“Guys, you don’t know what can happen here.”

Story: Ruthie has lost her grandmother, but gained an old hotel. So she brings her girlfriend, a friend, and an acquaintance to the place before she decides to sell. As the emotions of the quartet get heated in isolation, strange things start to happen. Is the hotel fucking with them, or has Ruthie gone full Torrance?

Scares: There’s a chainsaw so you’d think… But there’s a light touch with onscreen red stuff.
Splat Factor: Lots of tension between the characters that turns into psychological terror.

Subgenre: Haunted Hotels…And People
Year Released: 2023
Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Original, but harks back to films like The Shining, The Innkeepers, and other such chillers.

Trick or Treat?: Things is a psychological study within a haunted hotel… Kinda like The Shining for a GenZ world. With a touch of *that* dream. You know, the one where you’re the only one in a huge mall or something? Yeah, that creepy one. It’s a fascinating setup that had me all-in from the start. Like the similarly set – and paced – The Inkeepers, Things focuses on the characters and their emotional connections… and disconnections.

Like there’s a hoodie wearing chainsaw killer chasing down Ruthie’s mom’s recent ex, who came to the hotel to reconnect. It’s a strange “who’s the whacko” seemingly out of nowhere, just when the psychological tension is starting to get juicy. Yeah, Things is a horror movie, but the BOOM of a killer, when the film had been focusing on group dynamics and the spirits of the hotel? A record scratch.

There are several scenes challenge the believability of the one before it. Typically, I live for a well executed mind-scramble. But here? Sadly, once the characters start to go off the rails, Things doesn’t give up enough information to really dig through the strangeness and really get into it. Instead, it throws things into the mix with wanton abandon, forgetting that the film needs to let us in on what the creators know about what’s going on.

I get that a lot of psychological horror makes you do the work. And my brain loves a good movie fixation, y’all. But Things doesn’t connect enough dots, leaving things muddy and unsatisfying as the story draws to a close. It’s a film with a lot of promise, and a solid first half, but Things can’t support the plot when it adds too much too suddenly.

However? Based solely on the premise, the performances, and the juicy interplay between characters in the first half? It’s definitely worth a watch, if you’re into slow burn indies. Just shrug off the lack of cohesion when the spooky stuff really hits, and you’ll have a decent way to spend around an hour and a half.

Oh, and I’m loving the modern yet retro vibe of this soundtrack – makes for great playlist additions, especially if you’re into the similarly vibe-y earworm that is “Lookin’ For the Magic” from You’re Next.

Score: 3.5 out of 5 pumpkins. Gets an extra half pumpkin bump thanks to the excellent performances.