LOWLIFES (2024): The Ultimate Slashing Twist You Won't See Coming! | Movie Review

Lowlifes (2024) is a Canadian horror-thriller directed by Tesh Guttikonda and Mitch Oliver, with a screenplay by Al Kaplan (Terrifier 2, Zombeavers). Originally released as a Tubi Original, it quickly gained a strong word-of-mouth reputation in the horror community for completely flipping the classic “hixploitation” subgenre on its head.Think We’re the Millers meets The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or The Hills Have Eyes, but with a massive, expectation-subverting twist right out of the gate.The Plot & The TwistThe film opens following a seemingly picture-perfect, clean-cut suburban family—father Keith, mother Kathleen, teenage daughter Amy, and son Jeffrey—on a road trip through the backwoods in their RV.* The Setup: They have a tense road-side encounter with a couple of stereotypical, intimidating hillbillies (Vern and Billy) searching for a missing relative. When the local men’s truck breaks down later, the suburban family reluctantly agrees to give Billy a ride back to his remote family homestead to get help.* The Subversion: The ultimate “townies vs. backwoods country folk” trope is immediately inverted. The country family—headed by grandfather Neville and his granddaughters Savannah and Juli Ann—turn out to be completely normal, kind, and incredibly hospitable people. The real monsters are the clean-cut suburban tourists, who are actually a highly organized, deeply dysfunctional family of serial-killing cannibals on their annual hunting vacation.When the suburban family decides to infiltrate the homestead to butcher the hosts, a brutal, chaotic, and bloody night of survival ensues as the country family fights back.Notable ElementsPractical Effects & SplatterFor genre fans who appreciate the red stuff, Lowlifes does not skimp. The film heavily relies on practical special effects for its insanely brutal kill sequences. It delivers a high body count loaded with cringe-worthy, messy gore, including:* Dismemberment and body butchering* Axe and hunting knife wounds* Gouged-out eyeballs and fried tongues* Impressive “splatter” mastery during the third-act all-out warDark Comedy & NuanceThe script finds its best moments in dark, absurd situational comedy. It treats the suburban family’s cannibalistic hobbies like mundane family bickering—such as the father grounding his son and sending him to his room for showing a lack of “impulse control” while murdering someone.Character DynamicsThe movie adds a surprising layer of tension through the character of the daughter, Amy (Amanda Fix). She is losing interest in the family’s annual hunting traditions, hates the vacations, and forms a complex, tragic connection with Savannah (the resourceful daughter of the homestead), which severely complicates her family loyalty when the killing starts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goreandgrimepodcast.substack.com