Reviews

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  ★★★★ review by bree1981 on Letterboxd

  Frightfest 2015 Film # 3

  This film took me totally by surprise, wasn't expecting much from it and only really decided to go and see it because it fitted in best timing wise but it was one of the creepiest films I saw all weekend, really unnerving and it keeps you guessing.
  
  Estranged brother and sister Ed, (Dean Cates) and Lyla (Lauren Ashley Carter) get a distressing call from their older brother Marty (Brian Morvant), a combat veteran suffering from post traumatic stress and paranoid schizophrenia. Worried they reluctantly head to a remote lakeside cabin to stage an intervention. When they get there they are confronted by Marty, rambling incoherently about government conspiracy's, military testing and some sort of Pod in the basement but are these the ramblings of a lunatic or is there some truth to what he's saying.........
  
  This is a really great claustrophobic horror movie with 3 outstanding lead performances especially from Brian Morvant as the paranoid Marty who is just chilling at times. The director Mickey Keaton really is one to keep an eye on, he does a brilliant job building up a feeling of unease and it kept me gripped throughout, the industrial score also adds to the creepy, unsettling feel and while the ending won't be for some people I didn't have a problem with it. Highly recommended.

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  ★★★½ review by Raventomb on Letterboxd

  There's something in the basement, or is there? A decent low-budget creature feature that throws the idea of said creature in amongst an already troublesome family tryst. The leads, Brian Morvant, Dean Cates & Lauren Ashley Carter, are great as three siblings with almost irrevocable distain for each other, and the question of whether there is or isn't a creature in their midst is often pushed to the background to make way for their increasingly barbed and derogatory critiques of each other. For anyone with brothers or sisters, the relationships here will carry a sense of realism that's undoubtedly accentuated for dramatic purposes, but it serves the story well, injecting the plot with large doses of hysteria, misdirection and searing tension throughout. The isolated setting and erratic camerawork do a great job of supporting these performances and the fact that the movie is bookended by a Larry Fessenden cameo adds a stamp of genre quality to the whole thing. A well-acted low-fi horror film that's well worth tracking down if you like that sort of thing.

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  ★★★★ review by Sheena on Letterboxd

  I felt like I needed to breathe into a paper bag a few times watching this. Effectively creepy and intense, carried by an equally talented cast. The paranoia presented from the beginning just eats away at you. There is no telling who to believe.

  Bit of a warning to anybody who has issues with epilepsy though, there are a lot of 'flashing' scenes to be aware of. They honestly need to provide some kind of warning on films these days, jeez.

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  ★★★½ review by SmokingPizza on Letterboxd

  What an intense horror flick! I haven't seen this much cabin fever induced paranoia since Bug. Really cool little story condensed well and moving swiftly in all its 78 min run time. Ushered through with some nice cinematography, excellent score, and some really great powerful acting which makes the overall feel of this get under your skin and behind your brain even more. It may not please everyone who watches but if you're wanting a consistent panic attack fused with a monster mystery in the basement type story this is your best to justify that. It'll leave you shocked at more than one point that's for sure.

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  ★★★½ review by Howard Gorman on Letterboxd

  Top notch acting from the lead cast. The plot is fairly simple but it plays out really well especially thanks to the cast involved and the payoff is great. Unsurprisingly it won best fright award at FrightFest.

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