There’s something about going direct-to-streaming on Peacock that shouts, “we have no faith in this movie!” At the end of the day, Sick isn’t Wonder Woman 2 or Halloween Returns. However, it’s in part brought to you by one of the greatest masterminds in horror – Kevin Williamson, who wrote and produced this feature. Williamson has worked on every single Scream movie as well as I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Faculty. His importance to the horror genre is singlehandedly the only reason I watched this flick with my husband last night. And you know what? It was actually pretty good! Read on to find out why!
Sick is written by Williamson & Katelyn Crabb and directed by John Hyams. It was produced by Williamson, Bill Block and Ben Fast. Cinematography was helmed by Yaron Levy and editing was performed by Andrew Drazek. Gideon Adlon, Bethlehem Million, Dylan Sprayberry and Joel Courtney star in this slasher-thriller. Set just as the COVID pandemic is kicking off, two college friends head to a remote cabin (mansion?) in the woods to wait out the disease in quarantine. Armed with nothing but a blender, a face mask and a pesky sort of ex-boyfriend, the girls soon find themselves as unwilling prey in a masked man’s terrifying game. Cabin Fever meets The Strangers in this surprising gem.
The biggest reason why I enjoyed Sick is it cuts through the stereotypical bullshit and gets right to the point very quickly. This is not a movie where you wait 45 minutes for the action to begin. This is not a movie where the suspense is steadily building throughout the first few acts. Sick brings its characters to the central location and then all Hell breaks loose before the first night can come to a close. I actually had to pause my viewing at the 45-minute mark because I was sure it flew by and was close to ending. Nope, I still had another half hour of cat and mouse games where the odds are stacked against the major protagonists. I was happy that I wasn’t jerked around for an hour and a half only to come across an “I saw that coming” or lackluster ending. Investing my time in this story was well worth it.
I also enjoyed the major homages to Scream and Friday the 13th. Some of the work that Kevin Williamson is known for bled into this picture, but it didn’t feel like copied material. Sick is also surprisingly bloody and comes with a modest body count that you’re not going to expect. Hello, Mr. Lyons. Sure, it’s a little cookie cutter at times, another one of Williamson’s trademarks if you look at his television history, but when it’s time to move the story along this one goes balls to the walls. Couple it with awesome production quality and a very talented cast, and Sick is one of my favorite films of the year so far. I mean, sure we’re only 18 days in… but still! I wish more people were talking about it because it’s definitely a film that deserves to be seen.
Sick is a twisted thriller and dramatic splatterfest, chopped up and administered with real life health hazard horror. Well done. Final Score: 8 out of 10.
