Bad Things review.
Shudder presents a new twist on The Shining formula. At times effective…at times the too dismissive tone making it difficult to connect to.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Bad Things
Directed by Stewart Thorndike
Written by Stewart Thorndike
Starring Gayle Rankin, Hari Nef, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Rad Pereira, Jared Abrahamson, Austin Jones and Molly Ringwald
Bad Things Review
Bad Things will have its share of fans. It presents a unique take on a familiar story. Well…familiar to those who have seen The Shining, at least. The stranger, more unsettling aspects of the film work tremendously well. Their juxtaposition with a cold narrative full of characters that are difficult to root for, however, dulls the effect of the overall package. An intentional tone set to undercut the supernatural nature of the story would have been difficult to achieve…but it would have been an artistic choice. The seemingly incidental unfocused nature of Bad Things’ aloofness makes melding with the spooky stuff impossible.
Ruthie (Gayle Rankin) has inherited a hotel in a snowy northeastern town. Though she doesn’t want to return to the scene of her childhood trauma…Ruthie accompanies her friends on a weekend getaway. Before long the ghosts of the hotel begin to appear, dredging up bad memories and causing conflict within the group.
Let’s begin with what works. The Shining-like visions of people who don’t belong are very effective. Bad Things finds the sweet spot of presenting its ghostly scenes in a Kubrick/Lynch style where you’re not always quite sure what is real…or what the rules are. Smiling joggers staring back through windows…interactions with businessmen and past guests…it all works. Every time. The eerie feeling that things aren’t quite right is achieved with every attempt that writer/director Stewart Thorndike makes at it. Which is extra impressive when we consider the aspect of Bad Things that does not work.
Through no fault of the actors…Bad Things presents some seriously unlikable characters. Ruthie cheats on her girlfriend almost immediately…with someone (Fran, played by Annabelle Dexter-Jones) who seems to exist solely to cause chaos. The group spends more time fighting than enjoying themselves. Ruthie’s girlfriend Cal (Hari Nef) is probably the most likable of the group…but is, at best, underdeveloped as a character. Maddie (Rad Pereira) is the fourth friend. That’s about as descriptive as the character gets. She’s quick to turn on others but I guess you can’t really blame her.
If this was a standard late era 80s slasher…this quartet would fit a lot better. Those movies featured an unstoppable killer that you ended up rooting for. Providing bodies that viewers will want to see chopped into pieces was part of the appeal. Unfortunately, most of Bad Things is spent watching these characters interact with each other. Scenes spent turning on each other are supposed to matter. They can’t…because they were barely together in the first place.
They also act far too passive about the strange things happening in the hotel for far too long. Eventually each character ratchets it up to 11…but it feels unnatural, and they consistently make stupid decisions. It’s a hotel. Leave it. A key scene in the climax takes place in a neighboring parking lot. They aren’t blocked off from society in the dead of winter at the Overlook Hotel. They’re down the street from a Radio Shack.
A large portion of Bad Things is aimless. It would probably qualify as a mumblegore movie…but mumblecore hinges on interesting characters and snappy, realistic dialog. Take whatever word means the opposite of that is and fuse the word gore onto the end of it. That’s how I’d describe Bad Things. But…sometimes a person with a chainsaw shows up and chases a person around. So, it can’t be all bad. It takes its sweet time but inevitably the movie snaps into a bloody climax. A solid end to a story that struggles every step of the way.
Which is why Bad Things is worth watching. You may get more out of it than I did. Maybe you will connect with one of the characters. Maybe Ruthie’s backstory and the feeling of impending doom will intrigue you. Or maybe the way that apparitions are presented will be enough for you. They very nearly were for me despite the close to worst case scenario that surrounds them.
Scare Value
The weirder Bad Things gets the better it is. There are some very effective scenes of ghostly encounters that wouldn’t feel out of place in a David Lynch movie. The connective tissue is too cold and dismissive to land, however. Recent release Jethica thrived due to its irreverent take on a ghost story. Bad Things doesn’t intend the same style and instead results in characters that feel more cold than entertainingly disinterested. Worth watching for the highs…but too detached to fully work.
2.5/5
Bad Things Link
Streaming on Shudder
Bad Things Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Bad Things, check out another new release: Marry My Dead Body.
