The Item
Four felons are contacted by an anonymous client via the internet. They are instructed to go to a remote desert island and pick up an "item" and keep it safe for 24 hours. It will then be picked up and they will be paid. However, upon getting it back to their apartment, their curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to investigate their package. They discover that they have a telepathic worm connected to a life support system. The film then disintegrates into a slasher film as one by one the protectors are killed in grisly fashion.
Why it matters
A grungy late-’90s indie slasher with a telepathic parasite twist, The Item blends body horror and survival suspense in a desert island-to-apartment descent into paranoia and gore.
- Practical effects-driven kills that channel the era’s raw direct-to-video aesthetic with grimy charm.
- A tight quartet of morally ambiguous leads amps up the tension and unpredictability.
- Perfect for fans of ’90s low-budget horror that leans into weird creature concepts without polish.
- A snapshot of pre-social media isolation anxiety, wrapped in a claustrophobic, slow-burn slasher setup.
Director
Cast
Horror DNA
Gore
57
Slow Burn
17
Psychological
14
Supernatural
40
Creature
55
Disturbing
17
Fun Factor
17
Cerebral
0
Survival
83
