THE WRETCHED (2020)
Label: IFC Midnight
Release Date: August 11th 2020
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 96 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Directors: Brett & Drew Pierce
Cast: John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda, Azie Tesfai, Zarah Mahler, Kevin Bigley, Jamison Jones
While emotionally struggling with the fallout of his parent's impending divorce teenager Ben (John-Paul Howard, Snatchers) dabbles with mischief by way of breaking into a neighbors house in an ill-fated attempt to steal painkillers, which results in him broken his arm. As punishment for his teen delinquency his mother sends sent to spend the summer with his father LIam (Jamison Jones, True Detective), where he gets a summer job at ta marina, making the acquaintance of teen co-worker Mallory (Piper Curda, A.N.T. Farm), who offering something of a love-interest.
He befriends an adolescent kid named Dillon who lives next door to his dad, but one day he notices that the kid has disappeared, so he inquires with the kid's father, but he seems to have no recollection of ever having a son, he thinks Ben is nuts or playing some sort of joke on him. This is all very strange indeed, so Ben starts spying on the neighbors, and begins figuring that there is something is very odd about the kid's mother Abbie (Zarah Mahler, Beyond Skyline). Something seems to have gotten under her skin, or more accurately, something evil is wearing her skin, and making kids disappear from the neighborhood, while at the same time making people forget that these kids ever existed.
Ben tries to tell Mallory and his father about the evil living next door, but she thinks he nuts and dad thinks it's just teen weirdness, or worse yet, he thinks Ben is on drugs again. It doesn't help that Ben doesn't initially get on well with his father's girlfriend Sarah (Azie Tesfai, TV's Supergirl), at one poit sladhing her arm with a butcher's knife.
Our teen-hero played by Howard is solid, a moody teen with some some divorce anxiety, he's nicely counter-balanced by Mallory, who sort of reminded me of Corey from Say Anything, as the girl that is obviously right for Ben but is sort of sidelined as he peruses the unattainable hot chic at school, who ultimately embarrasses him at a pool party.
Truth be told The Wretched doesn't have a lot of originality, it's the evil presence next door and no one believe the troubled teen when he tries to blow the whistle routine. It mixes in a bit of Fright Night voyeurism with some witchy The Blair Witch Project evil to a largely satisfying effect. The witchy evil of the film is only seen in fleeting glimpses at the start, first appearing as it is birthed from the carcass of a deer, and then donning the skin of next door neighbor Abbie. Actress Zarah Mahler does good work transforming from cool mom to twitchy evil child-eater, her performance nicely enhanced by camera trickery and editing, it all adds up to a creepy film that managed to get under my skin. While lacking in originality I think it's well-directed and nicely acted with some cool creepy effects work, it doesn't have to be original to be good. There's a reason that the Friday the 13th franchise is my favorite, it's the comfort food of slashers, it need not be a delicacy, just tasty, and this is certainly a tasty treat of a film.
Audio/Video: The Wretched (2019) arrives on Blu-ray from IFC Midnight in 1080p HD widescreen with English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 audio with optional English subtitles. Extras include a commentary from The Pierce Brothers, and another with Composer Devin Burrows. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with The Pierce Brothers
- Audio Commentary with Composer Devin Burrows
The Wretched (2019) is an example of a supernatural horror flick that's not really offering anything new but manages to execute the familiar tropes in a way that still satisfies with it's blend of witchy creepiness and under-the-skin creepiness.
