Lowlifes review.
The Tubi Original brand gains another feather in its cap. Lowlifes is fun and surprising from beginning to end.
This review contains an unavoidable spoiler that occurs early in the story.
Lowlifes
Directed by Tesh Guttikonda and Mitch Oliver
Written by Al Kaplan
Starring Amanda Fix, Matthew MacCaull, Brenna Llewellyn, Elyse Levesque, Josh Zaharia, Cassandra Sawtell and Richard Harmon
Lowlifes Review
Tubi is back with another original catching a bit of positive buzz. Tubi remains a fascinating home for horror. It features a deep catalog of constantly rotating classic horror. The originals, on the other hand, often fall into the shovel ware level of quality. That’s not always the cast, however. Where the Devil Roams was a Scare Value Award Best Picture nominee just last year. Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism scored a Best Actor nomination in the same awards. There is a fair share of inoffensive and watchable independent horror productions under the Tubi Original banner too. There’s also a lot of dreck. Enough for it to be fair to look at the label with a bit of trepidation. Lowlifes falls into the very good Tubi Original category.
A family of four is on their yearly vacation when they come across a couple of menacing looking locals. After two intense run-ins…one involving an allegedly broken-down truck, the family agrees to give one of them a ride back to his home. They don’t make it very far before the murder begins. Unexpectedly…it’s the family that butchers their guest. Chopping him into pieces and storing the meat in a freezer for later. They then set their sights on a bigger meal…at the victim’s home.
It may seem strange for Lowlifes to deliver such a big twist on expectations so early in the story. They leave a lot of tension on the table in doing so. A surprise, yes…but not a problem. Lowlifes is more interested in defying expectations than delivering another generic hillbilly horror thriller. A clean-cut family of cannibals isn’t the only expectation the movie plays with. While it is the big “twist” in the narrative…there are surprises laced throughout Lowlifes.
The people that the family (led by father Keith) look down upon are generous, kind and interesting people. A far cry from the “lowlifes” he dismisses them as in private conversation. They arrive at the home to be greeted by two young women and their elder “Pa”. They are later joined by the hulking “Big Mac” whose size practically makes the family lick their lips in excitement. The most interesting of the group is Savannah. She fills the role of potential final girl perfectly. The more we learn about her…the more special she becomes. An accomplished pianist, the capable leader of the clan…and, oh yeah, an award-winning shot with an arrow. As intruder Amy astutely asks while trying to seduce her, “Is there anything you can’t do?”
There is a ticking clock placed on Keith and his family’s exploits. While they quickly dispatch their passenger en route to his home…they left Vern on the side of the road. He eventually begins his long walk towards the home…shotgun in tow. Resistant daughter Amy is working on Savannah. Son Jeffrey is a loose canon who has succeeded in poisoning Juli Ann and Big Mac…but defies his father’s instructions and attempts to topple the giant man on his own. Family matriarch Kathleen is struggling to get on board with the family tradition. Her husband Keith struggles to keep everyone on the same page. It’s going to be a bloodbath.
And it’s going to be a lot of fun. That’s the main quality Lowlifes brings to the table. A bloody, wild movie full of unexpected turns. None match the scope of the revelation of the family’s true nature…but moment to moment…you never know what is going to happen next. Every scene is approached with a feeling of “what is the most fun thing we can do right now”. The ensemble cast is excellent at delivering the pathos and dark humor involved in the madness Lowlifes presents. So much of the fun rests in those surprising moments that we wouldn’t dare spoil them here.
The most important thing to know about Lowlifes is that it is an absolute blast to watch. Full of interesting characters and untimely ends…it’s a master’s course in jaw dropping moments that end in knowing grins. Tubi Original’s may be struggling to find a consistency in quality…but Lowlifes lands firmly on the high end of the spectrum.
Scare Value
Lowlifes isn’t the first high quality Tubi Original. It’s simply the latest. Despite some lesser quality content adorned with the branding…Tubi remains a great place to get your horror. Both classic and new. Lowlifes is pure entertainment from the start. Full of fun moments and surprising turns.
3.5/5
Lowlifes Link
Streaming on Tubi
