and plays a nearly blind woman exceptionally well. The supporting cast is competent and the direction from Kimo Stamboel is solid and assured. The build-up to the horror in the second half of the film helped us identify with each of characters...I thought the film was very well paced. There were a few scenes that didn't deliver the terror that the filmmakers were probably shooting for, which is why the movie didn't score higher for me. But for general tension and an engaging plot, it was pretty good. And for a relatively low-budget film the CGI and special practical effects weren't bad. Overall, efforts like this should be applauded. Most of the cast and the entire crew have a good level of talent and they put together an enjoyable -- if unspectacular -- horror film.

Kimo Stamboel's direction brings a touch of gravitas, but no amount of blood and severed heads could save 'Ivanna' from its tacky writing. Another awful entry in an all-around awful series.