‘I need you to make a choice…’
The horror streaming service Shudder has gone from humble beginnings to ultimately being one of the foremost producers of horror films in Hollywood. This culminated in Host, their pandemic classic filmed and released entirely during lockdown, capturing the zeitgeist in a way that more traditional horror studios perhaps haven’t managed to do in recent years. Shook is adjacent to the cyber horror of Host, taking place partly on mobile phone screens projected onto the background for the benefit of the audience, but it is also different enough to offset any accusations of Shudder attempting to capture lightning in a bottle twice…
Mia (Daisye Tutor) is a flighty, disorganised influencer who has sacrificed relationships with her family in order to advance her career. Following the death of her mother after illness, Mia attempts to repair her relationship with her sister Nicole (Emily Goss) by agreeing to dogsit her annoying little dog (rendered even more annoying by the fact that the name of the dog escapes me and I can’t bring myself to research this information. We only have one life after all). When the dog goes missing, Mia begins to suspect that something is very much amiss.
The opening of Shook is… not great. At least it seems that way at first. When you get used to the glossy aesthetic however, it soon becomes clear that is meant to be a reflection of the empty world of being an influencer, and eventually Shook settles down into a fairly standard, if often unpredictable teen slasher. The kills are inventive, the cast are attractive (and crucially, particularly in the case of Tutor, genuinely talented), and the plot rushes along with no regard for trivial things like common sense or authenticity. It’s a whole load of trash horror fun, in a way that totally suits the Shudder brand. In many ways, Host aside, a lot of their movies hark back to the 80s, the golden age of slasher movies, and Shook is no exception.
As ever with these middling horror movies, fans of the genre will eat it up, but it’s not strong enough to really appeal to anyone else. Fairly forgettable, but also undoubtedly enjoyable.