The Horror Show
Uncaged
Daniel Robbins
As we are advised to “beware the beast within”, director and co-writer Daniel Robbins’ Uncaged is another addition to the werewolf sub-genre in an effort to breathe new life to a category that seems to be taking a nap lately.
After William Brent Bell’s gripping Wer (2013), chances are you are not going to love that latest modernised take on the Werewolf premise, however, you might not hate it either.
As Uncaged tries to take the horror/comedy route, the story follows three friends who decide to spend their winter break - where else - in a secluded cabin. Hopped up on adrenaline and ready to blow off some steam, the trio is constantly seen in ridiculous moments of fun. The real nightmare begins when one of them, Jack ( Ben Getz), continually wakes up naked in strange locations, having absolutely no recollection of how he got there or what happened.
As he can’t remember any of the previous night’s events, he straps a GoPro to his head in an effort to solve the sleepwalking mystery. What he discovers is shocking, leaving his friends and everyone around him defenseless against his inner gruesome instincts that turn him into a GoPro-equipped bloodthirsty killing machine.
As ambitious as Uncaged might be, it fails to surpass mediocrity on several levels. Despite the fact that the story is actually worth telling, everything else, from the setting to the FX and the performances to cinematography, is a constant reminder that Uncaged is a low-budget flick.
Even though it has some obvious elements of terror and the premise is in fact based on horror stories, Daniel Robbins did a better job at highlighting the ridiculousness of the main characters rather than the absolute horror caused by a savage beast. The risk here is quite straightforward, you’ll either love it for being silly and fun, or hate it for not being actual horror.
Maria Kriva, HMS
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