(2014) ***1/2
Estranged siblings Ed and Lyla travel to a remote cabin in the woods to check on their combat veteran brother Martin, who recently left Ed a cryptic answering machine message warning him not to visit. For reasons never explained Ed and Lyla do not get along and the two bicker endlessly on route to their troubled sibling 14 hours away. Once they arrive things are worse than anticipated. Martin is nowhere to be found and his home is festooned with garbage on the floor and tinfoil covering the windows. The basement door is barricaded and multiple TV sets are playing horror movies. Eventually Martin appears with a shotgun in hand ranting about a government conspiracy involving “pods”. Ed, a psychiatrist, reminds Martin that he is a paranoid schizophrenic who has not been taking his meds. Undeterred by Ed’s diagnosis, Martin offers evidence of the government’s surveillance including teeth he pulled out of his mouth with pliers which he is convinced house transmitters. When Ed attempts to go into the basement Martin blocks him warning him about a captured Pod. As Martin becomes more and more irrational Ed tries to instill calm while Lyla becomes increasingly hysterical and begins to buy into Martin’s conspiracy theory.
Resembling an extended Twilight Zone episode ‘Pod’ is nonetheless classic claustrophobic monster horror. Martin’s paranoia is palpable and the story perfectly encapsulates the difficulty of dealing with a mentally ill family member with a fixed belief system. Pitting siblings who don’t like one another to begin with adds to the gravitas of an already nerve-wracking situation. At 80 minutes long the film moves at a brisk pace and the final act is a corker.
Estranged siblings Ed and Lyla travel to a remote cabin in the woods to check on their combat veteran brother Martin, who recently left Ed a cryptic answering machine message warning him not to visit. For reasons never explained Ed and Lyla do not get along and the two bicker endlessly on route to their troubled sibling 14 hours away. Once they arrive things are worse than anticipated. Martin is nowhere to be found and his home is festooned with garbage on the floor and tinfoil covering the windows. The basement door is barricaded and multiple TV sets are playing horror movies. Eventually Martin appears with a shotgun in hand ranting about a government conspiracy involving “pods”. Ed, a psychiatrist, reminds Martin that he is a paranoid schizophrenic who has not been taking his meds. Undeterred by Ed’s diagnosis, Martin offers evidence of the government’s surveillance including teeth he pulled out of his mouth with pliers which he is convinced house transmitters. When Ed attempts to go into the basement Martin blocks him warning him about a captured Pod. As Martin becomes more and more irrational Ed tries to instill calm while Lyla becomes increasingly hysterical and begins to buy into Martin’s conspiracy theory.
Resembling an extended Twilight Zone episode ‘Pod’ is nonetheless classic claustrophobic monster horror. Martin’s paranoia is palpable and the story perfectly encapsulates the difficulty of dealing with a mentally ill family member with a fixed belief system. Pitting siblings who don’t like one another to begin with adds to the gravitas of an already nerve-wracking situation. At 80 minutes long the film moves at a brisk pace and the final act is a corker.
6 comments:
The bickering and characters weren't annoying? I feel like you get annoyed with that kind of thing, JPX. Did this manage to avoid that pitfall?
Sounds great! I was getting nervous just reading the plot description!
Tony & I were going to watch this last week but opted for a different film I'm glad to hear it's worth the watch.
I just watched* this one, and made it all the way through!
It's safe to say it had me feeling...um, nervous - yeah, nervous - the whole time.
*through my fingers, with the sound on mute 1/2 the time, distracting myself by shopping for boots. Hey...it's a strategy. :)
I think it's me who gets the most annoyed at the bickering. I blame Harry Cooper from Night of the Living Dead. Like, I blame him every year, and will continue to do so.
This sounds intriguing, JPX. Bickering aside, I wanna see what's in the basement.
Maybe they should have titled it something else? Wtheck does it have to do with a pod?
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