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Wanna hear some real-life Horror where life imitates art? During Episode 015 of Horror Movie Weekly, Jay of the Dead chose to review Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane (2018), a fictional story whose premise somewhat closely happened to Jay’s mom recently! So, listen to this tale and your late-night Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead, BillChete, and Lady Phantom, as they bicker about the merits of this very mild Horror (mostly Drama film). Join us!
On Horror Movie Weekly, your late-night Horror hosts Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom bring you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
— Jay recommends Scorsese’s gangster epic, “The Irishman” (non-Horror), on Netflix
— Real-life Horror news: Wives keep their husbands in freezers
— Recent Joe Bob Briggs controversy on Twitter
– Jay of the Dead’s pick for this week: Unsane (2018)
Unsane (2018) — Genre Classification: Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Horror
Premise:
A young woman moves away from her hometown of Boston and relocates in Pennsylvania in order to escape from a stalker who’s been obsessed with her for the past two years. But upon seeking some counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder at a nearby facility, she is involuntarily admitted and locked up in a psychiatric ward. And she can’t convince anyone that she shouldn’t be in there.
Ratings and Recommendations: Unsane (2018)
Jay of the Dead = 7 ( Rental / Stream on Amazon Prime )
BillChete = 2 ( Avoid )
Lady Phantom = 3 ( Avoid )
Next on Episode 016: Krampus (2015) — BillChete’s pick!
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Follow Horror Movie Weekly on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Jay of the Dead’s film blog / solocast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at HorrorMovieWeekly@gmail.com
Great episode everyone! That true story that Jason told was pretty scary. I’m sure he felt bad about it. I am a fan of Soderburgh’s work and own this movie on BD. This isn’t a great film and it isn’t one of his best films for sure. The iPhone’s limitations really hurt the film visually and I agree with everything Bill said regarding how poor this film looked. Performances were fine, but the movie was filled with unlikable characters. Our main protagonist comes off as very thick-headed and for the first 40 minutes, you think she is crazy. Once the movie reveals that she actually has a stalker, the film turns and becomes more of a horror thriller, than the drama of the first 40.
Spoiler Warning: The stalker has followed her for two years and is obsessed with her. How does he think that killing four people will lead to his goals being realized? How does he think that he can kill her mother and yet, she will learn to love him?? He is obviously the one who is insane. How could he not know that there was no way she wasn’t going to kill him?? Once the deaths are confirmed, there is no scenario where one or both are not dead by the conclusion. The final 13 minutes is when we finally get to the resolution. We did not need that last scene, six months later. I thought that was a poor way to end the film.
All in all, the movie is just okay. If you are a fan of Soderburgh, you will want to see this. If you like psychological horror thrillers, you will want to see this. These types of facilities have been bilking insurance claims for many years, so this is no surprise. I did enjoy the scene where she is breaking down the reality of the situation for him in the padded room. I also rate this a 7/10 and a rental recommendation.
Krampus is somewhat of a minor classic for Christmas. It’s a movie that can be enjoyed every year as part of holiday horror viewing. It should be a fun episode. This week comes the final horror theatrical release of year with Black Christmas. I am putting together my end of year lists and am looking forward to ending this on a positive note. Hopefully, Blumhouse has a good one for us.
Have a great week!
Great thoughts on Unsane, Sean. That scene in the padded room is really good.
You made me remember that I found it incredibly anticlimactic that we don’t see the death of the mother. You’d think they would have shown that.
This film had so much promise, I wish it had been so much better.
Yes Phantom, We do get to see two of the four kills onscreen, but we don’t get to see the mother and that was purposeful because Soderburgh wanted to reveal that later. But from what we do see, it is strongly inferred, just as in the case of the guy whose identity he stole. We see him greet the mother at the hotel, with a toolbox. She opens the door and lets him in and the scene ends. Once she looks through the hole in the door and we see that it is him, we pretty much know her fate, which of course is confirmed later.
The thing is, as soon as he shows up at the hotel, you know this guy is just not very smart at all. His capture, arrest or killing was inevitable at this point. The only reason he didn’t get caught earlier is that the facility was also criminally negligent. The film definitely paints a terrible picture of the mental health care industry. Perhaps Soderburgh also has a personal connection or experience and that’s why he wanted to tell this story. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Phantom. You always do a great job here on the blog board responding to comments.
Hehe, thanks. I try my best.
Yeah, I understand that it was on purpose, as is everything else… but I’m still not happy. Maybe it was because I really like Amy Irving and I would have liked to see her character a little while more, and seeing her get killed might have gave me a deeper sense of dread. I don’t know.