“Ick”

Cheesy riffs on the sci-fi / horror genre can be a lot of fun if done well, but director Joseph Kahn‘s “Ick” is an absolute disastrous attempt at poking fun of retro creature features. The premise wears itself out prematurely, the sight gags and jokes aren’t intentionally bad enough to be funny, and Kahn’s hyperactive filmmaking style is more overwhelming than entertaining.

Set in the small middle America town of Eastbrook, hapless former high school football star Hank (Brandon Routh) is now teaching science at his alma mater. Nothing much ever happens around here, except for the widely accepted “ick” that has been growing out of the ground for the last two decades. But when the viscous “ick” vines start to turn violent and an imminent alien threat becomes a reality, Hank and Grace (Malina Pauli Weissman), the smartest student in his class, begin to take matters into their own hands.

Bloody mayhem ensues, but the action feels so disappointing. Much of it is due to the fact that the film’s editing is relentless in its disorienting style, which probably is designed to match the rapid pace and manic energy of the narrative. This is a movie that feels tailor-made for the TikTok generation, but the barrage of frantic cuts and the blaring 90s nostalgia that makes up the soundtrack (which is nothing but musical ‘memberberries for Millennials) is pure sensory overload.

The satirical elements fall flat here, and the irreverent humor is lackluster. The idea that a society can become so desensitized to ongoing emergencies is a good one, but the paper-thin characters, lame duck performances, superficial storytelling, and general sense of agitation from the director’s style makes “Ick” feel less like a fun throwback and more like a visually and aurally abrasive assault.

By: Louisa Moore