They Look Like People
Directed by Perry Blackshear
While staying at his friend Chris’ apartment, Wyatt starts receiving eerie phone calls about monstrous beings taking over human bodies in preparation for world domination. Though Wyatt doesn’t know what to believe, he starts amassing weapons while Chris is at work. Is he schizophrenic? Or are the monsters real? Director Perry Blackshear makes brilliant use of three gifted lead actors and time tested Val Lewton less-is-more scare tactics to craft a chilling study of psychological breakdown worthy of standing alongside fright flicks like REPULSION, THE TENANT and BUG.
A man starts receiving phone calls warning him that monstrous beings are coming.
Cast: MacLeod Andrews, Evan Dumouchel, Margaret Ying Drake, Mick Casale, Elena Greenlee
Member Reviews
they looked like people
This movie does a really great job of making you question your own sanity. I love when a horror movie can get in my head and really scare me like that.
Do people just lie and say they like this film festival movies for clout?
A triumphant debut effort from Perry Blackshear, whose later releases (Siren, When I Consume You) show he's committed to his stories, even in an indie film such as this. I'm anticipating his next film, "Mindful," which taps into a current fad and should bring the viewer more in line with his style of storytelling. As for this film, it feels and looks indie, which is not the issue. What keeps it from being great is that it should be 3-4 hours long to really tell the whole story. Viewers may be drawn to recall elements of Donnie Darko, Us, It Follows, and even classics like The Ninth Configuration or Hitchcock's Spellbound which all deal with similar themes combining reality, mental health, and personal beliefs. Of course, at 3-4 hours, we'd all be snoring, but this film deserved more character study, backstory, and a broader landscape for the tale to unfold. As it is, it's a treat for the slow burn indie fans because it's actually good! 4/5 for me. Cheers!
I shut this off after 20 minutes because I couldn't get into it, but I'm glad I came back later and gave it a chance. It really did not end up the way I thought it would at all.