The Item is a cheat. Bottom line. The packaging is high gloss, promising B creature fluff with a unique pulp fiction hybrid. Instead you get a poorly lit video shoot, a handful of actors who I felt sorry for (they're taking this very seriously and some have promise) slightly above student film quality production values, and a creature that is nothing more than a rubber hand puppet. Seriously. These are the facts folks - I frankly can't understand some of the other reviews of this film. It's not original, the script is horrible aside from a few clever lines, and to top it off, I'm painfully getting through the thing ('cause I paid 5.50 of the new release blockbuster wall)and suddenly the film makers throw their own music out the window and lift Philip Glass right off the Kundun sound track! Uncredited! Am I the only one who has noticed this? As a film maker myself, this is the ultimate in bad karma. With a whole lot of talented musicians out there this is simply inexcusable, not to mention unethical. It's sad, especially when I'm a giant supporter of independent film, but "The Item" is one movie that shouldn't belong on a video store shelf.