Nerdly » ‘Lure’ VOD Review

04th Feb2026

‘Lure’ VOD Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: Silvia Presente, Kit Esuruoso, Joey Lockhart, Paul David-Gough, Gregory Fung, Samy Elkhatib, Reece Henderson, Tom Stocker, Pippa Winslow, Pat Garrett | Written and Directed by Oliver Cox

Lure has a rather simple set-up, as six men are lured (the title was kept simple too) by a woman to a house party. Only when they arrive, is nobody else there and they soon find themselves unconscious. As the men awaken, they find themselves tied to chairs, sitting around a table next to each other and part of a strange annual family tradition.

The simple setup isn’t a problem, though, and the filmmakers keep the ‘entrances’ and stories of how each character was lured to the house short. What’s really interesting is why they are there and what is going to happen to them all. We get a violent surprise pretty early on, and although Lure could never really be called a gorefest of sorts, it gets shockingly brutal and bloody in several scenes. The blood and gore is CGI, which I normally really dislike, but it actually looked decent in this movie. From my experience, CGI blood always looks obviously fake, but I can see why it was used in this movie. Apart from the fact the CGI looked good, the only other option would have been to not show the gore and have the camera cut away at certain points. I can already hear people saying why not practical effects but without spoiling the movie, it just wouldn’t have been possible in many of the scenes.

Much of the movie is set in a single big room in the house, but we do get other locations with the aforementioned stories of how each man met the woman and the final third opens up the house a little bit more.

Though Lure doesn’t want to be a gory horror movie. Although it takes more than one or two influences from the Saw franchise – there are tasks with consequences if not completed (and it is not completely dissimilar to the last film I reviewed for Nerdly: The Vindicator), the director clearly wants to build tension rather than throw blood at the audience. And for the most part, it does that well. Occasionally, though, it does become a little bit formulaic – thankfully the pace is kept quick and if there’s any chance of you becoming bored, there’s something a bit more exciting lined up in the next scene.

Although this is Oliver Cox’s first full-length feature movie, he has made some short films and you wouldn’t be able to tell of any inexperience. The film looks good, the camera work is solid and the casting all worked. Performances from the relatively inexperienced cast are decent in scenes where emotion and intensity are needed. The lead is given to the more experienced Silvia Presente (Outlander, The Outlaws) and she has a really strong presence on screen.

Lure might be a little bit unoriginal but it is mostly entertaining and a great showcase for the first-time director and cast. If you enjoy the tension of films like Saw but don’t want that Hollywood gloss those films have now, then maybe Lure is perfect for you.