The Unseen

I had seen The Unseen on TV years ago, but I didn't remember enjoying it that much. Something about it felt bland. Upon rewatching it a few nights ago, I was surprised by how well made and entertaining it was.

Three female reporters (including Barbara Bach) head up to Slovang, California to cover a big festival. There's a mix up with their hotel room and they find themselves without a place to stay. An odd man (Sydney Lassick) offers them a room at his home and they accept. Little do they know that this will be a huge mistake that will put all their lives at risk.

The Unseen won't get any major points for creative gore effects or inventive murders. In fact, that might be why I didn't care for it much when I saw it, having been raised on Friday the 13th movies. The death scenes are unremarkable and a little boring, but the story surrounding them is far better than most of the junk they'd throw into slasher films around this time. The characters actually have arcs and things to do and don't just sit around waiting to be killed off.

Barbara Bach is beautiful and handles herself fine during the finale when she's drenched in rain, mud, and blood, but she's a little comatose throughout the rest of the film. She's likable enough, but one does wonder what a more interesting actress would have done with the role. Lassick is at his creepy best and Lelia Goldoni as his put upon wife might just steal the show in a role that has precious few lines, but a lot of presence. She's playing for maximum Greek tragedy and she's wonderful. Stephen Furst of Animal House fame shows up in a totally unrecognizable role and brings his character a ton of unexpected pathos even under pounds of prosthetics. It's a marvel of a performance.

The Unseen could have used a little more thought and detail put into the murder set pieces to make them scarier and a little more creative, but the rest of the package is so interesting that it's not that big of a deal.

This starts off with an incredibly unsettling atmosphere and quickly dives into a smorgasbord of perversity before ending on a balls-out, insane final act.

I'm honestly pissed that I'd never heard of this one before today. If you enjoy your horror a little more on the depraved side, do yourself a favor and watch this flick. You won't be disappointed.

This scared the hell out of me when i was a teenager. Now I find it more amusing than scary, but with some pretty unsettling moments and with a kind of sleazy quality to it that I like. And, come to think of it, the plot is rather disgusting actually...but handled with some kind of taste. If there is a problem with this movie, it is that there are HUGE gaps where nothing exciting or interesting happens. Also, the ending goes on forever, making a potentially tense climax seem silly after a while with Barbara Bach screaming and screaming. The "monster", after it is exposed, isn't very scary either unfortunately. The somewhat drab look of the movie also works against it, making it appear as a TV-movie more than something made for theaters. But it is an example of films that are rarely made nowadays so I urge horror fans to watch it and feel a bit nostalgic...

Since "The Unseen" is your basic B movie, the only reason to see it is that it stars Barbara Bach (Ringo Starr's wife), Stephen Furst (Flounder in "Animal House") and Sydney Lassick (Cheswith in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and also the principal in "Carrie"). No, seriously. That's the only reason to check it out: The Beatles, John Belushi and Stephen King are linked by a story of three women staying in a house inhabited by a carnivorous inbred! If only the founders of Solvang had predicted this! Sorry if I haven't done the greatest job describing the movie. It's just that a cast like this easily eclipses the movie, in my view. Granted, there are a few of the requirements for horror flicks, namely the bathtub scene. Otherwise, nothing significant here.

PS: Barbara Bach had previously starred in a similar movie with a similarly jaw-dropping cast. That movie was the Italian horror flick "L'isola delli uomini pesce" (called "Screamers" in the US), in which she co-starred with Mel Ferrer, aka Audrey Hepburn's ex. Yes, it's true. Ringo Starr's soon-to-be wife and Audrey Hepburn's ex co-starred in a movie about half-human, half-fish creatures.

The Unseen is done in a style more like old Hollywood mysteries than a horror show. The film is somewhat slow but lots of bizarre imagery keeps it the film alive and watchable. The basic idea of young girls stalked by something in the basement is old, but good acting and production make the movie worth watching. The movie is notable for its emotional impact and certainly not for any explicit action or special effects. I rated it an 8 out of 10.