For a slice of Gothic horror, we go to 2022’s The Invitation. Single New Yorker Evie Jackson (Nathalie Emmanuel) lacks family ties after her mother dies.

Curious to learn more about extended relatives, Evie takes a DNA test. To her surprise, she finds a cousin in England she never knew existed.

And a rich cousin, as Oliver Alexander (Hugh Skinner) and clan boast immense wealth. Oliver invites Evie to get to know the family at a wedding, which goes down unusual and disturbing paths for her.

Like many horror movies, Invitation possesses the bones of a good tale. Like many horror movies, it squanders its potential on the usual cheap techniques.

That means a lot of telegraphed plot points and jump scares. These choices become more unfortunate because Invitation manages some creepiness and could’ve really packed a punch if the filmmakers showed more self-confidence.

Invitation shows a heavy Get Out influence and never really innovates. Nonetheless, the story shows potential and goes down some unexpected paths – unless you read the character credits in advance, as those spoil twists, so avoid them.

If Invitation allowed its basic story to evolve without gratuitous “boo moments”, I think it could go somewhere. The movie could pursue its basic “rags to riches” fairytale and offer an emphasis on Evie’s relationship with wealthy Brit Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty).

Had the film stayed fairly traditional and slowly built the terror, that might create an effective piece. Unfortunately, the movie telegraphs all its horror and lacks the punch it needs.

Really, we don’t get a lot of story here. Rather than allow the Evie/Walt relationship to dominate and provide an anchor, Invitation feels more like a collection of scares cobbled around a vague narrative.

Indeed, much of the “plot” just feels like an excuse to build toward the big horror finale. Packed with violence, the movie doesn’t really earn its ending, as the characters never seem compelling enough for us to care.

To be sure, I can name plenty of worse 21st century horror tales than The Invitation, as its clever moments give it some zing. Nonetheless, the end product suffers due to the cliché choices it provides.

The Invitation appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, the movie presented strong visuals.

Overall definition seemed good. A few interiors showed a smidgen of softness, but those elements remained modest, as the film usually appeared accurate and concise.

Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t mar the presentation, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to appear.

In terms of palette, Invitation went with a standard amber/orange and blue/teal orientation. Within stylistic choices, the hues seemed well-depicted.

Blacks were dark and dense, and low-light shots gave us good clarity. I felt pleased with this transfer.

In addition, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack tended toward a pretty standard horror soundscape, one that tended to favor atmosphere above all else. This meant a mix with a creepy vibe that added to the material.

Occasional action scenes brought more life to the soundfield, though, and those made the track engaging. Don’t expect these to crop up on a frequent basis, but they occurred often enough to give a boost to the mix and make it involving and impactful.

Audio quality worked fine, with speech that appeared natural and concise. Music came across as bold and dynamic as well.

Effects showed nice clarity and reproduction. Those elements felt accurate and bold, and they contributed deep low-end when necessary. All in all, the soundtrack worked well for the film.

Two versions of the film appear here. We find both the Theatrical movie (1:45:05) and an Unrated cut (1:45:52).

What does that extra 47 seconds buy us? Mostly extra gore, such as a decapitation in the movie’s opening “teaser” scene.

In addition to added blood and violence, we find “R”-rated profanity at times and a short nude scene. None of these make the movie better, but the unrated version feels more honest and effective.

A collection of Outtakes & Bloopers fills one minute, 58 seconds and shows the usual goofs and giggles. It seems tedious but at least it’s brief.

Three Deleted & Extended Scenes span a total of five minutes, 14 seconds. The longest shows Evie as she snoops around the manner, and it adds a little suspense to an existing sequence.

The first provides a short character moment, while the third offers a fairly blah alternate ending. None of them seem especially compelling.

Some featurettes follow, and The Wedding Party goes for six minutes, 19 seconds. It includes notes from producer Emile Gladstone, director Jessica M. Thompson, and actors Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Hugh Skinner, Alana Boden, Stephanie Corneliussen, Carol Ann Crawford, Sean Pertwee, and Courtney Taylor.

“Party” looks at story and characters plus cast and performances. A few minor insights arise but mostly the remarks feel superficial.

Til Death Do Us Part goes for six minutes, 25 seconds and brings remarks from Thompson, Gladstone, Emmanuel, Doherty, Boden, Corneliussen, Skinner, director of photography Autumn Eakin, production designer Felicity Abbott, costume designer Danielle Knox, and hair and makeup designer Nora Robertson.

The featurette looks at photography, sets and locations, costumes, props, hair and makeup. Though too short to offer actual depth, we get a few good notes here.

Finally, Lifting the Veil lasts five minutes, eight seconds and involves Thompson, Gladstone, Pertwee, Emmanuel, and Doherty.

“Veil” covers story and genre domains. It seems pretty fluffy and promotional – albeit promotion with spoilers, so skip it and the other programs if you’ve not watched the movie yet.

The disc opens with ads for The Woman King, Bullet Train, Umma and Morbius. No trailer for Invitation appears here.

Because it comes with a few genuine plot surprises, The Invitation fares better than a lot of other modern horror movies. However, it suffers from too many trite and predictable filmmaking choices to actually work. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture and audio as well as a decent set of supplements. Though not a bad flick, Invitation still disappoints.