The savvy directing duo of Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell take a fairly simple idea and turn it into something horror-thriller fans should relish. “Wake Up” pits a group of hapless young people against a sociopathic killer – nothing new there. But it’s the gnarly tone, the razor-sharp execution, and the gutsy all-out ending that makes the movie stand out.
Written for the screen by Alberto Marini, “Wake Up” follows six young activists turned vandals looking to support their cause in a most ill-advised way. The group’s leader, Ethan (Benny O. Arthur), his buddy Tyler (Kyle Scudder), the seasoned Yasmin (Jacqueline Moré), the playful Grace (Alessia-Yoko Fontana), the flirty Emily (Charlotte Stoiber), and the newbie, Karim (Thomas Gould) have set their sights on a home improvement superstore known for its animal-unfriendly history.
The crew enters the store and hide inside until closing time. Once the doors are locked and the lights go out, the invaders come out of hiding, put on what looks like papier-mâché masks, and begin ransacking the place while videoing it for their social media followers. They claim to have spent months putting together their plan. But it doesn’t take for the audience to see the gaping holes all in it.
As the vandals are busy on their crusade, two security guards sit in the back room paying no attention to what’s happening in the store. One is Kevin (Turlough Convery), a burly primal hunting enthusiast whose volatility got him moved to the night shift. The other is his brother Jack (Aidan O’Hare) who has done everything he can to help Kevin keep his job. The pair finally notice the intruders on their monitor. But with Jack half-drunk, they skip calling the home office and attempt to scare away the trespassers.
Unfortunately everything that could go wrong does go wrong. The guards and the activists collide, Jack is accidentally killed, and Kevin’s maniacal side takes over, turning him into a bloodthirsty hunter and making the ill-fated activists his prey. From there the filmmakers have a blast seasoning an old-school slasher with classic survival horror elements, building some solid suspense while throwing in some satisfying (and fittingly bloody) kills along the way.
And then there is the ending I alluded to. While it’s nothing especially groundbreaking, it does give the movie a nasty kick that somewhat goes against what we expect from the genre. That said, “Wake Up” does fall into a few of the usual traps that often accompany these movies. Character choices don’t always make sense, there are a few logic lapses, and there is an overall silliness that’s hard to get away from. But the entertainment value is there, in large part thanks to Whissell and Whissell knowing what kind of movie they’re making and nailing the execution.
VERDICT – 3.5 STARS
