I got to say, Tubi is REALLY stepping up their game with horror movies lately. It’s been my platform of choice for the past month and I have yet to see a really bad movie; I’m sure they are on there, but haven’t been disappointed yet.
Unsheltered is the directorial debut of Marcus Small and it was filmed in Orlando, Florida (my old stomping grounds). The story is told with a mix of formats — found footage (from the main characters cell phones), regular narrative and an “Inside Edition” type interview with the lead investigator from the case.
The movie follows a group of five friends who are evacuating ahead of Hurricane Irma. They plan to party their way up to North Carolina and also celebrate one of their birthdays. Of course they run out out of gas and they decide to take shelter. They wait out the storm inside a supposedly abandoned aviation junkyard. Taking shelter in a hanger, they slowly realize that they are not alone and from there the mayhem ensues.
I was excited about the story since it was something I’ve never seen before (natural disasters as a backdrop for a slasher… except maybe Storm Warning ’07) and I always like to check out new directors. Unfortunately, this one was merely meh for me.
Some decent gore, unique story, and cool twist ending did not make up for the weak acting, general pacing, and plot holes galore that plagued this film. It’s not a horrible film… it’s just not a great one. I would like to see the directors next movie though because I can see he has potential. Not to make excuses, but this movie was filmed in 2018 and was not released until 2022; I’m not sure if this is the director’s true vision or did a producer have their hands in the final cut?
Despite the negatives, I would check out Unsheltered, if you have nothing else to watch, since I have definitely seen worse. Keep you expectations low and you might like it. But if you are looking for new and exciting slasher, you might want to pass this by. I give it a C-.
Better than anticipated. Ending was some what confused, acting borderline photography okay as was the writing. But held my interest as the film started to move at a better pace.
In good conscience can’t recommend this film but as noted by the reviewer am interested in watching the directors next attempt.
D+
Trying to understand the ending. Not a bad movie though. Was the detective in on it and why?