Horror films have a way of carving moments into our minds, but what truly makes a movie “disturbing”? Is it the gore? The existential dread? That lingering sense that something’s watching you? For movies like Lowlifes, the key to being as unsettling as possible, the secret lies in keeping the audience guessing exactly what could come next. Spoiler alert: You can never predict this movie’s next move.
Once in a blue moon, a horror movie comes out of nowhere to haunt horror fans like me, who are always looking for the next Ari Aster or Robert Eggers. That’s why movies like these are such pleasant surprises: You don’t come across movies like Lowlifes; they find you instead.
First, the plot. Depending on your tolerance for horror clichés, Lowlifes’ plot might be the best thing you’ve ever seen, or a cavalcade of tired tropes. The film plays like your classic “haunted house/slasher” flick – and honestly, I couldn’t ask for anything more fitting. You see, not all horror movies need to reinvent the wheel, and you won’t find the genius of Lowlifes in its plot or setting, but in the way Mitch Oliver and Tesh Guttikonda play with your expectations.
If the plot seems disappointing, the tone is where Lowlifes truly shines. Right away, you’ll notice that this movie isn’t a straight horror flick that takes itself too seriously. For every scene with gratuitous amounts of gore, you’ll get sequences that play more like dark humor instead. The tonal whiplash might sound discombobulating, but it’s essential for the movie’s success. I know not everyone is a fan of plot twists – but Lowlifes breathes new life into the lost art of shocking viewers in a way that feels rewarding for the overall plot.
Now, you might have noticed that I’m being intentionally vague about exactly what makes the movie so disturbing. The reason for that is that any information (and I mean any spoiler) might ruin the experience. Lowlifes is a movie about a family staying the night in a remote homestead; things happen (weird things, mostly,) and the rest is pure, unfiltered madness – the kind that’s best enjoyed without a proper heads up.
If you need a sample of what to expect from Lowlifes, the best you could do is watch Mitch Oliver’s short film, The Druid’s Hand. It’s available for free on YouTube. While the tone is certainly much more somber than what you’d find in Lowlifes, you can get a glimpse of Oliver’s impeccable cinematography and how he handles tension in a short film that’s scarier than most feature-length horror movies released these days. Lowlifes is a film that thrives on its own chaos; Mitch Oliver and Tesh Guttikonda haven’t just crafted a horror movie; they’ve engineered a curse, one that dares you to look away even as it drills its hooks deeper.
Beyond that, Lowlifes is a celebration of classic horror tropes: Just because it’s a setting you’ve seen before doesn’t mean the scares won’t get you. On the contrary, the movie waits until you’re comfortable enough, and then reminds you why it’s easily one of the most unsettling horror features in recent memory. Watch it. Wrestle with it. Lose sleep over it. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.
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