User reviews

A film about failing small businesses in the US countryside, well that's the the first hour after that prepare for rushed nonsense for the last 20 minutes. A lot of dead air throughout this movie, at the start make sure to come equipped with a notepad so you can figure out who all the characters are and their relationships with one another, because it's not explained. After zero hints that it's going this way a random pathogen appears in the last 20 minutes for something to happen??? That something I still can't explain. Characters show up who have never been seen before to contribute very little. Don't change the entire plot of the movie in the last act.

Trust me, there's infinitely better uses of your time. Plodding, with "dread" music playing from start to end. It's amateurish to play "dread" music before there's the slightest clue WHAT to fear! Too bad the rest of the movie wasn't up to the acting level, which was quite good. You know the editor(s) needed to wield the scissors when you can fast forward without fear of missing anything ANYTHING.

.

This movie moves at a glacial pace. Most of the movie is about a few small family farms in Pennsylvania. The plot creeps along for the first hour or so. I didn't care about these characters.

Eventually there are some horror elements, but I had no idea what was going on. It was confusing to the point of frustration, and this made me care about the characters even less. I just wanted it to be over.

And then it does just end... without any explanation. I have no idea what happened. Pointless. I really had to force myself to finish it but I needn't have bothered. What a complete waste of time.

Pretty much as bad as bad can get. Sometimes, really bad Sci-Fi's make fun of themselves, as in the classic 'Tingler', it's at least letting everyone in on the joke so we all can giggle and snicker at our group silliness.

But this steaming heap of bad film is beyond bad. It's just really astoundingly bad, and seems to go on forever in its terrible, boring, poorly lit, poorly acted badness. Here's what is bad about this movie: The director, the script, the timing, the pace, the dialogue (that basically doesn't exist) the editing, the lighting, the wobbly cameras, all of the acting, and the director. Did I mention him twice? That's because he deserves two thumbs down.

I'm pretty sure the caterer was bad.

Apparently, there are people so rich that they need to throw away good money after bad just to hide income so they dump a couple mill into unprofessional, lost cause films as a 'producer'.

Boring. I forced myself to watch to the halfway point but couldn't make it any further. Literally nothing happens for an hour. This movie would be good background noise if you're trying to fall asleep.

If you want to waste 90 minutes of your life, you are in luck with Unearth. The first hour of the film is boring family bickering... the last 30 minutes is hardly much better however.

As a horror fan, I really do enjoy a good slow burn movie. With Unearth, quite a bit of time is taken with the build up, the story, and the development of the characters, whereas in other films, the eventual horror may feel playful or cathartic, Unearth's patience denies you this, and instead takes an unflinching look at how bad things happen to people. Not good people, or bad people. Just people. There's no big morality play here. Sure, it serves as a cautionary tale about our planet and our relationship to it. Yet, in Unearth, these people don't "get what they deserve", and which is even more harrowing. Because more often than not, that is exactly how life plays out.

This is a film about character, something too many horror films get panned for skimping out on. Way too many reviews read: "We feel nothing for these characters, so we don't care when bad things happen to them". The opposite is true here. The film spends an inordinate amount of time sketching out these people, who they are, and how they live their lives. It's a huge investment that the directors obviously want us to make, as they commit two-thirds of the runtime to said investment, and to be frank; I think it's worth it.

Adirenne Barbeau redefines the role of a family matriarch in this film. Crude. Overbearing, and played to perfection. I got flashes of her performance from Creepshow at times, but where that role had zero nuance, playing exclusively for camp; this performance replaces that with weight and a deep sense of family devotion, loyalty, and love. She knows what's right. She knows what needs to be done. Is it the easy thing to do? No. Does she go about doing it or saying it in the right way? Absolutely not. It's these types of characters that make for fascinating stories.

Likewise, Marc Blucas is not an actor I am well acquainted with, but just like Barbeau, his performance here is deliciously layered. Where Barbeau knows what is right but isn't couth enough to make it happen, Blucas's portrayal of her neighbor, a single father to a teenage mother, has no idea what is right and what is wrong anymore. He is out of choices. So he makes the only one left to him. It's a brilliant contrast between the two.

P. J. Marshall and Monica Wyche were the other stand outs to me. Aching for something more, something else, and making what choices they can in a world made to crush them. I have known too many people like this, and as refreshing as it can be to see such reality paint itself across the screen, it can also be heart wrenching.

The directors were obviously careful in making sure the setting reflected the characters they were placing within them. Growing up in rural PA, I have always had a soft spot for films that felt like places I have been, seen, and grew up in, with Winter's Bone being a wonderful example of this. Here Lyons and Swies opt for that same feeling. The cars are rusty, the tractor has seen better days, homes are constructed out of blankets for walls, and three decade old couches as living room centerpieces. These homes are hot and full of dust in the summer, and likewise they are drafty and smell of burning wood in the winter.

The tension and atmosphere in this, especially towards the final third of the film, reminded me of The Dark and The Wicked. A film that redefines what "bleak" can mean in a film. Relentless. Unstoppable. And unsympathetic. It's shocking without gratuity. It hurts because it doesn't care. There's no motivation here. And for some, this makes for uneasy viewing. I have a few qualms with the ultimate ending, as I don't think it quite delivers once the genie is out of the bottle and we have seen the terrible repercussions. The final minutes just left me cold, which is a shame, because what immediately precedes it is grueling.

I do wish the inevitable, lurking threat would have been hinted at sooner, and that the film could have hit its "horror" stride a bit sooner. But then again, if Lyons and Swies had skimped on their characters, would we have cared as much for them, or would we have cared for what this film is ultimately trying to say?

If you're looking for supernatural horror, this ain't it. This movie made me feel like I needed a shower.

It's essentially nothing but setup. There's no payoff. There's no twist. There's nothing. You watch the movie... the credits roll... and you wish you could unsee it... at least I do.

On the upside, no need to worry about spoilers... There's nothing that could spoil this film any more than it already is.

Hipster films, with no plot, no dialogue, no emotions, literally nothing but pretty pictures that occasionally move aren't movies. They're called paintings, or perhaps optical illusions. Character study films exist, and some are quite good, but they have more substance than this house plant of a film.

I didn't know what I was getting myself into here when I sat down to watch the 2020 horror drama movie "Unearth". In fact, I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to sitting down in 2021 to watch it. But it being a horror movie was more than sufficient to make me want to watch it. Plus the fact that it was a movie that I hadn't already seen before, and also it having an interesting cover, definitely helped seal the deal.

And it should be said that the storyline told in "Unearth", as written by writers Kelsey Goldberg and John C. Lyons is rather slow paced. Now, the storyline itself definitely was interesting enough, but the pacing of the movie just restrained the movie to reach its full potential. And you have to keep focused on the movie, because this is a very confusing storyline. Directors John C. Lyons and Dorota Swies definitely do good jobs at keeping the audience in the dark, and never really knowing what is actually going on and what is just imaginary.

That kind of storyline and approach to a movie doesn't really sit well with everyone in the audience, so "Unearth" could be somewhat of an acquired taste. I enjoyed it well enough, but I feel that the movie could have been a lot more entertaining if it had been properly paced, and also if there was actually a clear and distinct way of knowing what was actually going on.

I sat through the entire movie, and as it ended I was left with a sense of 'okay, what was that all about?', it makes for a somewhat anti-climatic movie and I feel somewhat bereft out of a proper movie experience.

It should be said, though, that the atmosphere in the movie was spot on. I definitely enjoyed that, and there were some elements of a Lovecraftian-inspired sense of cosmic dread to the movie.

The movie had a fairly strong ensemble of actors and actresses to portray the various roles and characters throughout the course of the movie. And they definitely put on good performances. It was just a shame that they weren't allowed to go to the full scope of what could be done, given the limitations of a slow paced story and a very confusing storyline.

"Unearth" wasn't an impressive horror movie, but it definitely was a good atmospheric movie - if there is such a thing.

My rating of the 2020 movie "Unearth" lands on a four out of ten stars. A shame really that this movie wasn't allowed to become more than it turned out to be, because it had all the contents necessary to make for a truly great atmospheric horror movie. If you are in for an evening of proper horror, then your money is not well spent on "Unearth".

I can honestly say that I have never watched a movies as horrible as this one. I can't even put into worlds how incongruent the story line was...attempting to make a story line without ever hitting a relevant point.

The pacing was very small town. The people were believable desperate farmers & family. But the symbolism was my favorite part of this film out of all other aspects! Because we all have repressed emotions somewhere, and eventually it can eat away at us. And these families embodied that, and got super 'fracked up'. Seeing how each character's hidden fears took form, as their desperation grew, was terrifyingly relatable. Also, although fracking is known to produce pollution, this film has us wondering what or who is creating a toxic environment. The ground? The air? The people speaking their opinions about us and our lives? Was it the chicken or the egg? You can take this film literally... But do yourself a favor and dig deeper. (Though please, hold off on any fracking).

Don't eats your time. I have seen 100s of horror movies and this is one of the worst. The actors are good. Everything else is absolutely terrible. I can't believe there are high ratings. Awful.

Part social commentary part body horror fable, 'unearth' joins a list of recent horror flicks that take the slow burn route to deliver their shocks. ' saint maud' and 'relic' proved that the patient approach to movie storytelling can be fruitful, with both receiving critical accolades and swiftly growing cult followings.'unearth' may not leave the viewer in quite the same state of shock as the those two aforementioned movies and may drag in places, but when it comes to effectively creating a palpable sense of dread it stands shoulder to shoulder with them. Two neighbouring farmsteads experiencing financial hardship , struggle with the woes of rural living and some dark personal secrets. When a gas fracking company offers to buy one of the cash strapped neighbour's spare land, tensions arise between the two families and what appears to be a financial lifeline, reveals itself to something far more sinister. 'unearth' is a bleak movie , with an almost downbeat indie drama feel for most of its running time, so those looking for regular short, sharp shocks will likely be disappointed, if you have the patience however , this movie's shocking denouement will pay off handsomely.

Really folks. Once you endured the beginning two-thirds of absolutely nothing interesting happening, then you have the final one-third of senseless none sense.

This movie is nothing but a waste of time.

This title isn't hardly a movie....it's all about talking without any purpose of making anything into a story....don't know why they made this 'story' into something to tell to anyone....one of the worst things i ever seen in awhile....avoid this crap!!!

I would if it wasn't so fragmented while going nowhere.

The environment definitely needs protecting but see little reason to protect this movie with an inflated rating. It's an unbalanced film and in so doing removes the 'suspension of disbelief'. I may as well been watching a mockumentary but as far as I can tell that was not its intention.

Awesome premise, and a good start. Adrienne Barbeau kicks ass, and the acting is good all around. But then comes the angst, and solitary angst, and then the group angst and unresolved grief and personal opportunism. Then just more and more disjointed suffering and trauma that no one is doing anything about while no questions are being asked about anything. After the first half, it just become a 45 minute 'trailer' of nonsensical grief and greed scenes that make very little sense to anyone who can reason and who has the most basic of common sense. Nothing is ever explained. In all honesty, I would barely call this a "movie". It seemed it was going to be a nice, tight little drama, but no such luck. With 2 writers and 2 directors, SOMEBODY screwed this little pooch sideways in the second half. I think the actors deserve an apology...