A Creature Was Stirring

A middle aged mother and her teenage daughter have shut themselves in their home- over Christmas- to ride out a blizzard...when two home invaders break in.

The brother and sister claim they were just trying to escape the cold...and convince the woman to let them stay.

However, little do they know what they've walked in upon.

Though...they're about to find out.

And, I assure you, it's not going to be anything you, they, or anyone else is suspecting.

Because it's quite the trip.

And not one of the good kinds, either.

The whole thing is super weird.

And plays out rather cryptically.

Leaving you to wonder if it's just an incredibly bizarre situation...or actually some sort of psychedelic odyssey into the absurd.

Either way...it's quite twisted.

Not to mention wholly and completely original.

But I must say...I loved every minute of it.

If only because it's super friggin' weird.

I won't give away what the "creature" is in this particular case...because you'll never guess (even though the poster hints at it)...and finding out is half the fun.

So just give it a watch.

And get ready to get weird.

6 out of 10.

The majority of this movie is surprisingly decent for a low budget, one-location film. Aesthetically the house looks pretty good (aside from some weird lighting choices), the actors all perform adequately, and the entire thing slowly builds up into a seemingly layered and interesting mystery.

While not terribly exciting, I enjoyed the slow progression as the scope of the mystery expanded and we see the characters do stranger and more intense things. I felt like they did a good job making every character seem shady to where a variety of major twist(s) could be plausible and applicable to any (or all) of them, and I was genuinely curious to find out how everything was interconnected.

The creature aspect of the movie is done well considering the film's limitations. You do actually see it from time to time and there are some genuinely creepy practical effects used for it. There is some cheesy stuff too (both in terms of effects and scene where the creature is present), but it doesn't ruin it. Honestly, I wish they had just done a straight creature-feature with the creature being a central character/villain instead of the whole "mystery" aspect where you don't know if the creature is real or not, and I would've liked them to cut out some of the various other things going which reduce the focus on the creature and give ol' spiny some more screen time.

All the serious problems with the film come from the ending. The entire thing is very obviously building to a major reveal which should explain all the weirdness that the audience has been witnessing. Unfortunately, the ending fails COMPLETELY.

It feels like they were writing the story as they went and didn't have an ending in mind but thought "eh, we'll figure it out when we get there". Then the time came and they still didn't have anything that could adequately explain things, so they instead opted for something easy and generic which fails to actually line up with anything that was introduced in the movie.

The ending is cliché and a total cop-out. If you like to try to predict twists than you will absolutely have thought of this but likely dismissed it due to how dumb and nonsensical it would be.

The problem is that the ENTIRE movie hinges on the cleverness of the reveal, and the lame reveal actually ruins, or at least makes insignificant, everything else that happened in the movie. When you go back to the scenarios that played out and take the reveal into account everything actually makes LESS sense and gives the impression it was all a bunch of arbitrary stuff that the writer thought looked or sounded good at the time but doesn't actually tie in or interconnect. Instead of tying things up or providing an explanation, it just introduces a bunch of questions and plot holes.

It's a shame about the ending; this was a solid 5-6 for most of its duration, but, as I stated, the ending makes literally every other aspect of the movie worse, so it's impossible to give it a good overall rating. Worth a watch if you've run out of other horror, but don't have any great expectations.

So, trying to be spoiler free, the movie is just strange. The acting leaves a lot to be desired. The lighting reminds me of the George Clooney Batman. Some of the effects are fun, as I really do like practical effects over CGI. There are just too many holes in the end. There's an attempt to wrap it all up, but it just can't make up for all the questions. Some of the questions were happening as I watched. Others came at the end. I'm not trying to blast the movie, as it does have a fun quality, but it certainly isn't one I'll be watching again. Also, I feel compelled to do a review, because with the rating currently an 8/10 at the time of me writing, I think I'm trying to set some realistic expectations for future watchers.

Not a comedy buy you could not tell by watching. If you have at least 4 beers in you then it is somewhat enjoyable.

Gets a 4 because the 2 lead actresses are very good and did a superb job with a trash script. Annalise Basso is also very hot and good eye candy. So a 4.

The story is piecemeal and the script varies from ok to laughable. Some lines make sense, some do not. I do give them .25 point for an original creature, not seen in any other horror movie.

However, it is ruined by the cgi. It is sub par. Like paper mache subpar. They had zero cgi talent.

There is a plot twist that they get kudos for, and gives the movie a tiny ammount of validty.

The trailer kind of made this seem like it was going to be a creepy home invasion movie but boy is it not that. It's a straight up creature movie, think werewolf movie buttttt not a werewolf. Lol .. it's bizarre, but fun. I loved the saturated colors and look of the movie. It was well-acted, and the gore work was outstanding. Funny and over the top practical effects will always win me over. And surprisingly it has a twist ending I did not see coming. If you like a silly weird horror comedy (ie: Slotherhouse) then check this out. Always glad to add another Christmas horror to the yearly rotation :)