This “Confident, Violent” Ghost Story is One of the Year’s Best—Now It’s Streaming
Dating is one of the scariest things in the world. Yes, it’s beautiful and soul-stirring when it works out right and you meet that one special person, but the gauntlet to get there is unbearable. Beyond the social awkwardness and need to self-disclose and be yourself, there’s also that nagging feeling that you’re making yourself so vulnerable to someone you likely don’t know at all.
The horror genre has naturally had a field day extrapolating the worst dating nightmares you can think of. Fresh took dating to cannibalistic extremes, and Cat Person adapted a famous short story with an added slasher twist. Audition is a certified classic, and even the recent release F Marry Kill has fun suggesting your latest online sweetheart might be a serial killer. One of the freshest examples I’ve seen lately brings all the horror, but just as much heartache. It’s one of the year’s most underrated thrillers, and it’s streaming on Shudder now. Learn more about Elric Kane’s The Dead Thing below:
Per Shudder: A young woman lost in a series of meaningless connections falls in love with a charismatic and sensitive man, who hides a dark secret that turns her affair into a dangerous obsession.
I was a big fan of The Dead Thing when it premiered last year, and I was eagerly anticipating its arrival on Shudder back in February. The Dead Thing is sexy, scary, and even a little bit tender. It reminded me a lot of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Spring in how it manages to remain romantic despite the ever-mounting thrills. It’s a meaningful interrogation of modern dating and a pretty thrilling, scary movie to boot. What more could you ask for?
I couldn’t get enough. In my original review of The Dead Thing last year, I wrote,
“I like an indie that’s both sexy and bloody, and at its core, The Dead Thing is just that. Elric Kane’s debut is a confident, if familiar, plunge into the horrors of modern dating. Stretched to extreme, violent ends, it might be better to just be left on read. Ghosting is one thing—what The Dead Thing has in store is another.”
It’s an unpredictable ride worth taking, and if you’re interested in what’s secretly one of the best genre releases of the year, be certain to check it out.
What do you think? Any plans to catch The Dead Thing on Shudder? If you do, let me know what you think over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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