Film
Review of Blumhouse and Epix’s UNHUMAN
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Published in
Interstellar Flight Magazine
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4 min read·
Aug 5, 2022
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A group of misfit high school kids, an inept P.E. Teacher, and a wacky bus driver all on a field trip to the wilderness: What could go wrong?
Turns out, a zombie apocalypse of sorts.
This is the premise of Blumhouse Television and EPIX latest movie, Unhuman (2022). Blumhouse typically produces horror, but it’s purer genre like Paranormal Activity (2007-present) and Get Out (2017). Unhuman is different because it provides fun and horror in equal doses. It’s filled with bonkers one-liners and non-stop action, zombie-smashing and blood.
On the bus are all the cliques known to high school; nerds, loners, jocks, and bullies who call each other names like randos, Jumpstreet, and meatheads. Their goal is to earn some extra credit, but after the bus hits something, a red liquid covers the entire windshield, and the bus crashes. The radio plays a message about a chemical attack. Then, in the movie’s ever-present snarky style, the dimwit P.E. teacher opens the bus door to a zombie — because, why not? — and proceeds to get his face half-eaten. Now it’s up to the band of bickering classmates to save each other.
Their first test is when so-called ‘Brace Face’ gets dragged from behind on the bus by the zombie. Some wonder if they should save her, while others just want to help themselves. That’s an overarching theme — how, or if, to work together. Another is bullying and standing up for yourself. Not even a zombie apocalypse can stop this crew from tormenting each other.
After the bus crash, the group finds an abandoned building to hide out in. Through a boarded-up window, Ever, played by Brianne Tju, spots Brace Face screaming and running for help towards the building. Ever begs the others to help, but they don’t. Ever seems to be the only one who cares about saving people. Meanwhile, most of the others are too busy bullying each other to be bothered, which turns out to hurt them throughout their ordeal. A jock and a nerd argue about fat camp. Two BFFs argue about why one is hanging with the popular kids instead of helping out. They say to follow the “heroes, not the zeros.” The film clearly wants to send an anti-bullying message because the more the kids do it, the worse their situations become. They are so busy bullying, they forget to look for weapons.
The rooms in the abandoned building, which looks the home of an underground rave, get creepier and creepier as the characters make their way through them. The attention to detail in set design makes it even more interesting. Vibrant colors and visual effects like screen wipes play up the vibe. The characters’ slow-motion reactions to the first death were genuinely believable.
Ever has the clearest character arc. Towards the middle of the movie, she becomes increasingly frustrated with the self-appointed leader of the group and chooses to ignore his demands. When she leaves with Steven, one of the nerds, to go back to the bus, a discovery reveals a massive plot twist that flips the narrative upside down. She also opens up a lot to Steven about her feelings of being an outcast.
After the plot twist, the movie becomes not only horrific visually, but thematically. A few of the characters reveal their true, evil selves and push things to the ultimate limit, but don’t worry there’s lots of cool sword fighting and badass female action. Finally, the crew is working together.
Unhuman, for what it’s worth, has lots of after-school special like themes: friendship, loneliness, anti-bullying, and teamwork. Friends Ever and Tamra have a nice reconciliation in the end that basically includes them all. The movie pushes the horror genre in some mind-bending ways, but don’t expect Walking Dead level gore here, though. Oh, and keep watching past the end credits for a brief scene that will delight viewers who enjoyed the film.
We give it 3 out of 5 stars. Unhuman is currently streaming on VOD.
