My quick rating - 3.8/10. T Blockers opens with a black-and-white introduction featuring an Elvira-style host who doesn’t have much to say beyond the vague reminder that “it’s only a movie.” Not exactly the most insightful introduction, but it sets a campy tone before the story dives into its slimy premise.
Ancient parasites are rising from beneath a small town and infecting the most fearful and susceptible hosts. Before the film settles into its main characters, we get a guy noticing a pair of eyes staring at him from a crack in the ground, possibly caused by an earthquake, though the movie isn’t overly concerned with explaining it. A strange green mist swirls up, curiosity wins, and he leans in for a closer look…only to get blood spit straight into his face. Lesson learned. If the ground is staring back at you, maybe just keep walking.
The budget has become obvious by the time the title card appears, proudly labeling the film as a transgender and queer horror movie. Depending on the viewer, that will either be a selling point or a deterrent. Personally, the real attraction here was the brisk 71-minute runtime.
The early stretch of the movie centers more on everyday life than horror. There’s an awkward date where both participants claim they were rejected by the other. The woman later goes home to party, while the guy meets a stranger who convinces him to bury his face in a barrel of mysterious slime. You know, a normal evening in this town. The sound mix doesn’t help matters, with music frequently drowning out the dialogue.
About twenty minutes in, the cryptic host reappears, although we now see that the characters are viewing this segment online. The focus of T Blockers appears to be on Sophie (Lauren Last), a young filmmaker who appears to be the only character who can detect if someone has been infected. Sophie is mid-transition, something mentioned during a conversation with her brother, and many of her scenes are bathed in intense neon lighting that occasionally borders on blinding.
The horror finally picks up when a group of guys attacks Chris (Toshiro Glenn), the nicest character in the movie. When his friends step in to defend him, they witness the attackers hunched over a fallen friend, eating thick black goo from his body. That’s when the group realizes the situation resembles something they saw in an online movie, prompting them to go full vigilante and start hunting infected worm creatures.
The parasite concept occasionally reminded me of Night of the Creeps, particularly the idea of worms entering people through the mouth. It’s nowhere near as effective, but even the suggestion of that classic gets a small bonus from me.
There are a few glimmers of potential from director Alice Maio Mackay, although the acting, special effects, and writing are all subpar and detract from the potential of T Blockers. The metaphor for acceptance and standing up against hatred is definitely buried in this story, although the message gets a bit too preachy towards the end (and focused on the totally wrong character).
No comments:
Post a Comment