2024 / Tesh Guttikonda, Mitch Oliver / Tubi / NR
"I'd rather eat pussy than people!"
Plot
A family on a road trip in their RV happens upon two brothers whose truck has broken down. The family are first skeptical of the two, but later find themselves settling in for a wholesome dinner in the brother's country home. Be careful what you expect to go down in this film, stereotypes will be proven false. Except for the cliche about rebellious teenagers, that one is always proven true.
Creators
The writer of Lowlifes is Al Kaplan, a man usually known for composing music such as the Clown Cafe tune from Terrifier 2. Tesh Guttikonda had previously worked on the film Influencer (2022), it's on Shudder, but I have yet to check it out. I read a review for Influencer on the Roger Ebert website, and that film is now on my must-watch list. Mitch Oliver is also credited as a director in this film, and I'm led to believe that he is responsible for the grit, which I appreciate considering the direst correlation we have to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He has a short film called The Druid's Hand. Here's a trailer, but you can find the full 13-minute-long video on YouTube as well:
There's a lot to like about this cast as well, they're all lesser-known but give spectacular performances. Amanda Fix (Orphan Black: Echos) plays the closest thing we have to a protagonist in Amy. Matthew MaCaull plays the absolutely unhinged father, Kieth. I haven't seen any of his other work, but his versatility is front and center. We also have Brenna Llewellyn, Cassandra Sawtail, and Richard Harmon who play a few of the siblings, and they understand exactly what's expected out of this script.
Jake's Take
This is one of those films in which you need to go in blind. Don't watch a trailer or read any more of this review.
Okay, welcome back. Did you like the twist? I know I did. Did I wish it was executed differently? Yeah, but this is the film we got. What hurts this film the most is Josh Zaharia as Jeffrey, the psychopathic murderer who doesn't listen to his parents. Josh's demeanor is off. I don't buy him as this character, but I appreciate the contrast his sister, Amy (Amanda Fix) offers. Where he's grinning and wide-eyed, she's grumpy and melancholy. The idea is that we're taking the rampaging cannibal hillbilly cliche and turning it on its head, which is so damn fun. This film isn't perfect by any means, there are some lighting issues, and some sexual scenes are emphasized, but it does so much right if you're looking for a film to watch over a few drinks on a Friday.
The one-liners completely sold it for me, and they didn't stop for the hour-and-a-half runtime. It reminds me of Freddy in his glory days. There's a one-liner towards the end when someone's getting their face bashed in on a piano that had me howling. There are a couple of pivot points in this film where people who know the genre will be caught off guard, especially with that ending. The humor hits, and the setting stays true to the genre they're subverting. I always keep the remote nearby when I start a Tubi original, but this one changed that. So what else can I say? I'm a Lowlifes advocate.
Your Father puts on his favorite apron and begins cooking the guests. You...
Pour a tall cup of Mt. Dew and tell that man to hurry it up.
Tell guest to stop screaming, your working on a crossword.
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