At the ass-end of the swingin’ Sixties; parapsychologists Dr. Mark Quinnley (Damian Vines) and his son Alex (Taylor Bartle) botch a job involving a demon-touched lad, but the entire fracas is recorded on a tape recorder.
Flash the fuck forward to 1979 as we meet John (Ash Calder) and Grace (Elizabeth Rhoades); a married couple who have lost their son… hey, at least they got another kiddo boppin’ about; namely their teen daughter Jessica (Mary Madaline Roe).
Speaking of J-dawg; she happens to find that recorder mentioned up yonder in a second-hand store and goes right ahead and accidentally spills blood all over it. Rookie move noob…
Of course demonic hijinks ensue, and it’s up to Jessica and her friends to put an end to this horrifying hootenanny right quick!
Make no mistake; They Reach is young adult thrills and chills through and through, so you can bet your arcane asses that there is a real Stranger Things/Monster Squad vibe front and center in this beastly baby… until the times it forgets it’s demographic and chucks some gore at your face (as well as some “fucks”), before heading back to Goonies-land again.
I had absolutely zero qualms with that chunk of info floating above this paragraph, but if you show this to some kid and it scares the shit out of them don’t blame Danny XIII; I warned you… I warned you ALL!!
Where the fuck was I? Oh yeah; this thing plays with nostalgia, and it does it really well; so kudos to co-writer/director Sylas Dall and co-writer Bry Troyer on that bit of biz. Speaking of things that work well; the young thespians that provide the protagonist quotient of this fright flick; the aforementioned Roe, along with Eden Campbell and Morgan Chandler asher pals Cheddar and Sam respectively do a great job of creating likable characters to follow through their joltin’ journey!
Adding to the positive tip we seem to be on here, this production also boasts some great ’70s period recreation, solid practical special effects work, and equally solid cinematography (courtesy of James Winters).
On the opposite side of the creepy coin; there are no vintage tunes to be had here, rather the soundtrack features new artists that have a “’70s feel” so the nostalgia buzz gets a tad killed there cats n’ creeps… at least for your’s cruelly.
Bottom line; They Reach is a ghoulish good time indeed… an uncomplicated jaunt into retro-infused horror biz that would make a good companion to all of the titles listed throughout this revoltin’ review!
