A Creature Was Stirring

I had fun watching this one. All of the performances were decent. The first 90% of the movie was straight up campy holiday horror fun. Trapped in a blizzard with a porcupine creature. We've all been there. I actually didn't see the twist coming until well into the second half. That being said, this is partly because the story telling didn't really put in the work. The flood of flashbacks right at the end seemed a bit lazy. I didn't think the ending was terrible but also think the movie would have been much better without it. Turn it off at the breakfast scene and the movie is a 7. Side note, does Connor Paolo not age?

I have to say that the movie's title and its cover/poster was initially what lured me to pick up this movie. Sure, I had never heard about "A Creature Was Stirring" prior to sitting down and watching it here in 2023, so I didn't know what I was in for here, aside from it being a horror movie.

Writer Shannon Wells put together a rather interesting and enjoyable script and storyline for director Damien LeVeck to bring to life on the screen. And director Damien LeVeck certianly did bring the movie to life in an enjoyable and entertaining manner. I like how the storyline keeps the audience in the dark, letting us guess as to what is really going on throughout the course of the movie.

The acting performances in the movie were good. And while the movie had a very small cast ensemble, the actresses and actors on the cast list did put on convincing performances and carried the movie quite nicely. I was especially impressed with the performance of Chrissy Metz, playing Faith. I wasn't familiar with anyone on the cast list, and that is something I enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie.

Visually then "A Creature Was Stirring" certainly was interesting, and the creature design and effects were good. Sure, they weren't over-the-top impressive, but they definitely served the purpose of the movie well enough.

However, I have to say that the ending of the movie, well the last five minutes or so, were sort of anti-climatic and felt somewhat like a slap to the face of the audience, as if the writer and director had to round things up on the fly.

All in all, a watchable and enjoyable horror movie, though it is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

My rating of "A Creature Was Stirring" lands on a five out of ten stars.

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.

I seen someone say the ending was bad but because of that plot twist, I liked the movie even more. It actually made it better for me. Good job and I'd watch it with someone who hasn't seen it, just to see the response to the ending. Good job on the suspense of wondering what's going on with this creature and where did it come from. The actors did a pretty good job as well. I'd give it a higher rating but I didn't care for the look of the creature. It was a little too cheesy looking but I guess it got the job done. Not a waste of your time and it deserves at least a 6, which is definitely good enough to watch.

A Creature Was Stirring had a mysterious and interesting premise. The colorful lighting was a fitting addition for the Christmas season and also gave the movie a stylish and unique look. I love creature features, and I was really curious to see what kind of creature it was and how well they would be able to integrate it into the story. From the look of the cover, it reminded me a little of the creature from Splinter (2008) or The Monster (2016), both of which I really like. In fact, in retrospect, the movie had quite a few similarities to Bryan Bertino's The Monster.

The movie has a message and serves as an overall metaphor. While I don't think movies always need a message, I felt it was relatively fitting in this case. There is a lot of dialogue, which caused the story progression to drag a bit and made me feel a little bored at times. At first, you only catch glimpses of the creature, which didn't make the whole scenario feel particularly threatening or believable. However, toward the end, you get a better look at the design, and I thought it was awesome. I really appreciated the practical effects used.

By that point, the movie was fine for me, but in the end, there is a full exposition dump that explains every little detail in great depth, even though it was quite obvious beforehand what had happened. As the audience, these kinds of explanations give you the impression that the filmmakers think their viewers are incapable of piecing things together, which is not the case most of the time. Good movies leave the ending somewhat vague and trust the audience to understand the message and events. This massive exposition dump at the end felt unnecessary and poorly executed.

The movie has some nice elements, and it's overall definitely not terrible. However, it failed to reach its full potential, which is disappointing because it could have been so much more than a slightly below-average creature feature. [4.9/10]