The Dead Thing - New Release Review
Director: Elric Kane
Starring: Blu Hunt, John Karna, Ben Smith-Petersen, Katherine Hughes, Josh Marble
Written by: Elric Kane, Webb Wilcoxen
Produced by: Matt Mercer, Monte Yazzie
Cinematography by: Ioana Vasile
Original Score by: Michael Krassner, Robin Vining
Synopsis:
A young woman lost in a series of meaningless connections falls in love with a charismatic and sensitive man, who hides a dark secret that turns her affair into a dangerous obsession.
Thoughts:
It’s funny to me that everyone has a dream about making it big in Hollywood, but if films have taught me anything, it’s that L.A. seems like an absolute nightmare. 'Starry Eyes', 'Brand New Cherry Flavour' and 'Maxxxine' (to name just a few) show the shady side of living in the City of Angels, putting up with insane circumstances for the chance to live the superstar lifestyle; but what’s it like for normal people just trying to get by? And how do they survive the evil underbelly of L.A?
Blu Hunt stars as Alex, a girl stuck in a dead end job looking to make some sort of connection with another like minded human being. She ends up going on several terrible dates before meeting Kyle (Ben Smith Peters) who seems like the perfect man, but after their first date, Kyle “ghosts” Alex. At this point, I got a sneaking suspension of what the plot might turn into and I was praying that I was going to be wrong...unfortunately, my sixth sense was right.
I’ll not spoil anything here, but the “twist” felt like a cheap gimmick that’s half thought out. The underlining message behind the film and what it’s saying about being lonely in a big city, I really enjoyed. The films focus kind of gets lost between the drama aspects and the horror, making me wish it was just a straight up character piece.
Blu Hunt’s performance was definitely an important factor and it's what kept me engaged with the film. The actress delivers an excellent performance, giving herself over to the role both physically and spiritually, to her fullest. There’s some scenes that require her to act out certain intimate situations not often seen in films these days and she’s not shy on delivery. Her character goes through an absolute whirlwind of emotions and Hunt is never not believable in the role, making it feel as human as possible, where some people might play the same role completely over the top.
Ben Smith-Petersen performance on the other hand was a complete miss for me. It's understandable why he’s playing the character the way he is when the “twist” is revealed, but even by the end I still found his performance flat. John Karna is fun here as Alex’s co-worker, I’ve always enjoyed Karna as an actor since his time on the 'Scream' TV series, so I was glad to see him here.
I should say that I’m a huge fan of the director Elric Kane. Whilst I’ve never seen his previous films (although I’m sure he’d like to have The Dead Thing stand as his true debut film), I’m a die hard listener of his podcasts (Colours of the Dark and Pure Cinema) and enjoy Elric’s thoughts on the industry, for the most part.
It’s a shame that I didn’t like 'The Dead Thing' as much as I thought I would. It looks beautiful (shot by Ioana Vasile) and there’s some great moments, but overall the film just fell flat for me. I’m excited to see what Kane does next for sure, as I think he does have a unique voice when it comes to telling a heavy hearted human story.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Adam Neeson
'The Dead Thing' is available to stream on Shudder from February 14th