Elizabeth Harvest (2018)

They've taken a classic, haunting tale, and basically just sh*t all over it. I love the story of Bluebeard, I remember reading it when I was younger and just being in a sort of daze for a few days after, as I was mesmerised by the ending of the story. I've never seen a film adaptation of the story, and so when I read the synopsis for this movie and realised what it was, I was so excited. I already knew within the first ten minutes I didn't like this film. Never says what year it is set in. It has a late 60s - mid 70s feel about it, yet there's a lot modern technology so I was a bit baffled by this. The score doesn't work, the cinematography is a bit shoddy, but that could be to do with giving it a more vintage look. I just don't know. The lead actress does nothing for me. Didn't get very far as I gave up after around 40min. Hated it that much.

NO lamebrain slice and dice here......No blood & guts for desensitised morons who have no idea what SciFi/horror is. Just a very stylish, well acted, beautifully photographed & directed film. Not a 'thriller' or 'action' film --- Those who have actual active brain cells will relish this gem as a return to the 'slow burn' that carries you comfortably along with it till the end. An enjoyable watch.

The movie is a symbolical representation of Narcissist-Empath relationship. Sebastian Gutierrez describes a typical abuse dynamics between a Narcissist (the husband) and an Empath (the wife). The Narcissist is brilliant and cruel; the Empath is naive and sensitive. The names of the main characters are not randomly chosen - Henry 8th Tudor executed many of his wives, and Elizabeth is the name of his daughter, who survived his abuse and even thrived as a Queen. The abuse cycle has two phases - an idealization phase, represented as a honeymoon; and a devaluation phase - symbolized by the killing of Elizabeth. The typical Narcissistic abuse cycle repeats six or seven times, thus there are six copies (clones) of Elizabeth, all of them created by Henry. In the sick mind of the Narcissist he virtually "creates" and "destroys" his partner. By saying to Elizabeth not to enter the forbidden room, Henry set a trap for her. He knows that she will "disappoint" him at some point of the "relationship" by disobeying him. So he plans her devaluation and annihilation in advance. The Narcissist even creates his new false ego - Oliver. He has a lover (a secondary source of supply) - Claire and a friend - a tertiary source of narcissistic fuel. The Narcissist harvests energy (positive or negative) from the emotional reactions of other people. The drained emotional energy boosts his ego. He needs constant validation and attention. "You can either torture or be tortured." The most important thing for the Narcissist is to be in control because he feels superior this way. In order to break free from the abuse the Empath has to acquire new knowledge about herself - she has to face her childhood traumas which brought her to this kind of "relationship". Elizabeth educates herself - symbolically represented by the picture of the owl. This is the only thing that she takes when she finally escapes her prison. In the movie there are several references to Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece - "The Shining" - 1980: the road, the tunnel, the villa/Overlook hotel, the secret harvesting room/room 237, naked woman in a bathtub...etc. Brilliant movie! 10/10 Enjoy and educate yourselves!

To be honest it got very boring very quick and predictable, I watched it to the end just to see what happened... then thought ... is that it . When someone tells you not to open a door what are you going to do .. surprise surprise.