"The Unfamiliar" was a horror movie that came and went without as much as a dent or a screech. I hadn't heard about this movie prior to getting a chance to sit down and watch it. And with it being a horror movie, and me being a huge horror fan, of course I found the time to sit down and watch the 2020 horror movie "The Unfamiliar" from writers Henk Pretorius and Jennifer Nicole Stang.

And I will say that the movie was definitely off to an interesting start, but then everything just seemed to slip through the fingers of director Henk Pretorius, because the movie quickly lost its momentum and slipped well below mediocrity. In fact, towards the end of the movie I was more in surprise at how incredibly stupid the movie turned out to be than I was entertained. So I was definitely not blown away by this 2020 horror movie.

For a horror movie then I will say that "The Unfamiliar" had promise and potential, but director Henk Pretorius somehow managed to thwart the rather nice build-up of atmosphere and events that were done early on in the movie. Come midpoint of the movie, I have to admit that I was about ready to call it quits on the movie. But I endured to the bitter end, and trust me, it was a bitter end. The movie ended up becoming something of an ordeal to sit through towards the end.

The acting in the movie was actually adequate, especially taking into consideration the total lack of a properly written storyline and plot. So the actors and actresses were holding the movie afloat with their performances. I wasn't familiar with anyone on the cast list, and that is usually something I enjoy. But oddly enough, I didn't enjoy it with "The Unfamiliar". I suppose it was because of the atrocious storyline.

If you enjoy horror movie, you might as well give "The Unfamiliar" a wide berth. In fact, take the movie's very title to heart and let it remain unfamiliar. Trust me, you will not be missing out on a great horror cinema moment by missing out on this 2020 movie.

My rating of "The Unfamiliar" is a mere, but generous, three out of ten stars.

There was nothing really in this movie to deserve an 18+ rating. It could have been rated PG. So the only thing the movie had to go on was story and scares, and there were really not any scares. And the story lacked. 3/10

The film starts off really well and has some spooky moments but once it gets to about the half-way point, it devolves quickly. To be frank, the last half is a total train wreck. They pretty much were just throwing all the possession tropes against a wall to see what would stick. The lead actress is quite good.