LOCKBOX -- Lock it Deep Down

Review by Steve Barton II

Does the term “creepypasta” mean anything to you? It’s a popular term for original horror stories that are posted online and spread around across multiple online communities. The concept became popularized with icons like Slender Man, then birthed several others like Jeff the Killer and many more. While many writers post their stories in subreddits and other online forums, Soren Narnia took a different approach. Soren created his own podcast called Knifepoint Horror, where he would write, produce and often narrate the show himself, even adding music and sound effects to build ambience. One of the stories Soren produced back in 2019, titled The Lockbox, has been adapted into a film under the same name with director Daniel Stamm. Lockbox follows Ellen (Carla Gugino) as she retreats to a small town in the wake of her mother’s passing and brings in her troubled cousin, Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci) to live with her. As their unstable dynamic begins to shift, Ellen uncovers more about Winthrop and will stop at nothing to protect him from this haunting entity.

Lockbox doesn’t have the most original plot due to it being a possession/supernatural horror story, but it’s familiar territory for director Daniel Stamm. With Stamm’s previous projects being The Last Exorcism and Prey for the Devil, he knows how to create the tension necessary for this type of project and has the skills to nail the effects. The unnatural way the possessions occur is a visual that won’t leave your mind for many hours after viewing it. Lockbox isn’t absent of any blood or violence, it’s far from being the most disturbing aspect of the scares. When Ellen is being tortured with disturbing images of Winthrop, her neighbor, Vanha (Katherine Isabelle) and her dead mother, the framing of the shots has the audience trapped with Ellen and feeling uncomfortable.

While Lockbox does well in the scare department, the rest of the film is a bit of a bore. Carla Gugino has been a leading lady in horror projects before with Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House, but she doesn’t bring the same intensity here. Her character Ellen is in a very tough and difficult spot when we start the film, but we’re told that more than we see it. Carla almost plays it as if she’s shut off her emotions in order to deal with the pain, but she immediately has sympathy for her estranged cousin and is deeply invested in helping him. Winthrop himself played by Lou Taylor Pucci is the major standout in this cast playing a deeply disturbed man whose silence says far more than his words. Unlike his iconic performance in 2013’s Evil Dead remake, Lou relays the character’s trauma through his eyes and his delivery of his few lines. Katherine Isabelle’s role as the kooky neighbor is a fun cameo from an icon of the horror genre. Her witchy performance is easily the most memorable and compelling performance of the bunch and horror fans will enjoy seeing the familiar face.

In the end, Lockbox has some great horror elements, but it lacks an original story. Soren Narnia was certainly inspired by past possession and ghost movies that came before theirs, but they may have borrowed too much. Soren would’ve benefited from possibly making the story darker and having Ellen start in a much bleaker state. Carla is capable of such greater performances bringing emotion and power, but she’s practically sleepwalking through Lockbox. Fans of the niche subgenre of possession horror films may find themselves amused with Lockbox and its ability to build tension and scares, but this may not make a blip on the radar of most mainstream horror aficionados.

Lockbox will be in theaters starting July 3rd! 

Rating: 2.5/5