directed by: Agnieszka Smoczyńska,
written by: Robert Bolesto, cinematography by Jakub Kijowski
cast: Marta Mazurek (I, Olga Hepnarova, The Innocents), Michalina Olszańska (I, Olga Hepnarova, Fancifull)
genre: horror/musical/sci-fi/romance
production: Poland 2015
language: Polish
Just your average 80s infused, gothic horror musical with vampire mermaids.
(quote from slashfilm.com)
Festivals & Awards:
- Sundance Film Festival – Special Jury Award for Unique Vision and Design
- Seattle International Film Festival
- Sofia International Film Festival
- East End Film Festival
- Edinburgh International Film Festival
- Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema
- Nashville Film Festival – Grand Jury Prize: Graveyard Shift Competition, Steven Goldmann Visionary Award, Special Jury Prize: Best Actress – Graveyard Shift Competition
- Austin Fantastic Fest – Special Mention
- Fantasia Film Festival – Special Jury Prize: Cheval Noir
- Fantasporto – International Fantasy Film Award: Best Film, Best Special Effects, Best Director
- Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival – Best Film – Honorable Mention: Narcisse Award, Best Film,
“Forget ‘La La Land,’ This Sexy Cannibal Mermaid Musical Is Tops”
The Daily Beast
“Polish Mermaid Musical ‘The Lure’ Gets Joyously Nasty”
The Village Voice
“FEARLESS”
“musical interludes […] add another layer of fantasy and complexity to an already ambitious feature.”
The Hollywood Reporter
“The best weird-as-fuck film of the festival”
“dance numbers would make Katy Perry seethe with jealousy;
the gore would impress Rob Zombie”
Esquire
(placing “The Lure” on top 11 Sundance films list)
“Say hello to your new favorite midnight-movie import”
Rolling Stone
(placing “The Lure” on top 10 Sundance films list)
“like Cronenberg at Disneyland”
“Will ‘Lure’ You In”
“an awful lot of fun”
VICE
“a very sexy, seductive quasi-comedy”
Indiewire blogs: Sydney’s Buzz
“a darkly freaky riff on Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’.”
Indiewire’s blogs: The Playlist
“seduces with a siren’s call of impressive special effects and a stylishly sleazy vibe”
Screen Daily
“sounds strange enough to make a splash”
The Telegraph
“violent, sexy fairytale”
“luscious, strangely enchanting”
“terrific fun”
Cinevue
“This movie has everything!”
Bloody Disgusting
“a hell of a lot of fun”
“ a primal jolt of honest-to-God originality that demands to be witnessed”
Consequence of Sound
“gorgeous”
“that feeling, of leaving the theater not entirely sure of what you just watched is, for me, the reason to go to Sundance”
The Verge
“a nightmare you just might want to have twice
terse, funny, sorta sad and defiantly weird”
Filmmaker Magazine