Horror Movie Review: Scurry (2024)

We’ve all suffered the annoyance of reading a synopsis, seeing a trailer, or catching an image or two of a cool looking horror, only to find a film that is the opposite of what was promised. Now, while Scurry isn’t quite that bad, it is extremely disappointing as you can see a good film trying to break out of this lacklustre shell.

Directed by Luke Sparke, written by Tom Evans, and starring Jamie Costa and Emalia, Scurry’s premise is super simple and super interesting. A city is under siege from something monstrous, and a man called Mark is lying in a deep hole in the street having been caught up in the attack.

There is no escape, so he is forced to go deeper into a tunnel to find a way out, where he runs into Kate, who is in a similar position. They don’t trust each other, but they have no choice but to work together to find a way out, especially as there are dangerous things scurrying about underground too.

It’s a really solid idea. Something that should blend the kind of claustrophobic tension that The Descent gave us with classic monster movie chills and adding in important character work that would make the story more compelling. Except that is not what we get, unfortunately. Instead, what we get is an experience that is far too long, far too lethargic, and far too meh to elect anything but a half-hearted shrug when it comes to talking about it, let alone from a positive perspective.

There are some positives though, so it’s only fair that what makes Scurry enjoyable is mentioned. For starters, the initial setup is interesting, and the early tunnel bits are thrilling. The underground is suitably ‘undergroundy’ and the scurrying monsters do look cool, once we finally get to actually see one. That’s your lot though.

Harsh? Scurry doesn’t deserve much praise because it is a film that steadily goes downhill, hitting rock bottom before we’ve even hit the halfway point, only to keep on digging. If you’re going to keep us in an environment that is so repetitive, you need strong characters and a compelling threat, but we get the opposite. We get characters that are so vacant, so stupid, and so unlikable, that I became convinced there was a point to them, and at the end we were going to get a wild and wacky reveal to explain the atrocious writing. It wouldn’t have been good, especially because of the lethargic pace, but it would have been something.

As for the threat? There’s none. I don’t mind not really seeing what is going on outside, but the inside threat needs to be realised. Instead, we have creatures that like to play ‘peek-a-boo’, have either the best or worst hearing ever, and fail to frighten because they never get to do anything. The film might think it is building atmosphere this way, but that’s not the case.

Dark, with obnoxious sound design, muffled dialogue, although that is sometimes a blessing, everything about Scurry ends up being an annoyance. All dragged out for over an hour and a half. Madness, and because of that, downright hateable. It’s not the worst made film ever, it’s important for me to say that, but by the end it will feel like it was. A wasted opportunity and in better hands, probably could have been something notable.