The Dead Thing

No pun intended - the main character is barely living ... there is not much happening for her except for job, sleep and ... well hooking up. Not shaming her and you shouldn't either - you could say that she lacks emotion, she lacks connection ... so there is a hole that she needs to fill (get your mind out of the gutter, talking soul of course) ... finding someone who is able to do just that is not going to be easy.

Of course the one she does seem to find ... well there is a reason she connects to him. If you are not aware of the story or have read any synopsis, I will not tell you more. I can tell you that she gets clingy, which seems to go against what we learned about her ... but stick with it and it will make sense.

There are other flaws (story and character wise, with some twists either being predictable or not really playing out the best way they could) ... but overall this is more than decent ... fair warning this gets quite sexual - including nudity! Just know this (whatever you make of it is yours)

I recently watched The Dead Thing (2024), a Valentine's Day release on Shudder. The story follows a single woman struggling to find a meaningful connection, whether in real life or through dating apps. She eventually meets a mysterious man who seems to have an unusual influence on her, changing the way she sees-and craves-relationships. But what exactly is she craving, and why?

Directed by Elric Kane (Kissy Kissy), the film stars Katherine Hughes (Tangled), Emily Joy Lemus (Oppenheimer), Josh Marble (The Calling), and Joey Millin (Threshold).

This is one of those films that had potential, thanks to its unique premise and the mystery surrounding its events. The cast delivers solid performances, and there are some effective uses of lighting, shadows, and masks/makeup. However, the slow burn is too methodical, dragging on without much payoff. While there's some horror nudity and intriguing visuals, the film ultimately fails to build on its ideas, leaving it feeling hollow.

In conclusion, The Dead Thing plays like a poor man's Bones and All, but without a strong ending to justify the journey. I'd rate it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.

After a string of meaningless relationships, a woman meets up with a potentially perfect partner who seems right for her but mysteriously disappears sending her on a downward spiral trying to find him again, but when she does seem to find him and spark their romance finds his grisly secret.

This was a generally bland and not that interesting fringe genre effort. The central setup here involving the discovery of the guy she really likes and what happens when the date proves far more fulfilling than her random hookups and sets out to find what happened to him gives this a workable enough main starting point that could've done something for it's stated premise exploring the dangers of modern dating. Given the change that emerges once the dates start to become sexual in nature, this comes off well enough as a whole which makes the desired connection with him worthwhile enough to showcase the series of changes that come following the revelations about their relationship. This is all fine enough and gives the film a decent premise. The problem here is that it's simply a premise that works as everything else is completely bland and boring. The focus on this bizarre romantic drama about following the clues about his mysterious disappearance and using the social media apps to find him again and rekindle their relationship just takes any ounce of potential genre thrills completely out of this one to the point that it never feels anywhere close to this genre at all. It tries to rely on this twist in the final half hour to try to swing it's way into the genre but it's just not enough to care or be invested in the piece as a whole since there's been nothing about it falling into the genre as we're never even told what the figure is so there's no reason to care with nothing here being close to a genre effort at all.

Rated Unrated/R: Nudity, several sex scenes, Graphic Language, and Violence.

This movie sucked. I heard good things, and was very disappointed. Its a romance movie. Basically 50 first dates without the laughs. I felt like I was dosed with acid and wanted to pull my hair out the entire watch. Had to turn it off about half way through. There is literally a scene when a ghost is slapping someone, that's about as scary as it gets. I was waiting for something to happen, but nothing did happen. Watching a bean burrito melt in the microwave for 90 minutes would have been a better watch. Alas, I didn't have a bean burrito to obliterate, only my mind was obliterated by this poor watch, like I did to my toilet later that evening.

This movie has a fairly interesting-looking poster that definitely caught my attention. I'm a huge horror movie fan, and the vague plot description made me curious. We follow a young woman who lacks emotion and connection in her life and, as a result, keeps hooking up with men she finds on dating apps. Through her sex-positive lifestyle, she meets a charismatic and sensitive man who hides a dark secret that turns into a dangerous obsession.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't really offer much for the audience to enjoy. We follow our lead character, played by Katherine Hughes, through her daily life, which is not particularly engaging. Most of her dates are dull and end with predictable sex scenes. The one potentially interesting element is the mysterious man, but even his character is never fully developed, and we don't get many answers about him.

Our main character is also not very likable, which makes it hard to root for her or stay invested in her story, even though Hughes gives a good performance. The movie needed something compelling to happen in order to make it enjoyable or memorable. There are no real horror elements, and the mystery is never properly explored. Her relationship with her coworkers had potential but remains underdeveloped and uninteresting. A few comedic moments could have improved the pacing or at least offered something entertaining for the viewer.

Instead, the film just plays out in a flat and unsatisfying way. Some people might find enjoyment in it, but I struggled to stay awake and definitely can't recommend it. [3.5/10]