User Reviews

A literature professor and writer is involved with one of his students. After spending an afternoon together she slits her wrists.

A year later he's still a wreck and has nightmares about some woman killed in a ritual. Suddenly the news show a woman killed just how he dreams it. His editor convinces him to investigate. He breaks into the house where the woman was killed and finds a mysterious picture of some men. He also runs into a girl who is also there investigating. They find a hidden door and steal some eggs-shaped lament configuration. They escape before the police grab them.

She's a stripper. Her boss is keeping her passport until she pays him money back. She joins forces with the writer to research the dead woman and this picture of the men. The editor also helps. They discover the identity of the men, all are dead but one. They visit him. He talks about words, poerty and 7 (?) evil "muses." The muses eventually make contact with the writer--they want their egg-thing back.

We learn that the girl actually knew the dead woman and also knows about these muses. There's something of a revelation.

Somehow they end up in psychiatric hospital, abandoned of course, where they'll have to face the muses. Here the story connects with the girl who commits suicide in the into and we learn what the men from the photo where up to. There's another revelation of sorts.

Muse is a long, slow, duller Euro multi-government-financed horror thriller directed with little inspiration. The story isn't bad but director Jaime Belaguero doesn't know what to do with the material. Elliot Cowan's tired acting and poor voice recording doesn't help a bit. Ana Ularu is adorable and does her best but she can't carry the movie all by herself. There's the occasional horror every half an hour or so, but there's no serious attempt to frighten the audience or add some atmosphere, which shouldn't have been too difficult. The exteriors of the psych hospital location for instance look spectacular. At least there some nudity at the beginning. The movie as a whole, as most horror movies has an overly dark and lifeless tone. Music is also atrocious, nothing but melodramatic piano that's mostly out of place. The story tries to make a big deal about poetry, words, literature, but that doesn't add any depth. Overall Muse is a missed opportunity and quite a failure.

If someone had compared "mientras duermes" with bergman (the end), "musa" is a mix of influences, giallo or b movies.... but the most terrifying question is what the heck is doing our christopher lloyd here? when zemeckis is gonna do something about? back to the future part iv now!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a few brief moments that resemble horror, but Muse is really more of a supernatural thriller or a dark adventure. It's not going to be anyone's favorite movie of the year, but it's still a pretty solid production, with good cinematography, cast, and characters.

The big issue here is the core premise, which is actually really interesting and filled with potential, but ends up feeling a little underdeveloped. I wish there would have been more backstory on the individual muses and that we'd have gotten to see more of their interesting powers. I have to give the movie credit for at least making me that interested that I wanted more of what it had though.

Overall it was still a good, enjoyable film that kept my attention the whole time and I didn't regret my time spent on it.

I read a couple of reviews that praised this that weren't shill reviewers so I thought I would give it a go. I persevered for nearly 40 minutes. I felt like a martyr for getting that far - and then I just could NOT take any more. I skipped through the rest in about 5 minutes which didn't produce anything much more interesting and I had such a wave of relief when I saw the credits begin to roll.

I've given it a 3/10 for the acting but it lost the other 7 for the directing and writing. Absolutely ludicrous and awful, awful, awful. It's just SOOO boring. Just don't inflict this on yourself unless you 're one of those eccentric, middle-class, pretentious art lovers then you might find some kind of delusional arty wonderfulness in this - if you've sucked down enough codeine or Valium.

The popular literature professor Samuel Solomon (Elliot Cowan) is a great friend of Professor Susan Gilard (Franka Potente) in the university and is secretly in love with Beatriz (Manuela Vellés), who is one of his students. After making love at Samuel´s home, Beatriz asks Samuel to promise that he will love her forever. Then she goes to the bathroom and commits suicide. One year later, Samuel is no longer teaching and has recurring nightmares with a woman that is brutally murdered. Out of the blue, he learns that a woman called Lidia Garetti (Leonor Watling) was found brutally murdered at home and he realizes that she is the woman of his nightmares. He decides to sneak into the crime scene to investigate and he stumbles upon a young woman, Rachel (Ana Ularu), who claims to have the same nightmare. They snoop around and Samuel finds an oval object hidden in a water tank and a photograph hidden in a photo-frame. However the police arrive at the place and Samuel and Rachel need to flee. Rachel takes the object with her and disappears. Samuel identifies the men in the photo and soon he learns that he has entered in the uncanny world of The Seven Muses, cruel supernatural women that have inspired and destroyed writers along the centuries. Further, there is no way out unless he destroys the Seventh Muse. But who and where she is?

"Muse" is a little gem with a melancholic and complex storyline about the muses that inspire writers throughout time described as insidious and cruel supernatural women. The viewer needs to pay attention to the screenplay that has many details and references. Viewers that had the chance to see the spooky 1988 "Spellbinder" will delight with the underrated "Muse" that has the same style. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

The sound mix was incredibly uneven which completely ruined the viewing experience...

My first niggle is, as other reviewers have pointed out, that this is a supernatural thriller, not horror. Not a bad thing at all, IMO, but a smidge irritating that the genre is miscategorized. It was good, but really could've used another half hour to flesh out, so to speak, and be what it should've been and deserved to be. I'll be looking for longer cuts on DVD. The almost non-existent and very rushed bonding of the two leads needed more development to really be effective. Really, I would love a sequel, but only if given more character and story development. There's that word again: development. Too hasty - didn't really sink its hooks into me like it could have and should have. Visually - wonderful. Very well done. Actors & acting were, to me, perfect.

This movie is really terrible. Messy plot, bad actors, not scary at all. Do yourself a favor, switch channel!

I can claim no familiarity with the source material, but judging this film strictly on its own merits, I'm impressed with how it builds its mystery. Some aspects of the plot feel rather common - Rachel's background, for example - yet it finds success in slowly assembling a narrative swirling together dark fantasy, supernatural horror, and thriller vibes. The underlying mythology of the tale is fascinating, and the scene writing bears suitable variety while always carrying wonderfully dark atmosphere. All the effects look fantastic - blood, gore, and special makeup not least of all - and between these and the fundamental arrangement of some scenes, some moments manage to be distinctly chilling as they present. To that point, hats off to filmmaker Jaume Balagueró for tight, expert direction, and Pablo Rosso's cinematography is also terrific. Moreover, it's quite the cast assembled for this very international co-production, and everyone gives strong performances leaning into the grim airs and bringing the story to life. I wasn't sure what to expect as I started watching, but I quite like 'Muse.'

To some degree the narrative writing doesn't feel altogether complete, as though we're seeing more of the bare-bones structure of the tale, and possibly fragments thereof, instead of its totality. From one element to another the screenplay doesn't necessarily seem full of the rich detail that would truly help the viewing experience to stand out and be memorable. With that said, it's to the credit of Balagueró and co-writer Fernando Navarro - and certainly the cast and crew - that the feature is still as engaging and compelling as it is despite such relative lack. Between the horror violence, grisly imagery, and the more grand and sinister notions underpinning the plot, as well as all the hard work put into the picture generally, there's plenty to keep the viewer actively attentive through to the end.

If my words don't seem especially enthused, well, take that as a reflection of the title itself. Don't get me wrong: this is very well made in every regard, the narrative is engrossing, the grim ambience is delightful, and I really like the cast. There's also nothing about 'Muse' that so greatly leaps to the forefront as to demand viewership, and unless you're a diehard fan of someone involved, there's perhaps no major reason to go out of your way for it. Nonetheless, it ably scratches the itch for genre fare, and maybe after all that's all it needs to do. Worth 100 minutes of your time? If you have the chance to watch, then I'd surely say so.

How can any one make such a bad horror movie it should have been rated below 3 satrs

Samuel Salomon : Eliott Cowan , a settling literature professor , suffering recurring nightmares in which a woman : Leonor Watling is cruelly killed . Suddenly , the same woman is really murdered and is found dead at an isolated house . Another girl : Ana Ularu has also dreamed about the astonishing murder . Together , they sneak here and there , discovering a macabre weird World of the fantastic muses who have inspired artists throughout .

Creepy and eerie horror movie with thrills , chills , terrifying scenes , strange rituals , twists and turns . This is a surprising film that starts with a tragic love story and follows to surprising us by means of lots of twists and turns . Including an interesting and mysterious script with plenty of superstition, witchery , ritualistic killings and supernatural elements . Main and support cast are frankly well . Elliott Cowan is fine as a grieving literature professor who has been off work after a tragic death and becomes involved into a horrifying world controlled by mythical figures, a coven of seven ominous women , as he will do whatever thing he can to discover the intriguing mystery . While Ana Ularu is nice as Raquel , the call-girl working at a night-club that will soon find herself immersed in nightmarish incidents. Along with a competent secondary cast , such as : Leonor Watling , Franka Potente, Manuela Valles , Yen Cheung , and the veteran actors Joanna Whalley and Chistopher Lloyd .

It displays an atmospheric and sinister cinematography , full of lights and shades by cameraman Pablo Rosso . As well as a chilling and suspenseful musical score by Stephen Rennicks . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Jaume Balaguero. This Spanish director Balaguero is a good craftsman who has written/directed various succesful horror films such as : Rec 4 , Rec 2 , Fragiles, Sleep Tight , Darkness , Los Sin Nombre, among others .

This movie make me feel like I'm watching 60s movie from Greece There was no plot not scary scenes not even a central character Not even bother Thank you

Muse is a tragic story about a man who is investigating the sudden suicide of his girlfriend. The more he investigates the deeper he dives into a dark spiral of rituals and death. The movie had some nice ideas and approaches for the topic and there was definitely potential here, but in the end it turned out pretty average and honestly rather forgettable. There are no memorable scenes or aspects that the movie can provide. It was a decent watch and the production value was fine, however the movie felt very underdeveloped and the pacing was too slow at some points. Overall the movie was decent but I don't think I will remember any of it in the couple of weeks. [5,2/10]

The director of some of the best horror movies of the last two decades - I need to rewatch Darkness but even more so Nameless. Both those movies are amazing to say the least. Really gripping and visually very well told. The latter part continues here too, even if the story is or does not feel as gripping as some of the other stuff he has done.

But that is really complaining on a high level, because the movie has more than a decent story. Characters one can follow through and feel for. Which is almost anything you can ask for - horror or drama, call it what you like, maybe even both. You can and will be entertained if you let the movie do that to you

Muse is a mixed bag to me - I like the acting, the production, the sinister "tone" or atmosphere of the movie. On the other hand the plot misses some momentum, and, last but not least, the ending is a rather disappointing one. Anyway, if you are in the mood for some dark mystery (with only a faint taint here and there that one could dare to call horror) and don't mind a slow pacing, you may try this one.

Worth to watch if you like mystery and horror movies. Solid ending, a bit predictable, but good.

Great acting, interesting story line and cinematography. I am confused on the low score on this movie it was a great watch

This one is a solid 7 for the different type of plot that this movie have .. For the first time I see a movie with a start, mid and end.. I wouldn't describe it as a thriller-horror movie rather than a drama.. Nevertheless it's a movie that will keep you awake and alert..

Why people dont appreciate good films anymore??? It's an amazing clever story, nice artistic filming and scary enough but beautiful at the same time. Basically there are no horrors I didn't see, but nevertheless I really liked it! Well done!Don't go by reviews,check it out by yourself!

"Muse" features one of the most shockingly unpredictable (that is, if you haven't read the plot synopsis beforehand) and intriguing opening scenes, as well as the most beautiful title-sequences I've seen in a long time. So, for what it's worth, after barely five minutes you can rest already assured you haven't wasted any time or money! But, even more impressive, "Muse" remains a fascinating and continuously surprising thriller/horror tale throughout its running time.

Finally, I'd almost say, we have another original, intellectually challenging, genuinely atmospheric, and captivating mystery tale. Scriptwriter/director Jaume Balagueró departs from a couple of familiar horror themes, like an emotionally tormented poet as the protagonist and visions in dreams that become grim reality, but after that nothing is routine or predictable anymore. I don't intend to reveal any plot details, partially because it's too convoluted but mainly because it's a sinister journey worth discovering for yourself. I read about comparisons between this film and Dario Argento's "Three Mothers"-trilogy, and I can relate to that, especially in terms of surreal morbidity and atmosphere.

It's a tense and uncanny puzzle that you'll want to resolve. However, every time you think the pieces start fitting together, a new and overwhelming twist hits you straight in the face. That is rare these days, to say the least. Elliot Cowan and particularly the stunning Romanian actress Ana Ularu are terrific leads, and it was nice to see former cult-queen Franka Potente in a significant role again as well. Creative cult-chameleon Christopher Lloyd has a brief but very memorable supportive role. To be totally honest, I used to think Balaguero was a very overrated director, but the older and matured version of myself guesses it's about time to give "Darkness" and "The Nameless" another fair chance.

A film with an interesting plot and full of twists... No particularly gruesome scenes but that's what I think makes a horror movie a success. Well-congenital plot performed really well by the actors. Great directing with a good photography... I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I do not understand why its rating on this site was so low... But now I've got it up!