[Review]: Lockbox

Lou Taylor Pucci as Winthrop

Based on the podcast Knifepoint Horror, the Daniel Stamm directed psychological horror Lockbox examines the horrors of a person’s mind and how trauma, going untreated, can spill over, affecting everyone in the immediate vicinity. Starring Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of The House of Usher) as Ellen who, after moving to small town to deal with the grief of losing her mother, decides to take in her troubled adult cousin Winthrop, played by Lou Taylor Pucci (Evil Dead, Touch Me). Soon after, Winthrop finds himself in serious trouble, drawing Ellen deeper into a demonic mystery that puts both their lives and souls in danger.

Ellen has spent years of her life caring for her sick mother, and when her mother passes away, she decides to live the quiet life in a small country town. This peace is disrupted with the arrival of Winthrop, her ex-military cousin who suffers severely from PTSD. After the violent death of Ellen’s strange and disruptive neighbour Vahna (played by horror queen Katherine Isabelle), Winthrop becomes the number one suspect. As his behaviour becomes increasingly volatile and unusual, Ellen uncovers a possession plot that originates from Vahna’s childhood, and along with the help of a mysterious cult, she must save her cousin’s soul.

From the very get go Lockbox gives off a sort of Stephen King does a Lifetime Movie vibe, with Carla Gugino’s softly spoken narration about death and a move to live a more peaceful life. The movie then descends into a chaotic woven web of characters, mental health, cults, and christianity that is never unravelled and ends up feeling like a Christian morality tale of how God will save everyone from Satanic hippies and unwell soldiers. Making the antagonist of the film a white woman with dreads is fair, no argument there, however making the overarching depictions of evil represented by a gay woman who was abused as a child, and a man suffering from severe PTSD who dresses in femme clothes and a wig is slightly more problematic. Not to mention the root of all this evil is a demonic older man who goes by the name of Port-a-John Man. 

Katherine Isabelle and Lou Taylor Pucci

With this, Lockbox becomes little more than a borderline offensive joke that becomes forgettable once the credits roll. Despite Katherine Isabelle’s commendable performance as the unhinged Vahna, Lockbox lacks scares, solid narration, and any sort of relatable characterisation.

1 Scream out of 5