[Warning: Major plot spoilers ahead.]
I rented Depravity on demand for two reasons. First, I stan Victoria Justice. Second, I was hoping to see Taylor John Smith without clothes on. Thankfully, both of my expectations were met in this regard. Even though I’m a grown ass man, I stan Victoria Justice because I have so many memories from college when my roommates and I would wake up hungover as fuck and binge watch iCarly and Victorious all day. The fact that she was starring in a “horror movie” was enough to get my attention. Pay attention to the way I say “horror film” because Depravity is being marketed as one but strays far from any cohesive thought. It’s literally all over the place and never decides what it wants to be. Hell, I even thought it was going to be about vampires at one point. Horror? Thriller? Mystery? Suspense? Comedy? Action? Drama? It was just… again, completely all over the place and not in a good way.
This “horror film” follows three young adults living in a century’s old apartment building. After women start going missing around town, the trio start to believe their next-door neighbor is a serial killer. One night, they decide to break into his apartment to search for evidence and find themselves in a cat and mouse game no one saw coming. Depravity is written, produced and directed by Paul Tamasy. It was also produced by Lyza Anderson, Dorothy Aufiero, Scott Clayton, Jordan Gertner, Gary Hirsh and Wych Kaosayananda with Wych also serving as cinematographer. Shot under Baang Rig Studios, Bondit Media Capital and Buffalo 8 Productions, Depravity is now available on demand courtesy of Paramount Studios. I thought this was going to be a modern cousin to The Burbs (1989), but it ended up being more like National Treasure (2004) with far less intriguing elements. So what I’m gunna do now is freak the freak out.
Getting to the plot major plot spoilers, let’s just rip the Band-Aid off. Depravity starts as a horror film and turns into a crime drama before settling in as a… I don’t know, art gallery hostage situation. I’m all for twists and turns in the narrative, but Depravity strays so far from the advertised plot and into other territories that it becomes something almost unworthy of two hours of your time. I think it could have been a capable story had it stuck with one genre and ran with it. Instead, it never finds its stride, it never finds its atmosphere and other departments like set design and costuming struggle to keep everything cohesive. It’s sad because this movie had a lot of potential and a kick ass cast, that a lot of greatness could have been accomplished here. Unfortunately, it’s a huge miss and I need to keep reiterating that, despite being marketed as such, it’s not a horror film. I was let down, for sure, but continued suffering until the end credits rolled.
Besides the stellar cast and extremely professional camera/audio/editing and special effects, I don’t have too much to say about Depravity other than it was… terrible. Which sucks because I was so excited for it. A lot of missed potential, for sure, and I don’t think I would ever watch it again for a single reason. Uh, at least I thought the poster was pretty cool? Final Score: 4 out of 10.
