Bad Things

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source: Bad Things

For whatever reason I was swept up in the lesbian melodrama and I've frankly never seen Molly Ringwald looking so hot...but an opportunity was missed here. Instead of trying so hard to pretend this is The Shining (it's most definitely not The Shining) why not accept that Ruthie inherited a crappy motel and not a "hotel"? No one in their right mind thinks the building used in this film is a hotel, or that it was ever "the Four Seasons of the 80s." The motel portrayed here is a stock standard roadside motel and this movie could have been a lot scarier if it were treated as such. There is a lot more gritty dirt you can dig up in such a place - suicidal loners, teenaged drug-addled runaways, murders of street prostitutes in the days before GPS and cell phones (which was a real terrifying true thing, in the 70s and 80s - sex workers were constantly targeted before things like Internet and DNA testing). Plus on top of that there could have been the story about Ruthie's bad childhood and relationship with her mom. But as it is, Bad Things is only fair-to-middling and because of the way it's presented it just keeps reminding you that it's Not the Shining, which is certainly a bad thing.

Bad Things (2023) is a movie that was recently added to Shudder. The storyline follows a group of friends who are being supportive to a friend who recently inherited a hotel and hopes to either run it or sell it with her mom. It quickly becomes apparent that something isn't right and they believe it's someone not something causing their concern. Is the hotel haunted, is someone messing with them, or is it both? This movie is written and directed by Stewart Thorndike (Lyle) and stars Gayle Rankin (Men), Hari Nef (Barbie), Annabelle Dexter-Jones (Ravage), Rad Pereira (Betty), Jared Abrahamson (Fear the Walking Dead) and Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles). This had some unique elements and reminded me of a poor man's The Shining...like if it took place in the Poconos. The acting was actually pretty solid. There's some mental state subplots that were interesting. The characters are pretty unique too. Unfortunately, there was little to no horror elements until the very ending...then the last 15 minutes was impressive. The twists at the end actually surprised me that it was worthwhile with such a poor setup. There's some cool kills at the very, very end...but other than that this is fairly stale. I would score this a 4.5-5/10 and recommend seeing it once only for horror enthusiasts.

Bad Things might just be the worse film I've seen all year, 2023. I don't think the makers of this film have the basic knowledge of how to make any film and certainly not a horror film. The central characters' friendship and intersecting romantic relationships, which are meant to be the film's grounding center, are described as having flimsy connections and dead air. The performances lacking chemistry and genuine feeling, leaving the film lacking emotional investment. The acting performances were abysmal. It looks like they were striving for something along the lines of The Shining since it draws a lot of its inspiration from the Kubrick film. But they failed miserably.

I give it 2 stars because it wasn't boring, precisely. It simply made no sense and wasn't scary in the least...that is, unless you count how frighteningly ugly and stupid the characters were. These people are friends?? I don't believe it. I was completely unable to suspend my disbelief and was acutely aware of the films shortcomings every moment. Incredibly unlikeable characters (despite minimal development), a meandering and pointless plot that fleshed out exactly nothing, and an utter lack of logical support leave the film a nonsensical mishmash. I'd seen the directors first offering, Lyle. A better film, though not good, it and Bad Things leaves me wondering if Thorndike is deliberately and actively trying to depict lesbians as unhinged, abusive, and dull-witted wastes-of-breath? And to ruin film?

Watching this movie is like watching a car fire across the street. The only reason you keep watching is to see how bad it really is. You might hope it could become "so bad it's good", but no... it's just bad, but shows signs of possibly having had potential and that only makes it worse. I watched all the way to the end, unfortunately. It feels like another film maker could have made a decent version of this film. There's some promising moments. (e.g. A super interesting "haunted" scene with a bunch of customers who probably aren't real.) However, the moments that are interesting only add to the disappointment of how bad the film ends up being, as a whole. There are interesting characters here, none of whom are likeable because they are so terrible to each other, but that could have used somehow. Instead It's all just squandered opportunities. I would have rated it a 1 except that a couple of the performers do a decent job. So, I'll give them points even though they can't save the script. (In the end I just felt embarrassed for them, having to have been in such a bad movie.) I'm sure the people playing the main character's trans/lesbian love interests could do well in other films. I'll actually look them up. I'd bet they are in better movies where their performances aren't wasted by bad writing/direction. Better directing and writing could have resulted in a good movie, but in the end, this film just sucks. Its momentary glimmers of potential and its brief scenes generating interest, only makes its ultimate emptiness and disappointment more frustrating.

In "Bad Things", Ruthie has been left "The Comley Hotel" by her grandmother. Her grandmother's death has brought her back in contact with her mother, who just wants her to just sell the hotel. She's not so sure, but she travels to the hotel with her girlfriend Cal (who thinks Ruthie should keep the hotel and run it), their friend Maddie, and Fran, who seems to have an odd relationship with the other three women (although on the other hand, is absolutely gorgeous). The hotel is closed, and there are rumors that it is haunted by the ghosts of guests who have died there. And sure enough, once the women arrive, they start to see things that may or may not be real and begin to behave strangely... The pitch for "Bad Things" is clearly "The Shining... but with lesbians." Writer/director Stewart Thorndike doesn't hide this, and the influences are clear -- she makes the hotel an important character in the film, duplicates some of Kubrick's tracking shots, and recreates/updates some of the classic images from the original film. And it's pretty effective and creepy, to be honest. But it's not at all a remake, so while the familiarity sets a mood, "Bad Things" moves in a quite a different direction. And the tension starts early on and doesn't really let up until the end. None of the characters are really "likeable" and the one that is closest to being likeable is the one that the other three treat the worst. As an aside, some viewers may be divided by the characters and how they behave. A lot of movies with LGBQT characters make sure they are all appealing, but not "Bad Things.") I'm not sure it truly "nails" the ending, but it certainly will generate plenty of conversations. Technically, you really can't fault anything. Acting is uniformly excellent among the small cast, and the direction -- as noted above -- is solid and clever. If you want a fun, creepy film that will get under your skin a bit, check it out.

Hey considering they likely didn't spend 8 billion dollars producing this movie it is pretty good. Is it scary? Hey I'm very hard to scare so don't ask me.... but for the average viewer I would say it might have moments. If you are a fan of or familiar with The Shining, you could easily find this very similar. In fact I am certain there was some intent to make several tributes in this film. For me personally it felt like the goal was to root for the "monster". Each character seemed to be drawn as unlikable and you may wonder why are they friends? If you like a movie that is not real obvious about what is going on, this one can make you wonder..... I would not watch it again but it was worth one viewing.

I'm seriously curious who is running Shudder's licensing department. It's mind blowing you would attach your entire IP and brand to something this poorly made. You might as well stop creating "originals" if you're going to put your name and logo on this stuff. I'm not even going to review this "movie" which has no business being distributed on any app, anywhere. It's not even really a film in my opinion. There is no acting, no lighting, no plot, literally nothing of any redeemable quality or interest is in this movie. Shudder, please start creating and/or licensing good horror. Because this ain't it. Ya'll should be embarrassed this is on your app. 1.5/10.