Dir. Mitchell Altieri (2024)
A couple on a camping getaway to celebrate the woman's cancer recovery find themselves stuck between a monster and the crazed hunter that will stop at nothing to kill it.
After having spent a week already this summer devoted to exploring some great survival horror films, I was delighted to have this one come across my desk from indie horror production company Brainstorm Media. I'm a big fan of some of the films they've put out already, so a creature feature starring Courtney Halverson from Unfriended and Devon Sawa? Count me in. What I discovered was a little more on the psychological side, but it's a really good film with more than a few scares and some pretty rad creature design as well.
Beth (Halverson) is celebrating her one year remission anniversary for her cancer with husband Jay (Mark Famiglietti, Aquarius) by going camping in the woods. They discover a vicious creature that is out for blood, preying on weakness and attempting to take over the body of the couple's weakest member. After Jay gets caught in a bear trap, the couple run across an insane hunter (Sawa) and must discover whether it is the hunter or the prey that is most dangerous.
I was impressed with the performances in this film, especially from Halverson. I'm a huge fan of Unfriended, and while her part in the film was a relatively small one, I always enjoyed her deliciously obnoxious character. She provides great emotional depth in this one, playing off of Sawa's damaged hunter in a way that really helps anchor the movie away from just a typical creature feature film. It's desperately needed for this one, because while there's certainly a creature involved, it is hardly a typical creature feature. Sawa is amazing as always, but it's Halverson who really makes the film work.
The creature itself is decently scary, a wendigo-esque creation that plays off of the fears and weaknesses of its prey. The design is pretty rad, though it's largely digital, a necessity for the type of monster the film seeks to portray. The score does a great job of maintaining tension throughout a film that is relatively slow burn, and while the plot does get a little convoluted at times, it brings it home at the end to wrap up the story better than I expected going into the third act.
Praise aside, Consumed does suffer a little from said convolution. The story is decent, though it's a little easy to guess where it's going once you get a ways in. The tension is well handled, but it never feels like the stakes are high enough to make much of an impact on the audience. It's definitely watchable, though, Sawa makes sure of that, and his character is a ton of fun for a movie that never seeks to be particularly "fun." The emotional weight of the film is what's most important, and Consumed does a good job in making that impact felt by the audience.
Brainstorm Media is a fantastic production company, and they've developed an impressive catalogue of films ranging a number of different genres. While this one does struggle at times to find its footing, it's still an excellent horror film with some great moments. If you get the chance to check it out, I definitely recommend that you do so. This one has Shudder written all over it.
Who this movie is for: Slow burn horror fans, Emotional horror lovers, Trappers
Bottom line: Consumed is a bit uneven but shines in all of the areas that matter. It's an emotional gut punch of a creature feature, and definitely focuses far more of its efforts on connecting with the audience than it does scaring them. Sawa and Halverson both deliver fantastic performances, and the parts that do try to scare you will likely do so. If you get the chance, give it a watch. I'm a big fan of Brainstorm Media, and I hope to see a lot more from them in the future.
