The Brandon Routh vehicleIckfeatures a secret nod to Josh Hutcherson’s underrated 2012 slasher comedyDetention, a movie that more viewers need to seek out. A nostalgic throwback to both early ‘00s teen comedies and classic ‘50s monster movies likeThe Blob,Ickis the latest ambitious genre blender from director Joseph Kahn.
Best known for shooting some of the most iconic music videos of the ‘00s, Kahn is also the director of cult movies like 2003’sTorque, 2012’sDetention, and 2017’sBodied. WhileIckis a fun horror comedyin its own right, Kahn fans might be surprised to learnIckhas a direct link to the director’s earlier horror comedy.
In Grant Hermanns' interview with Joseph Kahn forScreenRant,Ick’s director admitted that the gruesome creature feature has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod toDetention. The reference links the ending ofDetentionto the plot ofIck, and it doesn’t bode well for the earlier movie’s heroes. Per Kahn:
“As to the link to Detention, if you look very closely, the Ick is a plant-like alien creature, possibly. And in the ending of Detention, there’s a plant-like alien creature destroying the world. And then if you look closely at one shot in the movie, there’s a newspaper that a homeless guy that’s been Icked out is holding, and it says “The Town Of Grizzly Lake Has Been Destroyed.” So it’s in there.”
Ick Has A Secret Detention Connection
If You Haven’t Seen It, You Should Check It Out
This hysterically glib gag effectively confirms that most ofDetention’s heroes are likely dead, which would be a pretty tragic twist in most fictional universes. However, viewers who have seenDetentionalready will know that Kahn’s twisty, meta-horror-comedy isn’t overly concerned with sentimentality.
Ickwill have a limited theatrical release starting July 24.
An underrated, hyperactive blend of sci-fi, teen comedy, horror, romance, and satire,Detentionhas a similar tone to Kahn’s larger-than-lifeIck. Both movies boast plentiful gore and many horror tropes, but also a broad sense of humor that verges on outright parody at times.
Essentiallya blend of theScreammoviesand their equally famous parodies, theScary Movieseries,Detentionthrows endless teen movie archetypes into a blender and serves up the resulting mess with a self-aware grin. There’s the bad buy antihero, the disaffected heroine, a masked murderer culling students, a time travel subplot, a hulking jock, and even a mother/daughter body swap.
Detentionis available to view on AppleTV and Prime Video.
If it sounds likeDetentionis trying to do too much, that’s because it is. Kahn’s movie is shamelessly, hopelessly overstuffed, leaving more hidden gems for viewers to discover upon each re-watch. As such, whileIckis also worth seeking out, viewers shouldn’t miss out on the plentiful fun that the underratedDetentionoffered 13 years earlier.
