Let’s face it when a movie gets a lot of hype ahead of its release we usually find ourselves left disappointed. That is not the case with writer-director Brandon Christenson and co-writer Colin Minihan’s spooky AF film Z.
I was not prepared for this frightening flick. I was expecting a decent movie, but Z is so much more. I’ve been a horror fan for so long that I’ve become pretty jaded, but Z reminded me of why I fell in love with the horror genre in the first place. As horror fans, we are always in search of the next high, that moment when we feel like our heart will jump out of our chest, the times when we flinch in fear and are left with thoughts of a story swimming around in our heads. Z does that.
The film follows a family whose son has become dangerous. He blames everything on his invisible friend Z, but it doesn’t take long for Elizabeth, the mother (Keegan Connor Tracy), to come to the realization that Z may very well be real. Once she realizes that her son is being influenced by a dark entity she reaches out to a psychiatrist played by Stephen McHattie, who reveals that she’s faced the entity before.
It’s not easy to scare me anymore, but by god Z had me jumping in my chair and had me peeking through my fingers as they covered my eyes in multiple scenes. It is one of the scariest movies I’ve seen in a long time, and that says a lot.
Tracy is incredible in the film, capturing her character’s gamut of emotions perfectly. She made Elizabeth’s struggle feel so real. I can easily say that this is her best performance to date.
I find young actor Jett Klyne impressive. He is amazing to be as young as he is. My only issue with the cast is that several of the characters (the husband and sister) made it hard for me to feel empathy for them. They were both self-absorbed dicks.
I loved Z! It’s fresh and scary. Featuring a few jump scares, the movie also has a ton of real tension and suspense, and even though you suspect something bad will happen in a scene, you’re still surprised and caught off guard as it comes from an unsuspected angle. The filmmakers absolutely nailed it!
Z is the kind of horror movie fans deserve. It gets a strong 5/5 from me. Filled with action and terror, Z is a movie you have to watch! Luckily, you can watch it now on Shudder.
