Director - Frederick Maheux
Starring - Catherine Allard, Clara Brunet-Turcotte, and Mathilde Gesseaume-Rioux
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "prepare to make new friends"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
One thing I said to myself when I started writing reviews was that I would always be honest about what I thought of the film and not go with the crowd. I have seen countless films in my short period of time writing reviews that I was not a fan of but most in the horror community was. This has caused some backlash with my horror peers who feel I didn't see what the film represents and all this other crap. I watch a movie to watch a movie not to see the hidden agenda the director may or may not have tossed in. I want a movie with some decent characters, some gore (or a lot!), and a story that is somewhat decent and not just tossed together. Recently I saw a lot of people sharing news on a Canadian experimental film titled Ana. The film looked cool so I found them out on Facebook and reached out to them. They were kind enough to send me a review copy. Thanks for letting me check this out guys!
The film has no linear story that most of us have come to expect. Instead, we get phases or acts like a play. The first follows girls walking on all fours like an animal while blood is poured on top of them. We then jump to a masked lady whipping herself with a tree branch covered in blood. We then go through other phases where we see people bound and gagged while they are forced to eat and drinks things like blood and such. We are then forced into watching people commit acts of self-mutilation and then murder.
Ana was getting a lot of hype among horror groups on Facebook. It was almost daily that dozens of horror fans was sharing photos of the film along with proclaiming their love for it. I had no idea what the film was about but if I had knew it would be anything like what I just sat through then I would have left it alone and never contacted their Facebook page. I was not a fan. The acting in this one is non-existent. The film seriously consists of scenes following people in masks doing something goofy as hell repetitively. The scenes were monotonous and the cast honestly shows no acting skills. The story for this one is non-existence. The film gains inspiration from cyber myths, creepy pastas, and other stories online. Sadly, the way these stories were executed was not the best way to actually tell their stores. I honestly had no idea what was going on until I visited their site. Finally, those of you looking gore may actually be satisfied here. The film has loads of blood and some gore but the kills are not that impressive. We get some hacks, slashes, and the like but nothing that we haven't seen before or impressive. Overall, Ana is a film that a lot of people were excited for. Sadly, I just don't see what they were impressed with. The film lacked a genuine story and honestly bored the living shit out of me. This is one film that I can not recommend. Avoid this one.
Thanks for the review. Hopefully it will settled expectations from the traditional horror/gorehound crowd. There was no ambition to create a storyline, nor for this film to be qualified in the horror genre. It just organically became this way with festivals and the web.
ReplyDeleteI've always been transparent this is an experimental film first and foremost, with real physical performances instead of latex and corn syrup. This is what I've been doing for the past 10 years. So I will gladly share this review so everybody knows what they're getting into.