Sick (2023) by John Hyams

Director: John Hyams

Year: 2023

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Slasher

Plot:

At the end of the pandemic, a group of friends decide to vacation at a remote lake house in the countryside to get away from everything, but when several masked killers arrive and start knocking them off one by one they try to discover the motive behind it to get away alive.

Review:

Overall, this was a pretty fun if problematic genre effort. Among the film’s more enjoyable elements is the ability to tap into the mindset of the country at the time. As the majority of the security protocols were just beginning to roll out, the ability to see them undergo those measures yet remain so flippant about doing so while being unwilling to truly go through with it all at the expense of their plans feels quite likely how the situation would’ve presented itself. That comes together with their behavior at the cabin which continues quite well and is all topical enough to play into this setup quite well.

This provides the opportunity for the film to have some fun stalking and slashing encounters with the killer. The first big confrontation in the victim’s house is a solid cat-and-mouse chase around the apartment before a solid resolution, while the later scenes at the cabin allow for some fantastic sequences as their realization of the killers being there brings about plenty of high-energy encounters. Mixing in some great twists regarding the identity of the killers and what they’re trying to do, it all comes together into generating some hard-hitting brawls, fun fighting, and some graphic, gory kills that all manage to give this a lot to like.

There are some issues here that bring this one down. The main factor holding it back is the utterly non-intimidating and weak-looking killer who has one of the stupidest and outright lamest motivations for going on the rampage. This whole operation makes no sense and is immensely petty rather than being creepy which is the supposed intent and causes a laughably overwrought connection to that point in time that most don't want to revisit. Considering the subject matter,, that’s a real case this one has to deal with, while the dreadfully uninteresting main cast who make constant wrong decisions to continue the action is another issue here to have to get over.

Overview: ***.5/5

A topical slasher let down by some minor problems, there’s quite a lot to like about it even if those detrimental issues will end up especially true for those that have moved on from the subject matter at hand. Give it a shot if you’re a hardcore slasher fan or are fans of the creative crew while most others out there should heed caution with it.