Shook (2021) User Reviews

It just wasn't very good.

[TimothyP · 4/10 · 10 March 2021]

While the concept has been done before, there was reason to hope going into this movie. A movie that promises to stretch out the opening scene of Scream to feature length could be done well, given the right care and feeding (so to speak). After all, Ready or Not was a great movie, but at its core, it was just a new take on The Most Dangerous Game.

Alas, it was not to be.

Shook made me sad.

While there are some nice twists and turns as the plot unfolds, Shook is woefully underwritten. At no point do we feel anything resembling empathy for our main character, her friends are nothing more than by-the-numbers stereotypes, and the pacing is off. I don't know if the director was trying to do a slow burn in some scenes, but if so, she didn't execute well at all.

And to add a little insult to the viewer's injury, there are continuity issues all over the place, the most egregious happening in the opening minutes of the film.

I give it a 4/10 because there's a good movie hiding in here. As I said, there are some nice, effective twists and turns. But underdeveloped characters and bad pacing doom this one to the bargain bin, if those still exist.

Watchable, not brilliant.

[LoupGarouTFTs · 5/10 · 20 October 2021]

The movie had a few really good moments. It opened up with a really adorable Biewer terrier peeing on his (movie) owner and progressed from there! The other reviewers mentioned some implausibilities, so I won't waste my time repeating them. There were many, many flaws that could have made this movie unwatchable if not for the genre; however, it was, simply "torture porn" of a weaker-than-Saw variety. I have to admit that I watched till the end to find out what happened to the dog. Yes. I'm one of "them."

Anyway, it's a good enough movie for popcorn and a hot chocolate on a cold October night while doing a 30-day countdown for Halloween. I probably won't include it next year, though. Congrats to Chico, a cute little pug (mix maybe), who got out while the getting was good. :)

Editing and cinematography were good actually

[flyswm · 4/10 · 1 July 2021]

They did some really cool camera work and editing for this. There was also some good situational humor. Not good but not terrible. 4/10 is just below average.

Hated It

[NickGagnon942 · 1/10 · 5 March 2022]

I hated this movie. Its a film that constantly names characters despite barley meeting any of them. No character development at all. This also involved a dog slasher complete with pictures of dead dogs. I hope those were fake. They looked real. Plus this whole film is just a total bore.

Diana. Turn this movie off.

[scaknight · 1/10 · 20 February 2021]

I lost brain cells watching this. The whole thing is a shambles, I cannot understand the handful of good reviews. One star because the dog doesn't die.

Stupid

[Movi3DO · 4/10 · 11 October 2021]

Another Shudder original. This was a pretty stupid movie. The plot had some major problems. The acting was alright and I wasn't too annoyed. The usage of music was amateur. So many different background musics were used to build suspense, but most failed to accomplish the purpose. It actually became distracting.

When the twist was revealed, this plot became worse and fell apart. The motivation made little sense, and the set up earlier was meaningless.

There was one scene where the main character made injections into her arms and legs. It was so stupid because she injected the needles 90 degrees straight through the bones. Clearly those needles were fake lol.

Overall, not scary but stupid movie. 3.5/10.

So many issues

[liliofthethorns · 1/10 · 5 March 2021]

Neither a crying girl on the phone with 911 nor a gunshot on a quiet residential night will bring the cops to this scene!

I won't say anything about the acting here, as I've certainty seen worse. It doesn't really play into my rating.

This movie was just not good. Too much was unrealistic.

When a girl calls 911 and, while crying and obviously in a great deal of stress, tells the operator she's sorry she called....that would not be the end of that. Cops would definitely be dispatched to check on the caller...this didn't happen.

Second glaring issue....girl orders an Uber driver. When he shows up she texts him telling him she no longer needs him, to leave (she tells him to leave several times amongst his complaints about his time being wasted).

About 15-20 minutes later, at the end of the movie, the girl stumbles out of the house, bloody and with a broken leg, collapses on the sidewalk...and there's her Uber driver, sitting in his car on the other side of the street. Does he rush over to her? Seem concerned at all? No. He simply asks if she is Mia. I think it's also worth mentioning this would imply that he had been sitting outside the house when a man was shot on the doorstep...but he stuck around and no cops showed up.

The movie tried for the classic, overused jump scare of the previously thought dead (or at least unconscious) killer popping up.

Anyone who gave more than 1 star is being nice. I can't think of one good thing to say about this movie that makes it worth watching.

Characters are so vapid and pointless

[zoeyaitchison · 1/10 · 26 July 2022]

The main actress puts so little effort into her performance that you are hoping she is one of those that are murdered! There is not one character that has enough depth for you to actually give a damn about whether they make it or not, don't bother with this as it is a colossal waste of time.

This was interesting!

[Patient444 · 7/10 · 18 February 2021]

Cute little surprise over here, a movie that did not get any special attention yet it managed to stand tall. I liked pretty much everything about it, the acting, characters, lovely plot development, the pacing was wonderful and it did not waste any time, so from my point of view, considering the budget, actors, possibilities, I have to say: I'm impressed.

This is a small horror done right, properly, it succeeded on every level, but of course, considering what it was able to produce and what money it had for it. A somewhat of a Hush little sister, Shook did just great, I never had one dull moment, and I appreciate the fact that it started one way and quickly managed to turn its direction and show me something that simply put, kept me interested for the entire ride.

Shook is an example that you can still do a smaller horror production, with a few actors, contained surroundings and without relying on gore or porn. Simply put, Bravo!

Cheers!

The main actress has the personality of a handbag

[Kittyb1981 · 1/10 · 23 February 2021]

I rarely switch off a horror/slasher but this was next level terrible. The main actress has about as much charisma as some old cheese in the back of the fridge and seems to spend most of her time pouting and blinking at the camera. The plot is dull and non-existent. Dull, dull, dull.

It's pretty good

[witchsbrew82 · 8/10 · 19 February 2021]

I think Shudder thought it would be their next Host. It's definitely not. But it's pretty good I reckon. There's a drastic tone shift 3/4 the way through the movie and the twisted turn wasn't how I thought the whole thing would go down. It's a fun movie that tries to cut deeper with the whole "influencer in the wild" aesthetic that you're gonna see a lot of reviewers crap on it for

Better than Expected

[AllyBee73 · 7/10 · 22 February 2021]

I liked it, better than I expected. Each time I thought it was over something else would happen, a new twist. It was a good story, interesting directing. Well done. In my opinion, it's just as good as most thrillers nowadays.

"Don't be a bandwagon reviewer, it's ok to have your own opinion." - Me

Media

[Stanlee107 · 3/10 · 25 February 2021]

Shookingly bad. This is a modern twist of the film Phone Booth mixed with challenges from the Saw franchise. The premise may have sounded great on paper/ in the script but the end result is a mediocre thriller. They may have made some social commentary on what some are willing to do to project the idealised version of themselves for public consumption but the reality may be completely different. It tries to go down the route of thriller but I found it as annoying as many of the self absorbed vloggers out on social media.

Hilariously bad

[j-cameron22 · 1/10 · 20 February 2021]

One of the worst horror films I've ever seen. Like Camp Blood, Troll 2 bad. Like laugh out loud ridiculous bad. You don't need to switch off your brain to watch it so much as have a full lobotomy. Just unbelievably dreadful.

Terrible

[danielclarkecov · 1/10 · 17 March 2021]

This film is awful, only reason it gets 1 star at all is because they have a cover of Girls just wanna have fun in the opening and that song is a banger

A Modern Slasher Crumbles Under its Own Weight

[TwistedContent · 4/10 · 21 February 2021]

I like going into movies not knowing much, and I met up with "Shook" under my false assumption it's a found-footage type movie... I think it was the poster, and the reminiscing of Shudder's "Host". No worries, a modern slasher will do. However, it is one full of flaws and implausibilities, despite all its social commentary and effort in innovation.

Mia is a social media influencer, leading "Makeup by Mia" with enough followers so that all of her friends would be impressed. She skips an evening with her friends, stays home (where most of the movie takes place) and soon becomes the target of an online terror campaign, where she'll have to solve a series of games to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. Is it real? Who is the killer? What kind of game is this?

An effortfully twisted one, it is. Director and writer Jennifer Harrington has served us a slasher where all of the characters are low-level social media influencers, hungry for attention, willing to sell out morally, confused in their constant chase for fame. Exhibitionism, sensationalism. These technology-dependent guys are an easy prey for the killer that has made their gadgets into his surveillance. Social commentary, often heavy handed, is present throughout "Shook" and seems to be one of the main tasks for director Jennifer Harrington. A horror satire of Instagram lives. For much of the movie, Mia is in the webs of the mysterious killer, the phone calls, the messages, her tools and her life turned against her. Suspense games resulting in very little suspense. "Shook" is an all-around lackluster when it comes to scares, and atmosphere, which is often damaged by simple realisticity issues. One of the most commendable parts of "Shook" is Dayse Tutor's performance as Mia, well emotional and believable, despite the character never truly resoluting in anything, but suffering for her millennial ways. The second half of "Shook" is twist-heavy, and it feels like the movie crumbles after each next one, for they can be underwhelming and/or improbable. The highly typical ending made me sigh without thinking. "Shook" also shows hit&miss stylistical effort, photography can be creative, Mia's thoughts are sometimes shown in cool ways, text messages and videos appearing on surfaces etc., eventually making it aesthetically feel slightly like "all over the place".

"Shook" is a passable flick, in both senses, it passes as a decent low-budget modern-problem slasher that kind of crumbles under its own weight, and also, You can just pass it, skip it, for it is flawed horror which often feels very lackluster, and improbable, especially because of its wanting-to-be-real setting. The chance that you'll be shook, is little. My rating: 4/10.

Not that bad of a movie!

[natashialw · 5/10 · 28 March 2021]

I read reviews giving this movie bad reviews and such and some good reviews and Tbh this movie wasn't that bad. Good for a one time watch maybe a re-watch down the road but it was entertaining to me had me wondering what was going on and lots of "wtf" moments.

To whom buy this movie

[ks-60500 · 2/10 · 22 March 2021]

Read the reviews here and if you rate this more than a 5, either you are paid to write a fake review or you have watch less than 50 horror in your life. This one I rated a 2, no further comment. END

It's not that bad

[abortamir · 7/10 · 20 July 2021]

I've seen worst and for most people who wants to have logic in horror movie are insane, you want realistic thing, go watch a documentary lol.

Like really bad

[cbejh · 1/10 · 3 March 2021]

I love a good bad horror film. This was just horrible. Like within 20 I was about to stop it but I was bored. The actors are BAD . The plot is BAD. I believe I could have been a better lead honestly. And I cannot believe that shudder is showing this garbage.

It's A FUN Roller-Coaster Ride!

[WalkdenEntertainment · 8/10 · 18 February 2021]

Mia (Daisye Tutor) is a superstar when it comes to her fame on social media. She is well known for promoting premium cosmetic products under her username @makeupbymia. While her social media profile shows the world nothing but perfection, in the real world, Mia is dealing with a few personal matters, especially when it comes to her family life.

Sadly, Mia's mother passed due to Livingston's disease and to make matters worse, her older sister, Nicole appears to be following down the same path as her mother. When her sister is required to leave home to receive treatment from a particular hospital, Mia offers to babysit Nicole's dog instead of doing a live stream with her boyfriend and her two best friends. While Mia is confident she can take care of the dog independently, her community all live in fear as the news continues to report the many murders conducted by the "South Land Dog Killer" who is still on the loose. Until recently, the killer was well known for murdering dogs but now they have started to murder people.

As the night begins, Mia receives a phone call from an unknown person wanting to play a series of games, and the stakes are the lives of all of those she cares for including her family and her best friends. Mia begins to question if she is experiencing the real thing or just a social media prank. Either way, she begins to play to save lives. Can Mia survive the night and discover the truth to everything that is occurring?

Leading performances throughout this film are outstanding. Naturally, I am talking about the actress Daisye Tutor who plays Mia. As a character, this is undoubtedly someone who goes through a significant roller-coaster of emotion for one night. We also see her character make some extremely challenging choices and deal with multiple surprises at every turn. I enjoyed the top performance, and it is incredibly pleasing and fresh. I felt the actress delivered something extraordinary as the performance alone truly heightens the film.

Shook is a very creative film and introduced a style of editing I have not seen in cinema before. Several creative choices stood out to me while watching the movie, and during many moments I was pleased at the level of creativity, especially when it came to the use of modern technology. When it comes to all the social media talk, I found it quite relatable and positive even if some moments may seem a little too far-fetched to accept. It's still fun.

The pacing of this film is excellent as it never drags or feels dulls. It also does not take long for the film to introduce us to our lead and the film provides a nice balance for Mia's world on social media, and the real world dealing with her family health matters and questioning her best friends. The film enjoys throwing a substantial horror element in the mix and movie lovers will have a wild time with this film and all the surprises. Once the film got underway, I was invested in knowing the film's outcome, and I questioned if Mia would survive the night. The film's twist (or should I say twists!) were never predictable even though at the end of the film I questioned myself as to how I did not see that reveal coming. It is a great feeling to watch a movie that you cannot predict, something that also "Shook" my nerves.

The selection of music here is brilliant, starting with the film's opening credit track. While the musical tracks never felt the same, the musical score would change multiple times to suit the moment on screen. There were so many times where the selection of musical tracks surprised me and for the majority felt rather fitting (except the song selection for the end credits- that one did not quite work for me). But the variety of pop music and synth-music tracks were a significant thumbs up.

Overall, I am pleased to say I had an absolute blast watching this film. A young girl who receives a phone call leading to several 'games' might seem like nothing new, but I assure you, this film is filled with new elements. The film's twists and turns surprised me at every moment, and nothing here was predictable. The top performance by Daisye Tutor is brilliant, and the selection of musical numbers and the film's creative style and editing was also a significant standout. As the credits rolled, I left on a high from everything I witnessed. Sure, some technology elements might seem a little too far-fetched to accept, but this honestly did not bother me. Shook is a new style of horror with plenty to offer which will please many movie lovers and leave them feeling like they've just been on a wild roller-coaster ride.

8.1/10 - Walkden Entertainment

could be masterpiece or hidden gem, but all wasted.

[mrkwang · 7/10 · 18 March 2021]

I understand why people left low score & negative review. it's totally broken until middle of this movie. I couldn't understand what's going on around 40 minutes from the start. The reason why? Director or Editor made it bad. But after the middle of this movie, it became great suspenseful thrilling one. At least, I think so.

I guess... People who left low score & negative review, they couldn't stand first 40 minutes. it's just bad. So they thought remaining scenes were also bad. I agree. It's that bad. However I think it's really good after middle of this film. In fact, almost awesome. That's why I'm leaving sorta positive review.

Ice Cream Aisle seven

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 28 February 2021]

Mia (Daisye Tutor ) is a spokes model and tutor for Sakani Cosmetics. She has a large on-line following. At the same time Southern California has a dog killer. After fellow spokes model is murdered, Mia offers to dog sit her sister's dog Chico, while she (Emily Goss ) goes to San Francisco to get tested for Livingston disorder. Their mother died from the disease. Nicole (the sister) cared for mom, while Mia lived her glamour life. While dog sitting. . .

I thought the plot twists were good, but the execution of terror/horror/thrills/ was extremely poor. It took away from any possible enjoyment I got from the film. Poor direction, weak dialogue.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Decent.

[MarieWatches · 5/10 · 19 March 2021]

Has some pretty good acting and somewhat intense scenes!

Dreadful.

[nick-313 · 1/10 · 28 February 2021]

I never rooted harder for the "victim" to be whacked. Constant whiny screaming and overacting gibberish. Just awful with an awful premise.