PLOT: A young woman lost in a series of meaningless connections falls for a charismatic and sensitive man, who hides a dark secret that turns her affair into a dangerous obsession.
REVIEW: Romance and horror go together like peanut butter and jelly. At their core, they’re just similar enough at their base levels that they can intertwine and make a beautiful chorus of emotion. Because what goes better with both genres than obsession? The Dead Thing blends both in a way that is both satisfying and frustrating depending on which part of the narrative. Thankfully all of it is anchored by a standout performance from lead, Blu Hunt.
The Dead Thing is very sexual on the surface, as even the opening title card plays over a scene of a guy going down on Alex (Hunt). But it makes sense as the entire first act is just Alex going on various one-night stands. But it opens itself up to so much more, exploring the lengths people go through to fill that void within them. Alex’s life changes when she meets Kyle, a seemingly sweet and sensitive guy with a very dark secret. She becomes absolutely obsessed and replaces her dating time with those of the stalking variety.
Blu Hunt‘s performance as Alex is subdued but don’t get it twisted: she carries The Dead Thing on her back. It’s hard to play depressed and not just come across like a mopey baby, yet you can feel Alex’s deep sadness within her. Whether it’s the endless supply of guys she’s sleeping with, or the job she meanders her way through, her life is nothing but an unsatisfying blur. She’s fearless and willing to go to some dark places. Ben Smith-Petersen‘s Kyle is a stuntman turned actor so his performance is a bit stiff but he still manages a believable relationship with Alex. And with the slow pacing, I was very happy to see John Karna (from the Scream TV series) liven things up a bit here.
Dating apps have been the subject of multiple films at this point so it’s hard to present something new yet The Dead Thing somehow manages it. Obviously judging by the title, you’re going to know there’s some dead element but I’ll avoid saying what it is. I’ll just say that I enjoy how it’s handled for the most part, though the execution is a bit all over the place. Whenever the supernatural is more hinted at, then it works well. But as soon as we see it in action, the film becomes a bit hokey.
The script from Elric Kane understands the horror genre well, which isn’t a surprise given the man’s longstanding relationship with film. He hosts Fangoria’s, as well as the New Beverly’s, official podcast (that’s Quentin Tarantino’s theater for the uninitiated) so he clearly has the intense knowledge to be in that position. But I’m not sure I entirely understood the rules of the world within The Dead Thing. Physical touch is okay one moment, and there’s a massive inconsistency the next. I always contend that you need to know the parameters of the horror, otherwise, there’s nothing to be scared about. We need to feel like there are consequences to an action and not merely plot armor. The ambiguity diminishes the tension.
The Dead Thing is a mystery that takes you on a fairly unique journey. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, they threw me a curveball. The story progresses in such an interesting way, developing seamlessly as you think it’s going to be one thing, only to become something else entirely. Even still, I found the supernatural element to be pretty corny at times. And the message feels like it gets lost at one point, though it does manage to come back around. If you’re into depressing love stories, then this is an interesting one to cozy up next to.
THE DEAD THING STREAMS EXCLUSIVELY ON SHUDDER ON FEBRUARY 14TH, 2025.
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