The Dead Thing, on Shudder

Alex is about to experience “ghosting” on a whole new, extremely literal level. She had been sleepwalking through hook-ups until she swiped affirmatively on Kyle. Their night together awakened her passion, but then he disappeared. When Alex tries to find him, she learns the man who so fascinates her happens to be dead. However, he remains weirdly active on dating apps in Elric Kane’s The Dead Thing, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Kyle might be dead, but Alex has been living a soulless existence, working in a Kafkaesque office job scanning documents at night, fitting in meaningless sexual encounters when she can. Something about Kyle was different, but when she visits the bar where he supposedly works, she learns he died a while back. Yet, his profile is still active, so Alex creates a new account and makes a date.

Meeting at the same place, Kyle repeats the same lines and moves from their last meeting. He seems not to remember her, until she starts pressing. When memories start coming back to him, it is rather alarming, both for him and her. Nevertheless, they both still feel a connection. Of course, any good horror fan knows being around anyone who has crossed the dark vale is a dangerous proposition.

The Dead Thing is the sort of film that you really cannot analyze with strict logic or you will miss out. Kane’s film is a mood piece that is often eerily frightening. The Dead Thing successfully blends supernatural chills and steamy stuff better than most supposedly “sexy” horror movies. More than anything, Kane and cinematographer Ioana Vasile create a truly hypnotic, dreamlike look and atmosphere.

Blu Hunt is also weirdly mesmerizing as Alex. She is definitely moody, but also passionate. John Karna also provides some welcome relief as Chris, the new workmate Alex starts to admit is kind of funny. Karna’s scenes deliver some fresh air that really helps the film. However, Ben Smiith-Petersen’s alleged charms as Kyle are lost on this viewer. His sullenness hardly seems seductive, but fine, feel free to disagree.

The Dead Thing is an unusual concoction, but it is a potent one. It gets under the skin in ways genre fans will appreciate and approve of. Recommended for horror aficionados, The Dead Thing starts streaming tomorrow (2/14, but don’t necessarily think of it as Valentine’s movie, despite the sex) on Shudder.