Sean Parker
Kevin Williamson is a name synonymous with modern horror. As the writer behind the first four Scream movies, Williamson introduced the world to slasher horror films that lived in the real world without rules. I remember reading a long time ago that Williamson received a strange phone call from a wrong number while home alone late one evening and began the process of writing Scream. And, as I watched today’s trailer drop for his latest pandemic slasher film, Sick, I wondered what terrifying thoughts he must’ve had when he came up with the story while sitting at home during lockdown.
We all knew an infusion of pandemic plots was headed our way and the movie keeps a simple setup to kick Sick off, pushing Parker (The Craft: Legacy’s Gideon Adlon) and Miri (Bethlehem Million) away from their suburban shackles and into a remote, lakeside bestie bubble during the extended lockdown period back in April 2020. What begins as an isolated getaway becomes less so as the trailer continues. With Malibu Horror Story’s Dylan Sprayberry paying an unwelcomed visit and an unknown guest walking into the house.
Currently sitting with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from eighteen reviews (at the time of writing), Sick’s trailer then begins to highlight the critical praise it received when it premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival (tiff), with Dread Central calling it “Relentless” and Vital Thrills boasting how “Whip-smart,” the film is. However, what catches my eye the most in this short teaser, is the lake house’s location, which looks eerily similar to where we last (officially) saw Jason Voorhies. The 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th introduced a fast-stalking Jason terrorizing the summer house of some privileged kids on Crystal Lake. Taking it a step further, The Retaliators’ Marc Menchaca and She Dies Tomorrow’s Jane Adams play characters Jason and Pamela, and the film debuts on Peacock on Friday the 13th. Could this all be a clue in figuring out Sick’s mystery? Or perhaps it’s just a love letter to one of the many killers wearing masks before the mandates.
Directed by John Hyams, the master of terror behind most of Netflix’s Black Summer, Syfy’s Z Nation, the nerve-wracking Alone, and co-directing the upcoming Maniac Cop reboot alongside Nicolas Winding Refn, Sick has all the markers of being a must-watch for home-invasion film fans and slasher lovers.
Sick premieres on Peacock Friday, January 13th.
