One of the few films to actually play on the big screen in the last few months makes its way to disc this week. Not so much indoor big screens but the drive-ins across the country that have opened allowing people to get out and enjoy a movie while at the same time practicing social distancing. It’s only natural that the movie is a horror flick since those have been a staple of drive-ins since they began. Hopefully those screens allowed it to get completely dark before they began running THE WRETCHED.
After a short and incredibly creepy set up taking place 35 years ago we fast forward to the present. Teenager Ben (John-Paul Howard) is coming to spend the summer with his father Liam (Jamison Jones). With issues not discussed yet and his parents in the midst of a divorce he ends up working for his father at the marina he manages. There he meets Mallory (Piper Curda) and they become friends. He also notices Sara (Azie Tesfai) getting close with his father.
At their house Ben sees the family next door, a young couple with a baby and a young son named Dillon (Blane Crockarell). Dillon and his mother Abbie (Zarah Mahler) hit a deer on the way home and she decides to keep it for the meat, taking care of dressing down the deer. But something isn’t quite right about the animal. During the night the deer opens from the incision she made and a pair of slimy strange shaped fingers work their way out from the insides of the deer.
As viewers we’re aware of what’s happening. The creature is the same one seen in the opening segment of the film and Ben later discovers that this is a 1,000 year old witch who comes from beneath a tree. She somehow has the ability to remove all memory of those she takes to her lair to eat leaving those left behind without a clue that their loved ones are even missing.
Ben tries to help Dillon but runs afoul of Abbie, now taken over but the witch. After Dillon disappears he can find no one who will believe him that he even existed, including Dillon’s own father. With a past history of making poor choices, the reason he is there with his father for the summer as well as wearing a cast, even Liam refuses to listen to him.
As his life is placed in danger as well as those he loves around him Ben must do something to solve this problem. With no one believing him, with the witch having he ability to simply whisper in the ear of someone and to control them, this is no easy task. Worse yet is a secret that Ben doesn’t even realize until near the end of the film, one that will catch the viewer by surprise as well.
The movie is a nice combination of teen film and horror that works on all cylinders. The scares are there and made effectively so by the special effects department that brings this creation to life in the most spine chilling way possible. For me this creation was one of the best creatures I’ve seen in some time, one that made my skin crawl as well as hoping I never confronted such a thing. Kudos to the effects team behind this.
But that’s not the only thing that makes the movie work. To find actors, especially young actors, that can make their characters believable is rare. All of them on hand here do an amazing job. They are the focus here rather than the adults with the exception of Mahler. That combination of teen angst, anger at parents in the midst of a divorce and a youthful inquisitiveness makes for perfect performances.
Credit also has to go to the directors of this film,
brothers Brett and Drew Pierce. Also responsible for the story they’ve brought
out a new nightmare inducing story and creature that ranks up there with the
best. One can only wonder what this film would have done business wise in
regular theaters with a decent ad campaign. As it is word of mouth from those
who watch it should make it a healthy amount back on disc.
The movie was one that I rented but after watching it I think I might have to add it to my shelves. I know I could watch it again, in the dark, and still find plenty of moments to enjoy. Better yet have over the niece and nephews that need a good scare and this one might do the trick.
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