Ick

If you're the kind of genre fan who can't get enough of Cooties, Night of the Creeps, or Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, then Joseph Kahn's ICK is your next late-night obsession. Equal parts slime soaked satire, throwback creature feature, and goofball gorefest, ICK is a B-movie with A-level confidence, a film that knows exactly what it is and owns it every gloriously gooey step of the way.

Brandon Routh delivers another enjoyable performances as Hank Wallace, a washed-up high school football star turned reluctant science teacher with a personal grudge against mediocrity, and now, apparently, aliens (I think). When a parasitic lifeform begins infecting his sleepy hometown, he's forced to team up with sharp witted student Grace (Malina Weissman, absolutely owning every line) to save the world or at least their zip code.

The script balances absurdity and affection with surprising finesse. While the satire could have easily veered into "try-hard" territory, it never does. Instead, it feels right, organic, self-aware, and just grounded enough to work. Think They Live, but with alien goo and gym class trauma.

Let's talk about that goo. The CGI? Well... it's fine. Serviceable. Some of the larger-scale creature shots look like they were rendered on a monster energy drink budget, but honestly, it just adds to the film's low-fi charm. Would practical effects have elevated it? Absolutely. But in fairness, some of the creature sequences are too bonkers to pull off practically without quadrupling the budget. Thankfully, the film leans into its own ridiculousness, never pretending to be more polished than it is.

Where ICK really surprises is in its heart. Beneath the eye-rolling puns, exploding heads, and sarcastic monologues, there's a genuine emotional throughline. Hank's journey from burnout to unlikely hero has weight.

ICK is exactly what the horror-comedy genre needs more of bold, messy fun with a sharp bite. It's not trying to win awards. It's trying to make you laugh, scream, cheer, and say, "What the hell did I just watch?" and in that, it completely succeeds.

Context: I am 60+ now, degreed and experienced in cinema, with three Generation "Z" boys. So this movie is not for me, it's for them. I only give it 6-stars because it misfits my own entertainment needs. I expect teenagers and young adults who were tweens and teens in 2000-2010 will connect with this much better.

That being said, I would describe this as being a hyper-paced satire that pretends to be about horror but is really about our modern culture, especially that which Gen-Z must suffer through.

The Ick, being a familiar but mostly ignored and unexplained creature that suddenly becomes destructive, is a METAPHOR.

It represents cultural rot, something that grows everywhere and we complacently ignore it until it becomes antagonizing, and many of us continue to try ignoring it, or minimizing it, to our demise.

Once you watch this movie with those lenses it begins to make more sense. Listen carefully to the dialog and you'll hear the indoctrination of critical theory (identity politics and oppression narratives), postmodernism (nihilism), postcolonialism (anti-settler narratives), and capitalism vs socialism debates. All of it is not to preach any of these, but to make fun of it. The Ick not one of these things or the other, it's the ignorance, the complacency, the intolerance, and the polarization of these variant invasive philosophies.

You could even frame the Ick as poststructuralism - which is best imagined as a culture-bomb - wherein all of these other ostentatious disciplines are its components.

In effect, the movie is a lot smarter than it appears, but if you are older than Gen-Z and you are not aware of its goals, then it's look completely dumb and a waste of your time. As I say, if that describes you, it wasn't made for you. It was made for the kids who grew up in our mess.

I cannot say its humor made me laugh a lot, but it delivered some chuckles - it's wit is dry and fast so you have to keep up.

I do think that the editing is very choppy though, and doesn't do it service. Had this been smoothed out a little it would have been more palatable.

I missed a little bit cause I saw The Home right before this but what I experienced Ick was so great! Nice campy vibes, Brandon Routh has never done horror before and he's awesome in it as Mr. Wallace/ Dad lol. Crazy this costed 19 bucks as a fathom event to see but I'm glad I did and the girl that played Grace is so beautiful!

Saw it on opening night at ScreamFest 2024 in LA. Was absolutely hysterical. Moves at TikTok speed and passes by very quickly even though it's not a short movie. The direction was great, the pace was quick, the cast was strong, and the soundtrack was incredible. Overall the movie was fun, satirical, and a good mix of jump scares and laugh-out-loud moments. I can't remember the last time I saw a cast that was this strong in a film that was relevant for my generation. Old people might not get it, but if you grew up in the early 2000's and after, you will.

This film won't cast a light on big world issues, but it will make you laugh at how terrible humanity is. Ick is the kind of movie you'll watch over and over again to discover new funny details in you hadn't noticed before. Ick is awesome and one-of-a-kind in the best way possible. Would highly recommend!

Oh, what an absolute blast! This is genuinely some of the most fun I've had with any movie in theaters this year. I loved everything about it. Legendary music video director Joseph Kahn brings a vision to life here that harkens back to such a specific period of time. It fits right in with so many movies of the era it's emulating. Visually, it's quite incredible and I found myself in awe of what was being brought to the screen. The craft displayed here is masterful, and Kahn commits to his bold concept all the way through. It is so kinetic, imaginative, and has a powerful energy, moving seamlessly from shot to shot in a way that feels natural to the film's style. The production design is amazing. The film is honestly enchanting and just oozes charm. It wastes no time and throws you right in. So much is happening within the frame and the pace is nonstop - but as fast as this film goes, it never loses you. The aesthetic itself makes it feel like a feature length music video, and I mean that in the best way. It's defined especially by its unbelievable soundtrack, which is maybe the most impressive curation of songs I've seen in a long time. This is seriously a soundtrack that someone would only dream of having in their film. They're just INSANE needle drops, and I give major props to the team for being able to lock down all of them. I was truly blown away. We were cheering!

As Kahn mentioned in his intro to the film, he has as many creature jumpscares as he does punk rock jumpscares. The music of the All-American Rejects, Good Charlotte, Wheatus, Creed, Paramore and tons of other great bands popping up throughout the film instantly brought me back to my childhood, when my sisters were in high school and I was growing up with the songs they played. It was amazing to hear all this music in a feature film, and especially with the context of which they were used. Their place in the film feels quite motivated, as the story has a focus on the disconnect (and also similarities) between the generation of teens from the 90s/00s and those of today. Telling a modern story while using nostalgic music like this really worked to get into the headspace of Hank, played so brilliantly by Brandon Routh (who absolutely needs more starring roles today). I found him to be an excellent protagonist with a really compelling arc. I loved his transition from all-star quarterback/prom king to a broken man, stuck in one spot, whose life didn't go as planned. The opening perfectly depicts his tragic downfall, and the remainder of the film allows us to explore him as a character. He has to battle his past and the direction his life took, while also trying to move forward and own up to his newfound discovery of responsibility. The Ick itself serves as a clear allegory for the pandemic and how our society has handled it, but I think it doubles as a representation of the force that holds us back and keeps us stuck in the past. The film is all about the fact that we can't fix our mistakes, but we can move forward from them. Hank's leg is a constant reminder of this. So many are quick to embrace the problem as the solution, but it takes effort to be better and create progression in your life. I thought it was a beautifully heartfelt story to be told in a dark time of our world currently.

Also, like this month's Eddington, it makes hilarious commentary about insane people willing to get infected in the name of freedom, as well as teens using social awareness as a tool for selfish reasons. It gives us a very funny satirical look at different generations and ideologies that made me laugh, showing absurdities from all sides. I think I was smiling throughout the entire movie. It's so clever and has a heart of gold. Routh is immensely great in the film, and I dug how he played off of Malina Weissman (who heavily reminded me of Sabrina Carpenter). She was awesome here and clearly has a bright career ahead of her. I also can't stress how happy it made me to see Mena Suvari in the film, who is just a staple of so many 90s teen films. Her appearance in the opening could've been pulled straight from one of her older movies and I wouldn't have batted an eye. Such a cool meta role to include her in. Our theater also showed American Beauty and American Pie this month, making it an unofficial Mena Suvari month! This was just such a refreshing movie that blends a 2000s coming of age tone with a social satire/creature feature, soaring at every genre it taps into. It's full of endearing characters and performances, very impressive VFX work, a generationally great soundtrack, and the movie does not overstay its welcome at all. What a gem and a smart throwback film - I will definitely be rewatching this and I hope everyone gets the chance to see it this week! I wish it was getting a wider release. I desperately need to seek out Joseph Kahn's other movies and can't wait to see what else he has in store! This simply rules.