Unhuman (film)
| Unhuman | |
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 Promotional poster | |
| Written by |
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| Directed by | Marcus Dunstan |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Charlie Clouser |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Cinematography | Lyn Moncrief |
| Editor | Andrew Wesman[1] |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Release |
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Unhuman (sometimes stylized as unHUMAN)[2] is a 2022 American television horror comedy film directed by Marcus Dunstan, and written by Dunstan and Patrick Melton. The film stars an ensemble cast, featuring Brianne Tju, Benjamin Wadsworth, Uriah Shelton, Ali Gallo, and Peter Giles.
Unhuman is an Epix original film and a production of Blumhouse Television, with Paramount Pictures releasing the film digitally on June 3, 2022.
Plot
Evanston Hill High School teacher Mr. Lorenzo supervises as students board a bus for a field trip. Ever, an average girl with low self-esteem, boards with her best friend Tamra. Other students include Randall and Steven, two bullied loners who harbor crushes on Tamra and Ever; Danny, a jock; Hunt, Danny's bully; Jacey, Daney's girlfriend; overweight outcast Ryan; and nerdy girl Candice. A sudden burst of blood on the windshield causes the driver, Wayne, to crash the bus in a forest. An emergency radio broadcast warns of a nearby. chemical attack. A metalhead who appears to be a mutated zombie, later revealed to be a vengeful burnout named Chip, enters the bus and savagely mauls Lorenzo. In the ensuing commotion, Ever, Tamra, Randall, Steven, Danny, Hunt, and Jacey escape into the woods and seek safety in an abandoned building. Ryan joins them later. Meanwhile, Chip attacks Candice and others back on the bus.
Ever attempts to help Candice when she tries to join everyone in the building, but the other students deem rescuing her too risky, so they let Chip attack Candice again. Wayne, having seemingly mutated into a zombie like Chip, attacks everyone inside. Classmates who were also apparently transformed capture Hunt. Ever, Tamra, Randall, Steven, Danny, Jacey, and Ryan regroup in a room where they find mannequins dressed to resemble them, realizinh someone has specifically targeted all of them. Wayne suddenly attacks again, but Randall beats him. Danny begins transforming after being stabbed with something during the commotion. Wayne rises to tackle Danny through a window onto the ground outside. Initially appearing dead, Danny surprisingly contorts and runs off.
Ever leaves Tamra behind after they argue about Tamra ignoring their friendship in favor of aligning with the "jocks". Ever and Steven return to the bus to look for a phone, although Ever becomes distracted by the radio, discovering that the emergency broadcast was actually a tape recording. Steven apologetically injects Ever from behind with a syringe. Before passing out, Ever sees Randall join Steven. A flashback shows that weeks earlier, Randall enlisted Steven for a scheme modeled after “Scared Straight” where they would stage a zombie attack to get revenge on their bullies while looking like heroes to Tamra and Ever. Wayne volunteers, while ex-con and former student, Chip creates a dangerous drug to make people behave like zombies. Back in the present, Randall brings Steven back to the building to check on the students they injected and took captive, including Danny and Hunt. Meanwhile, Ever gathers enough strength to use a boom box to beat Chip.
Tamra finds Randall, who lies that zombies killed Ever. After Steven secretly injects the captive students with more of Chip’s drug, Randall arms Tamra, Ryan, and Jacey with weapons as he rallies them to kill their supposedly transformed classmates. Ever suddenly interrupts to tell everyone the truth about Randall and Steven’s plot. Tamra hits Randall, who inadvertently reveals a vanity mural he previously painted that depicts him and Steven as mythic heroes saving Tamra and Ever from zombified bullies. With the secret now fully exposed, Ever’s allies rescue Danny and lock Steven in a cage with Hunt and the other ravenous “zombies.” Everyone then fights with Randall, who gravely wounds Danny, as Ever uses a makeshift Freddy Krueger glove, that Chip created, to stab Randall with several syringes of the drug. Randall reforms as a “zombie.” Tamra, Jacey, Candice, and another rescued young woman team up to take Randall down, with Ever finishing him off.
Houes later, Wayne, Chip, Randall, and Steven are all taken captive. The bullies and outcasts bond, with Ever and Tamra reconciling. After everyone boards the bus to leave, they discover Mr. Lorenzo is still alive.
Weeks later, PTA worker Ms. Operative visits Randall and Steven in prison, explaining that the PTA is bringing back the “Scared Straight” program, and invites them to be the masterminds.
Cast
- Brianne Tju[3] as Ever
- Benjamin Wadsworth[3] as Randall
- Uriah Shelton[3] as Danny
- Lo Graham[3] as Jacey
- Ali Gallo[3] as Tamra
- Drew Scheid[3] as Steven
- CJ LeBlanc[3] as Hunt
- Peter Giles[3] as Mr. Lorenzo
- Josh Mikel[3] as Chip
- Blake Burt[3] as Ryan
- Dana Wing Lau[3] as Ever’s Mom
- Lucy Burvant as Candice
Production
In June 2021, Unhuman was announced as part of Blumhouse Television and Epix's TV movie deal, with Marcus Dunstan and Paul Soter directing and writing, respectively, after previously working on Blumhouse's Into the Dark, and the cast being revealed.[3] Filming commenced around the same time in New Orleans.[3][4] In November 2021, Dunstan and his frequent writing partner, Patrick Melton, officially received final writing credits for the film; no credit to Soter.[5]
Release
Unhuman was released digitally in the United States by Paramount Pictures on June 3, 2022.[1][6] A trailer was released on May 9, 2022, approximately a month before the film's release.[7][8][9]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.90/10.[10]
References
- ^ a b "Unhuman". TV Guide. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "Cody Reidenouer". LinkedIn. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Del Rosario, Alexandra (June 11, 2021). "Epix & Blumhouse Set High School Horror 'Unhuman' For TV Movie Slate, Brianne Tju & Benjamin Wadsworth Among Four Leads". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- ^ @PatrickWMelton (June 12, 2021). "New movie, kids!! Currently filming in the Big Easy. @MarcusDunstan 🧟♀️🩸🧟♀️🩸" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Unhuman". Writers Guild of America West. November 23, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- ^ "Unhuman". Amazon. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ Squires, John (May 9, 2022). "'Unhuman' Trailer – Brianne Tju Stars in Blumhouse's Bloody Breakfast Club". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ O'Rourke, Ryan (May 9, 2022). "'Unhuman' Trailer Shows a Field Trip Turned Nightmare from Blumhouse Television and Epix". Collider. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ Dick, Jeremy (May 9, 2022). "Unhuman Trailer Pits High School Misfits Against Bloodthirsty Zombies". Movieweb. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ "Unhuman". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
