[Film Review] Death Trip (2021)

There is something to be said about being able to sustain mood throughout a film - at first it might seem like a strange aspect to want to evoke in a film, but mood can change perceptions and also heighten emotions, therefore making it essential to slower-paced films.

Kelly Kay and James Watts’ horror film Death Trip plays with mood throughout the film, creating an uncomfortable feeling that lingers on screen. 

During the bleak of winter, four friends - Garrett (Garrett Johnson), Kelly (Kelly Kay Hurcomb), Tatyana (Tatyana Olal) and Melina (Melina Trimarchi) - travel to a secluded cottage to spend the weekend playing board games, drinking and spending time in each other’s company. As soon as they arrive they realise that they might be unwelcome amongst this local community, and immediately feel as if they are treading on the toes of the surrounding neighbours. Even though they have a feeling someone is watching, none of them ever suspect who the true monster  is…

Death Trip has been classified as mumblecore by Watts and Kay (you can watch more on this in my interview with them both), which essentially means the film focuses on improvisation and allowing the characters to vibe from each other to create realistic and tangible dialogue. With this niche type of specific, it allows the audience to become entrapped in the interpersonal relationships of the characters, which in turn creates an incredibly realistic feeling, with the dialogue never feeling heavily scripted or out of place in any way. Understandably, this type of conversational dialogue won’t be for everyone, but if you like character driven plots and finding out the intricacies between people, then you’ll enjoy this one. 

The setting of the film really alludes to the notion of feeling isolated and vulnerable, with ice breaths captured on screen, bleak white landscapes filling the lens and quiet night shots, it is easy to feel detached from the outside world. The pairing of these shots with the jarring and haunting score  sustains that ‘somethings-not-right’ mood for the duration, which creates a feeling of dread. Death Trip doesn’t feature quite as much blood as hoped for, but there are a couple of gnawing scenes, with one in particular, that shows that with a little more budget perhaps Kay and Watts will go for something nastier and gorier next time. 

This film feels like a personal project, but for me, that makes the viewing experience all the more enjoyable because it has heart and soul compared to many other horror films out there. It does require a little patience if you aren’t into small talk, but for those of us that are, then you’re really going to dig the pacing and vibe of this one. There’s a twist towards the end that knocked me back for six, and certainly wasn’t something that was visible from the beginning. Death Trip looks at the trust we put in those closest to us, and how that can easily be betrayed, especially if you are a woman. It focuses on our ability to ignore red flag warning signs, and instead be led by tropes and disillusion when the truth is staring us blankly in the face. 

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