Unlocked (2023)

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Unlocked (2023)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Length: 1h 57min
Rating: 16+
Production/Distribution: Studio N, Netflix
Director: Tae-joon Kim
Writer: Akira Shiga
Actors: Si-wan Yim, Woo-hee Chun, Kim Hee-won, Park Ho-san, Jeon Jin-oh, Kim Ye-Won
 
Blurb from IMDb: A woman's life is turned upside-down when a dangerous man gets a hold of her lost cell phone and uses it to track her every move.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
Horror/thriller movies still attempt to travel back in time when phones weren’t so common, and technology still had us disconnected. It’s the easy road to take. Dropped phones and remote cabins with no service are getting tired and old. We are not in the 80s anymore. We all have a phone in our pocket and most of us have a computer on our lap, too. There are cameras everywhere, and even those remote cabins tend to get service these days.
 
That doesn’t make us immune to scary situations. In fact, life is even more frightening these days.
 
Doomscrolling, phishing, hackers… these things can be the catalyst for a significantly terrifying tale – and they’re underused in cinema. I’d watch the hell out of a psychological thriller based around doomscrolling.
 
Unlocked touches on the terror of ALWAYS being connected in a way that has been done before, but not as successfully. What makes it scarier is that it’s mostly plausible. Although the plot can get a touch convoluted at times, the motive draws it together with so much chaos that everything feels neater. It’s a little hard to explain, but if they’d gone with a more involved motive, it would have made things feel a little unbelievable.
 

Woo-hee Chun (Beotigo, A Little Princess, The Anchor) tied every terrifying moment together. Her character’s obliviousness in the face of danger made it feel like anyone could be in her shoes. While Si-wan Yim (Road to Boston, Run On, Hell is Other People) seemed so normal that it raised the hair on the back of my neck, knowing what his character was doing when he wasn’t playing a part.
 
I only have two complaints.
 
Despite being advertised as a mystery, there’s no real ‘who dun it’ involved. The story follows the victim, the antagonist, and the cops the whole way through. I do wish that it hadn’t followed the antagonist so closely. It would have made some of the reveals much more effective.
 
There was also some distractingly obvious product placement.
 
As a general rule, I’m not worried about product placement. If a beer bottle is prominently displayed, it doesn’t bother me. That said, there was more than just the occasional bottle on screen. This was flat-out Superman II (1980) level product placement. It was a bit out of place.
 
Still, I enjoyed Unlocked. I was never bored, and the ending was extremely tense.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score –7.0/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5
 
Movie Trailer:

Kimi (2022)

 

Streaming Service: HBO Max
Movie Name/Year: Kimi (2022)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Length:  149 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: New Line Cinema, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures Germany, HBO Max
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: David Koepp
Actors: Zoë Kravitz, Erika Christensen, Rita Wilson, Devin Ratray, Jaime Camil, India de Beaufort, Robin Givens, Jacob Vargas, Charles Halford, Emily Kuroda, Caleb Emery
 
IMDb Blurb: An agoraphobic Seattle tech worker uncovers evidence of a crime.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
Kimi snagged my attention from the jump. The movie might have landed as #7 on my personal Top 20 Movies to Look Out For in February 2022 list, but that was only because of the stiff competition within my top 10 picks. The premise was interesting, the production team solid, and Kimi had a banging cast on board.
 
With a dynamic duo such as David Koepp (Angels & Demons, Premium Rush, You Should Have Left) and Steven Soderbergh (Contagion, Logan Lucky, High Flying Bird) writing and directing, respectively, it’s no wonder the end product was high quality. The story embraced technology and wove both a love letter and cautionary tale at the same time. Simultaneously, they managed to successfully portray the main character’s agoraphobia. My heart was in my throat as she faced down her fears. I was on this rollercoaster and by the end of the ride, I found it not only well worth my time, but I’d take the ride again.

 
Before I get too far down the rabbit hole, I feel I have to digress a little. The tech utilized in the story of Kimi as well as the company that was responsible for it both gave me chills. We already exist in a time when our devices eavesdrop on us. How many times have you had a pop-up ad on your phone or computer shortly after talking about that very product? I can’t tell you how many times it has happened to me. Also, do we really read all of the terms and conditions of every program and application we use on a daily basis? I’ll be the first to admit I don’t always. What have we given these companies permission to do? What have we unwittingly signed away?  Things that make you go ‘hmm.’ Such are the issues that this plot tackled.
 
Albeit, this story isn’t driven by an eavesdropping device. It was close enough to be uncomfortable in that regard, however. I will refrain from following the white rabbit on secure data storage and proprietary customer information access. No, that’s a rant for another day I promise.

 
Zoë Kravitz (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Big Little Lies, The Batman) was bloody brilliant in her role as Angela Childs. In a very short time, she effectively conveyed the story of how she became a shut-in and the varying layers to her complicated existence. I have to give serious kudos to both her and the production team for crafting a character that was badass while neurodivergent without reducing them to a pitiful mess.
 
It’s safe to say I really enjoyed Kimi and even watched this one with my teen. She was right along with me rooting for Angela, and we both giggled at the cameo appearance that defied our expectations. If you have access to HBO Max, Kimi would be an enjoyable stream for fans of the crime thriller genre.

 
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 90%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 52%
Metascore – 78%
Metacritic User Score – 5.0/10
IMDB Score – 6.3/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Movie Trailer:

Shook (2021)

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Shook (2021)
Genre: Horror
Length: 88 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Production/Distribution: The Squid Farm
Director: Jennifer Harrington
Writer: Jennifer Harrington, Alesia Glidewell
Actors: Grant Rosenmeyer, Nicola Posener, Emily Goss, Daisye Tutor, Octavius J. Johnson, Stephanie Simbari, Jeremy Phillips
 
Blurb from IMDb: When Mia, a social media star, becomes the target of an online terror campaign, she has to solve a series of games to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. But is it real. Or is it just a game at her expense.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I was interested in Shook the moment I saw the press kit. Anyone who reads the blog knows that I appreciate horror stories that aren’t afraid to include our updated technology. The only reason it didn’t make my Top 20 is because the trailer wasn’t available in time. Anything on that list has to have a public trailer, and Shook didn’t.

 
It started off a little campier than I thought it would, with a kill that didn’t entirely make sense. The death was something that should have been easily survivable. Had the flick gone full-camp, it would have been fine.
 
The woman going barefoot in a public bathroom, however, grossed me out more than any horror film ever has. Ew.
 
Moving on.
 

For the most part, there was a very 80s slasher vibe to it. Even the soundtrack felt like a call-back to bloody films of the past. In that way, I found it relatively entertaining.
 
I did not enjoy any of the plot resolution, though. It took a hard left and went into a serious, social commentary area.
 
It was all so easy to predict. I feel like the foreshadowing was too obvious. Yeah, you want that layer of storytelling that you can look back on and say, “ok, I see what they did there.” In this case, the movie felt like it was waving those moments in my face and spoiling the ending for me.
 
My final opinion is that Shook was watchable, but it just didn’t go far enough to feel great. It needed to either put both feet in the camp section, or both in the serious social commentary section. It didn’t commit to either, and I felt a little unfulfilled by the time it was over.
 
See Shook for yourself, February 18 on Shudder.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
Shook is definitely a good title for this movie. It perfectly describes my feelings right now in the wake of the final credits.
 
I’m not even sure where to begin.
 
Normally, after watching a movie like this I like to watch something else as a bit of a buffer. It gives me time to digest what happened in the film and how I really felt about it. This time, I’m diving right into my review while the dread and adrenaline still echo here in the dark with me.
 
I’m shook on multiple levels.
 
It’s safe to say that I got a little more than I bargained for. At first, I thought it would be some sort of mash-up between When A Stranger Calls (2006) and Scream (1996) with a smidge of social media tossed in for modern spice. Then the whole story turned on its ear.
 
One of the elements of the film that disturbed me was the fictitious disease mentioned and experienced. The illness sounded a hell of a lot like Multiple Sclerosis. It’s a neurological auto-immune disease for which there is no cure. I’m afraid I can’t draw parallels to the film directly for sake of spoilers.
 

I suffer from MS. It affected my legs and ability to walk first. I get around alright now, for the most part, but I know that I am on a bit of a ticking time clock. Anything – literally anything – controlled by nerves could be next. I take shots three times a week, and the treatment is keeping me stable. (I’m at 6 years and counting…)
 
I’m very grateful for good doctors and an outstanding support system provided by the drug manufacturer for my medicine. I stay positive as much as I can, because there’s no point in wallowing in worry – and stress makes it worse. But what if I couldn’t handle the uncertainty of the future? I do worry sometimes about how my husband and daughter will cope with what might happen if the disease progresses.
 
I don’t mean to ramble, but this particular situation makes this movie hit a little harder – and I imagine anyone else experiencing something similar might also feel this way. Picture someone severely afraid of spiders watching Arachnophobia (1990). Don’t get me wrong. Without elements of the plot hitting closer to home for comfort, it’s still a solid horror flick. For me, it just went to a whole other level.
 
There were plenty of twists to keep audiences guessing and bits that did their best to blindside. I also appreciated the fresh faces of the cast. (That’s not a pun on the fact this revolves around a makeup blogger – promise.)
 
There were a couple of plot holes and spotty places, but I felt them fairly easy to overlook in the bigger scheme of the movie. My interest is piqued enough to look forward to what this production team has in store for the future.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 43%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – None
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
Movie Trailer: 

Nekrotronic (2018) - Shudder Spree

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Nekrotronic (2018)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Horror
Length: 99 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Create NSW, Entertainment One Features, Guerilla Films, Hopscotch Features, GEM Entertainment, Culture Publishers (CP), Entertainment One, Momentum Pictures, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, eOne Films Spain
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
Writer: Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner
Actors: Ben O’Toole, Monica Bellucci, Caroline Ford, Tess Haubrich, Epine Bob Savea, David Wenham, Berynn Schwerdt, Jay Gallagher, Felix Williamson, Ron Smyck, Goran D. Kleut, Jessica Racz, Nic Westaway, Dave Beamish, James Formosa, Jonathan Formosa, Alex Jewson
 
Blurb from IMDb: A man who discovers that he is part of a secret sect of magical beings who hunt down and destroy demons in the internet.

Selina’s Point of View:
Let’s face it. After our last movie, absolutely anything would have been an improvement. That said, this film was more than just that, it was amazing.
 
I remember seeing the trailer when it came out and being intrigued. It looked like a B-movie, but the fun kind. What I saw today exceeded those expectations.
 
It wasn’t a B-movie at all. It had a decent $10 million budget and it shows. A lot of the graphics were on point, as well as the soundtrack, acting, sets, and just about everything else. Now, I’m not saying it wasn’t campy. It was incredibly over-the-top, but that’s what they were going for, and it works.
 
What surprised me the most was how well written it was.
 
Now, I’ll admit, that there were some very typical aspects to the script. There was one point in the film that I guessed a line of dialogue before it was spoken. There were also some plot tropes. Still, when the characters were talking to each other, or reacting to circumstances, it felt organic.
 
I want to talk about another part of the film that impressed me, but first I need to discuss a pet peeve I have with newer horror films.
 
As technology has evolved over time, horror movies seem to have tried to ignore it. For example: everyone has a cell phone these days. Instead of addressing that in story, most new horror flicks just default to the ‘out of service’ trope. I hate that. Especially since it would be so simple do something with it. I mean, a 911 operator is still going to accuse you of a prank call if you ring them up about ghosts or vampires or something. Seriously, even if you get through to someone, who’s going to believe you watched someone get possessed? Just saying the phone is ‘out of service’ is a cop out.
 

You can’t write a script for 1960 and make it work today without adjusting it to fit the evolutions of our world.
 
Well, you can, but it wouldn’t make sense.
 
That kind of thing really digs at me. I want newer horror films to take advantage of our modern technology. It seems like creators see the upgrades as a hurdle when, in reality, it has the ability to be a new source of terror.
 
That’s one of the reasons the plot of Nekrotronic works so well. Characters had a find a way around modern-age technology, or find a way to handicap it. Nothing was done for them. The script used cell phones and the internet – even augmented reality – to tell the tale. It’s because the creators acknowledged the state of our 2018 reality that I was able to become so immersed it.
 
I also need to compliment Caroline Ford (Anti-Social, Carnival Row, Free Rein) for her acting. Everyone was great, but there was one scene where Ford was post-battle and had blood all over her face. There was a bit of crying involved, and she went for it. It wasn’t ugly-crying, but she was dropping tears at such a level that she was leaving clean streaks through the blood make-up as it went on. It was impressive.
 
Nekrotronic was pure campy fun. It had all the spirits, demons, and other paranormal creatures you could want for a Halloween movie marathon – and there was a ton of comedic gold mixed in. Although it’s not a movie for critics, this is an entertaining flick for people just looking for something fun.
 
It’s a Shudder exclusive, and I think it’s worth getting the subscription for.

Cat’s Point of View:
For a little bit, I had Nekrotronic confused with another movie. Whoops. I realized the error of my notion as I watched the opening credits and failed to see the name I was expecting as director. The name is really immaterial, honestly. I just knew then that I wasn’t sure what to expect anymore. I didn’t mind, and my gamble was paid off because Nekrotronic took me on one hell of a ride.
 
I have an increasingly positive opinion about Australian cinema. Nekrotronic adds to the growing list of good movies that have come from the ‘land down under.’ Of course, there’s always the bonus of getting to listen to glorious Aussie accents throughout the production. I digress…
 
This movie had a little bit of everything in it. There were huge elements of sci-fi, a generous helping of horror, and a liberal sprinkle of comedy. It was a recipe for delicious fun. I laughed, gasped, and had a blast watching the demon-vanquishing escapades.
 
I know I was harsh on the last film’s effects, but the distance between that movie and this one could be measured in light-years. Nekrotronic had quite a few elements that required effects. The core supernatural essence of the story called for some heavy-duty cgi, at that. The production got a lot of bang for their bucks here. Nothing felt hokey, and it was seamless enough that I believed every second of it.

This movie even gave me a lot of warm nostalgic fuzzies, as it felt like they paid homage to some classic 80’s horror movies such as Lifeforce (1985) and Hellraiser (1987). There were even some heavy influences from Ghostbusters (1984). I loved how the story drew on these elements without blatantly trying to copy them. It made those tidbits all the more enjoyable to watch.
 
Some moments were even reminiscent of the zombie horror genre, and even that was done well in setting itself apart from that popular trope. That being said, this was definitely not a throw-back movie. It was clearly set in the current age, if not a little further in the future. There were some great references that cemented that for me.
 
I really enjoyed the cast, as well. The story gets big kudos for having strong female roles in general, but the ladies portraying them on screen also kicked ass. Monica Belucci (The Brothers Grimm, The Whistleblower, Mozart in the Jungle), Caroline Ford, and Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant, Bleeding Steel, Treadstone) were all solid in their roles. Of course, the main character wasn’t a lady – but that’s ok! I was completely invested in the bumbling intensity of Howard, played by Ben O'Toole (The Water Diviner, Hacksaw Ridge, 12 Strong).
 
To sum up, this was a really well-rounded movie with a little bit of everything in it – and all done well, in my opinion. I had a really good time watching, and barely noticed the passage of time. I think this would be a wonderful addition to a spooky marathon, or just for viewing in general for this Halloween season. It was another killer edition to our Shudder Spree.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 39%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 76%
Metascore – 25/100
Metacritic User Score – 6.8/10
IMDB Score – 5.5/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5
 
P.S.: There is one mid-credits scene.
 
Movie Trailer: