Invoking Yell – Movie Review (1/5)

INVOKING YELL is a Chilean Found Footage Horror Movie. I wanted to like it but somehow it never got under my skin. Meant as a love letter to black metal, I didn’t feel that. Read our full Invoking Yell horror movie review here!

INVOKING YELL is a Found Footage Horror Movie from Chile. I was intrigued before pressing play on my screener, but despite a runtime of just 84 minutes, it felt dreadfully long to me.

Also, the pacing is painfully slow and the camera is all over the place. I know this is found footage, but keeping the camera just a little still wouldn’t hurt.

Continue reading our Invoking Yell movie review below. Find it on VOD from September 20, 2024.

Girl Power – and violence!

While I wanted to like this movie, my only real “fear” was that there would be a lot of music and not much story. Well, there isn’t much music in this one, but there sure isn’t much story either.

Invoking Yell takes place in 1997 in South Chile, where we follow three twenty-something girls who are metalheads. Two of them are in a band and the third wants to be in the band.

They venture into the woods to shoot their demo tape. Or that’s officially the plot of this movie, where their black metal band, Invoking Yell, is hoping to get some extra dark elements for their demo.

Found footage motion sickness

After some very unorthodox actions – meant to capture paranormal phenomena for their album’s final track – things take a very sinister turn. Again, this is a horror movie, so the events aren’t that surprising.

Especially if you’ve been paying attention.

While the story and music didn’t do much for me, I have to give Invoking Yell credit for adhering to the basic found footage rules. There are no outside camera angles that cannot be explained as found footage.

However, the downside to this is also an issue. The camera is all over the place and results in something reminiscent of motion sickness. And I never really get motion sickness from anything. But this one managed to affect me!

Watch Invoking Yell on Digital now!

Invoking Yell was directed by Patricio Valladares who also co-wrote the screenplay with Barry Keating. It’s meant as a love letter to black metal and I am clearly not enough of a metalhead to get that.

Again, if you want a movie that focuses on the power of music, I do not see how this is it. Except for mentioning a lot about music and musicians, there isn’t much there.

I’d much rather watch (and recommend) a movie like Deathgasm instead of this one. Of course, that one also has a very different story, but it also features more actual music.

MORE METAL HORROR

Be sure to check out anything by the Adams family >

I really wanted to like Invoking Yell as it focused on three female characters, which isn’t something we see too much. Plenty of movies have all (or predominantly) male casts, but rarely the other way around.

However, having an all-female cast is far from enough to get my juices flowing. So to speak. The story of this movie is for a short film, and it never got under my skin. Not even close.

And having an all-female cast doesn’t do much when the writer and directors are male. Not much girl power in that department!

INVOKING YELL is out on Digital on September 20, 2024.

Details

Director: Patricio Valladares
Screenwriters: Patricio Valladares, Barry Keating
Cast: María Jesús Marcone, Macarena Carrere, Andrea Ozuljevich