Old Strangers (2022)

Directed by Nick Gregorio [Other horror films: N/A]

I didn’t have much expectations going into Old Strangers. I liked the idea of the plot, and just went in hoping for the best. After seeing this, while I don’t think the film’s great, I definitely don’t think it’s that bad, either.

The plot is what pulled me toward this one – three friends meet up at a secluded cabin in a mountain town, and run across something “dark and terrible in the deep woods.” I had no idea where exactly the movie was going – it could have been some werewolf story, perhaps another monster of some kind. Maybe dangerous plants, maybe some alien parasites. Truth be told, “dark and terrible” does not a descriptive quality make.

Because of that vagueness, I feel I can’t touch too much on the actual details here. The good thing about that is Old Strangers is a short film – it runs for just an hour and two minutes – so if you want to figure out what that “dark and terrible” thing is, it won’t take too much of your time.

I can say, though, that there are minor elements of body horror here, a little bit of slasher, and a little bit of unknown organisms. We are given a clearer picture toward the end insofar as the nature of the evil is concerned, which was nice, but it’s also fair to say that given the film was quite short and limited in scope, it doesn’t quite have as much meat as one may like.

There’s no doubt, though, that the film looked quite nice. Truth be told, when I watch a lower-budget film on Tubi, I expect, well, lower-budget camera-work. That’s not the case here, as Old Strangers had rather solid cinematography. I was actually surprised by some of the shots and techniques (such as a timelapse, which looked rather nice) used here. There was even a sequence which showed a meteorite flying through space, which didn’t look amazing, but certainly felt ambitious.

Performances were also pretty good. My personal favorite was Ted Evans, as I liked his style, and he seemed a cool guy, but Madeleine Humphries made for a fair focal point. Colton Eschief Mastro didn’t get quite as much time to shine, but he was good with what he had, and director Nick Gregorio even popped up in a scene. I actually expected to see his character again toward the end, just to tie a few more things together, but as the man said when he looked into the used Monopoly game, “no dice.”

Like Last the Night, the movie is very much of the time period. These three friends are escaping the quarantine they’ve been under, and before getting together, all got tested, showing each other the results before removing their face masks. When they’re interacting with a police officer, their face masks stay on, only to be taken off once a character points out they’re standing six feet apart. There’s also references to Airbnb and Kanye West’s amusing 2020 presidential run. It’s a product of it’s time, and so feels fresh, while also keeping with a traditional sense of suspense and science-fiction fun in the latter half of the film.

There’s a lot to appreciate about Old Strangers, despite the lack of depth I’d have personally preferred. The movie looks damn nice, and while it was short, what with the performances, plot, cinematography, and honestly, many aspects, it stood out quite nicely. My one concern is that I feel it could have had a bit more to it, and because of that, won’t end up being that memorable, ultimately. Still, if you want an okay time, I don’t think checking this one out would be that poor an idea.

7/10