During my reconnection with the world of horror movies over the last 3 years or so, my first venture into FrightFest was in February 2019. At this, my favourite film of the 2 days was Perry Blackshear’s The Siren (which you should seek out on Prime Video). When I saw that his earlier movie, They Look Like People was available and had a lot of same cast as The Siren, I thought it would be worth a watch. I’m glad I was right.
This story revolves around the character of Wyatt (Macleod Andrews, who also starred in my favourite movie of FrightFest 2020, A Ghost Waits) who turns up at the door of his friend Christian (Evan Dumouchel). We find out that these two have been very close in the past, but their lives have taken very different paths recently. We also discover that Wyatt believes that a race of aliens / demons is infecting the human population and are hiding within human hosts. Wyatt receives mysterious telephone calls with instructions on how to combat the infected, and to prepare himself for an upcoming battle.
The relationship between our two main characters is extremely well observed, and moments of regression into their ‘lame’ younger selves are an absolute joy to watch. The other characters that get involved are also well scripted, including Christian’s boss / love interest Mara (Margaret Ying Drake). This is ultimately a psychological horror though, and there are moments throughout that create a growing sense of unease, and the tension that we ultimately build to is almost unbearable.
They Look Like People is a superb piece of filmmaking which explores friendship, loyalty and mental health in a measured way even though it is a horror. It comes with a Skelpometer rating of 9 and is available on Prime Video.