Sick
Director John Hyams and screenwriter/producer Kevin Williamson peacock onto Peacock to give your Friday the 13th an injection of excitement.
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As a 1990s teenager I pretty well worshipped at the altar of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. “Scream,” “Scream 2,” “The Faculty” and “Dawson’ Creek” (we used to have watch parties at different friend’s houses) were my jam. Therefore I was happy to hear about the arrival of “Sick” (now streaming on Peacock) … a comeback of sorts for Williamson and a movie I didn’t know existed until like a week ago.
It’s April 2020. We’re mask-deep in the pandemic. Toilet paper is a hot commodity. Hand sanitizer and Lysol are our best friends. College coeds Parker (Gideon Adlon, “Blockers”) and Miri (actress/R&B singer Bethlehem Million) are looking to escape campus and seek isolation at a luxury lake house belonging to Parker’s parents. It’s a COVIDcation if you will.
Unfortunately for these gal pals Parker’s on-again off-again boy toy DJ (Dylan Sprayberry, MTV’s “Teen Wolf”) crashes their party. He’s pissed about Parker posting a video of herself making out with some other bro named Benji (Logan Murphy) at a party. Worse still than the jilted ex-boyfriend is the masked killer with an axe to grind against Parker who’s more than happy to slice and dice through her homies in order to hone in on their target.
“Sick” is a lean and mean exercise in pandemic slasher-horror that Williamson penned alongside his one-time assistant Katelyn Crabb. (Williamson also produced the picture.) The flick is directed by John Hyams (son of filmmaking multihyphenate Peter and helmer of the 2020 horror-thriller “Alone” as well as “Universal Soldier” sequels “Regeneration” and “Day of Reckoning”).
Both Williamson and Hyams bring their unique sensibilities and talents to the table.
Williamson pays homage to both his “Scream” franchise (the killer uses a cell phone to stalk their prey … only they message as opposed to calling now) and its forebear “Friday the 13th” (there are characters named Jason and Pamela … do with this info what you will).
Hyams, a veteran of various Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicles, brings a propulsive, visceral energy to the proliferation of stalk and slash sequences. He’s aided by his frequent collaborators cinematographer Yaron Levy and editor Andrew Drazek who shot and cut these bone-crunching exchanges like they would the martial arts movies on which they made their bones.
At a mere 83 minutes, “Sick” is thin yet thoughtful. It definitely has pointed things to say about our collective experiences over the past coupla years and its characters often represent humanity’s worst impulses in the face of trauma. “Sick” just happens to use action as commentary and just like its killer’s knife it’s a whole helluva lot sharper than it is dull.