“Lockbox” wastes no time getting creepy. This genre shape-shifting flick seesaws between thriller and horror, using periodic jump scares to bring you back from glancing at the time on your phone. “Lockbox” is riddled with conundrums and script misfeasance, which might not bother or distract the casual viewer looking for cheap scares. It’s almost a throwback to C-rate horror films that lined the back shelves of video stores in the early 90’s. Director Daniel Stamm (“The Last Exorcism”) and or cinematographer Alfonso Chin, deploy a few inspired shots or moments within a sea of by the number’s genre work. The standout here is Lou Taylor Pucci (“Evil Dead”), as his performance and what the role asks is more complicated than the entire film.
“Winthrop is a little different….” Emotional trauma from childhood, PTSD and physical injuries from his time in the Army. Winthrop (Pucci) is invited by his older cousin Ellen (Carla Gugino), whom he hasn’t seen in 30 years, to stay with her while he figures things out. Following the death of her mother, Ellen moved to this small town to start over. Their cohabitation is interrupted by intrusive neighbor Vahna Minter (Katharine Isabelle). Ellen’s work with the local church and charities makes her a giving and naïve person, and Vahna’s presence brings dark visions, unsettling behavior that leads to a brutal murder, rocking the entire community. Winthrop’s behavior and violent record make him a suspect with only Ellen to prove and risk it all to prove him innocent.
The house and town where the shoot takes place is the most authentic aspect to the film.
The moment Katharine Isabelle (“Insomnia”) appears on screen the entire tone of the film changes. Her character Vahna is costumed like a Disney channel witch. Not only distracting in the established plot but laughable to the point you consider “Lockbox” is veering into comedic territory. All the characters are written as caricatures, or versions of other horror movie characters we can easily identify. The dialogue doesn’t do the actors any favors either. It’s stiff, sounds like cue cards, and a few degrees away from natural behavior. This is where Pucci likely benefits, his role is mostly non-verbal and more internalized. The house and town where the shoot takes place is the most authentic aspect to the film. Ellen’s cozy farmhouse is clearly not a set, imperfect in every way (likely a budget constraint issue), grounding the characters more than was intended.
There is a scene about a heater that’s demonstrates lazy writing better than others. Vahna borrows an old space heater from Ellen’s home. Despite Ellen and Winthrop overwhelmed by Vahna’s demeanor and happy to have her out of their home. Ellen takes the time to drive to Vahna’s house to retrieve the worthless heater when she could have just bought a new one at the store. Obviously, the script needs Ellen at Vahna’s house for plot purposes, but the lazy space heater writing is a low point. At the midway point “Lockbox” takes a few notes from Sam Rami’s “The Gift” for slight improvement, existing momentarily in crime thriller territory. The third act however goes up in flames when the “Porta John Man” is introduced. It shifts genre’s one final time, into the dreaded exorcism trope. Complete with unsalvageable stretchy CGI mouths, on par with 80’s film style effects. The varying tonal shifts make “Lockbox” feel excruciatingly long and just an exhaustingly unsatisfying watch.
Final Thought
Best to leave this one locked up and throw away the key.