Fantastic Fest 2024: Detention’s manic master Joseph Kahn brings us his most accessible movie yet with Ick

Courtesy Fantastic Fest

This is part of our coverage from Fantastic Fest 2024 in Austin, TX where genre films are debuting before they get wider release. Check out all of our coverage here. 

No one makes movies quite like director Joseph Kahn. He’s the kind of visual Tasmanian devil who people stop short of calling an auteur because of his chaotic style. Labeling him as one, though, makes a lot of sense. He has a unique bag of tricks that allow him to make films across a variety of genres (the 2004 action thriller Torque, the 2011 slasher Detention, the 2017 comic drama Bodied) that you can’t as anyone else’s work. 

Kahn’s self-described “horror starter film” Ick continues this trend, while upping the ante and making his frenetic style more accessible to a large audience (at least by Kahn’s standards). Fortunately, Ick is a blisteringly wild, gooey ride, held together with one killer set of emo needle drops.

For most of Hank Wallace’s (Brandon Routh) high school life, everything seemed pre-determined. He was the varsity quarterback. He dated the head cheerleader, Staci (Mena Suvari). Scholarships and signing deals poured in, and everything just seemed to fall into place. That is, until the Ick struck. At first, the black tendrils that suddenly appeared in the town of Eastbrook seemed benign, spreading slowly over every corner of normal life. They were more of a nuisance than an actual threat.

Then one day, The Ick reached out and snapped Hank’s leg during a football game, altering the course of his future. His girlfriend dumped him. Prospects dried up. He took care of his father (Jeff Fahey) and ran their bar, turning to the bottle for comfort. Eventually, following the age-old tradition of “those who can’t do, teach,” Hank became a science teacher at his old high school. For him, it’s a living reminder of the glory days and how quickly everything can slip away.

All this backstory is delivered in classic Kahn style: A series of comical quick cuts conveying in a matter of minutes what most films would need half an hour to tackle. It flies by effortlessly thanks to a razor-sharp script by Kahn, Dan Koontz and Samuel Laskey. The jokes, which could be over-the-top in anyone else’s hands, land just right here. Kahn’s masterclass in effective first acts is also a barometer for viewers, offering an early offramp to anyone who might not be on the movie’s wavelength before it goes much further.

It’s never quite explained what turns the Ick from benign growths to life-threatening entity, but it coincides with the moment that Hank decides to take control of his life. As the town descends into chaos, Hank makes his way through the insanity to try and help protect his ex-lover’s kid (who might, in fact, be his daughter) Grace (Malina Weissman) and her friends Heather (Taia Sophia) and Griffin (Zeke Jones) from the encroaching terror.

Ick is very much a film you have to vibe with. Fortunately, Routh’s leading-man looks, charisma and comic timing provide a genial bridge to the movie’s wilder content. Kahn also name-checks The Blob (both versions) and Slither, which will give avid horror fans a sense of what to expect.

Before the Fantastic Fest screening, Kahn said his goal with Ick was to make a PG-13 rated teen horror movie. If you’re not sure about that, rest assured any lack of gore is made up for in goop. Bodies explode and limbs are torn asunder as the Ick-infected individuals are eviscerated in graphic detail. The CGI might be chintzy at times, but it’s never a detractor.

Usually, you’ll know in a matter of minutes whether you like a Joseph Kahn movie or not, but Ick has undeniable staying power. Kahn has a knack for kinetic filmmaking in a way that few others do. This time out, it perfectly fits his intended audience, while never sacrificing the characteristics that make his movies what they are. It leads to the kind of genre mash-up that audiences will hopefully grow to love as a yearly Halloween tradition.