There’s no doubt that They’re Watching is more comedy than horror, but you’ll definitely be entertained and that’s never a bad thing

They're Watching posterIt’s hardly a secret that I have a huge soft spot for horror-comedy. Being the ScreamQueen of this website, I’m the one who wants to look away when things get too real or intense, and with a good horror-comedy you never really need to do that. Mostly because they’ll take you straight from a harmless good laugh to an intense jump scare… but without really being scary. They’re Watching is very good at delivering the jokes, while the horror and scares are too few for my taste.

That’s not to say I wasn’t entertained because I absolutely was. Except for one emotional scene between two love interests, which I found to be completely misplaced in the story line (important knowledge for the viewer, but bad timing, so I didn’t really care to hear it), the storyline and plot development in They’re Watching worked well for me.

As we’ve covered previously, when we first wrote about this film, the writer-director team behind have experience from cartoons and video games, which is probably why this does feel like a very new and innovative project. One very typical thing we do see in They’re Watching is the use of very colorful and memorable supporting characters. For me, the quirky new home owner, Becky (Brigid Brannagh) and the local real estate broker, Vladimir (Dimitri Diatchenko) deliver most of the best scenes and lines. Becky is amazing at working with just her facial expressions while Vladimir has the best lines. I’m already using variations of his “Only broker in town is best broker in town!”, which is a very good thing. After all, immitations are the highest form of flattery.



When watching the movie, which was shot on location in Romania, it’s difficult not to make a comparision to Borat – yes, the 2006 movie by Sacha Baron Cohen, which incidently was also filmed on location in Romania. I mean this in the sense that much of the fun stuff comes of the huge cultural divide between the TV people from the US and the local village population. I’m not complaining, since it’s obvious throughout the story that both the crew and villagers have good and bad sides, so nobody’s pointing fingers here.

If you enjoy a good comedy and want to enjoy some horror elements, then you should definitely give They’re Watching a chance. I was very well entertained and the cast seemed to enjoy themselves. And you will see some faces you know – if that kind of thing is important to you, since we’ve got David Alpay (Quantico), Kris Lemche (Final Destination 3 and Ginger Snaps) and Carrie Genzel (Jennifer’s Body and Dead Rising) in the primary cast. Still, for me, the real stars were Brigid Brannagh (Major Crimes) and Dimitri Diatchenko (Chernobyl Diaries), who delivered comedy and attitude perfectly.

They’re Watching is out in limited release and VOD now

Details

Director: Jay Lender, Micah Wright
Writer: Jay Lender, Micah Wright
Cast: Mia Faith, Kris Lemche, David Alpay

Plot

When an American home improvement TV show visits a remote Eastern European village, the young crew thinks the lack of mocha lattés and free wifi will be the worst of their problems. But after their filming interrupts the superstitious villagers’ private religious ritual, the situation takes a turn for the homicidal… and when the blood starts flowing, that’s when things get really weird

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
Latest posts by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard (see all)