[yasr_overall_rating]
“The Unbidden” is a thriller about four women confronted by a mysterious young man who knows a dark secret from their past.
I was nervous that Quentin Lee’s horror-thriller “The Unbidden,” would leave me feeling tortured for all the wrong reasons. If a horror film makes me laugh, or better yet makes me scream, then it has satisfied a portion of its job. There’s nothing worse than to feel bored, especially during a horror flick. The first 20 minutes into “The Unbidden,” I prayed I wouldn’t have to listen to cheesy music/sound effects and gurgling throat noises from an invisible source throughout the whole film. I was prepared to accept my fate and the challenge of not losing my eyes to excessive rolling. But surprisingly, and happily, no eyes were lost and no extreme rolling was had. After the first 20 minutes were out of the way, I started digging this quirky horror flick.
Lauren Lee (Tamlyn Tomita) is a writer who is rapidly unraveling. Strange things are happening around her home: erratic sleep patterns, random items falling off shelves, spooky visions, and the aforementioned horrid throat noises. It comes as no surprise that this is all happening around the anniversary of an unfortunate event. An event only Lauren and her three best friends Anna, Kat, and Rachel know about. They’re a mixed group. Lauren is a sweet nervous Nellie, Anna (Elizabeth Sung) is prim and proper with the perfect family, Kat (Julia Nickson) is a mean spirited lush, and Rachel (Amy Hill) is a kook with connections on the other side. In an effort to help out Lauren with nervous disposition and fragile state of mind, the girls all band together to reconcile with the spirit that’s been lurking about.
It unfolds like a TV Novella/Soap Opera, there’s a twist and then another twist! In the midst of trying to contact the unruly spirit, there’s a disturbance and then a surprise visitor, a teenager who casually reveals a gun to the group and demands someone tell him what happened to his biological father. And that’s when Lauren’s story unfolds, a series of beachside flashbacks grace the screen, and we find out what went down the night Lauren’s husband was killed…or so we thought! Everything is not what it seems (and yet so obvious) and that’s what makes Quentin Lee’s “The Unbidden,” a keeper, or at least deserving of a chance.
There’s enough mystery, murder, cattiness, and spirit possession to keep you entertained, as well as a few wacky one liners that’ll catch you off guard and make you choke on your Coke. By the end of the journey, when it’s all happy family again, you’ll be wishing you could hang with a crew that is so blasé about murders and cover-ups. If you can get through the first 20 minutes or so, and keep your sense of humor close by, there may be a chance that you’ll enjoy this kook-fest.
For more information, visit the Official Website
