Evil at the Door (2022) by Kipp Tribble

Director: Kipp Tribble

Year: 2022

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Home Invasion

Plot:

Arriving home from work, a stressed family man trying to deal with his sister-in-law‘s unexpected arrival finds that his home is subjected to a home invasion by a series of masked intruders carrying out orders from a mysterious cult leader and must try to survive the night.

Review:

For the most part, this was a generally underwhelming genre effort. Among the few positives here are generally kept to the efficiency and professionalism of the intruders. Operating under guidelines involving various mandates for how much time must be spent chasing down victims and how to operate while inside the house, the appearance of a well-oiled and intense unit is established quite well here providing a sense of eeriness and unease while they’re moving through the house. Some of the scenes relating to the invasion with the group carrying out their orders while the family tries to avoid the group, all come off with a modicum of suspense as well but are all that really works for this one.

However, beyond these factors, there’s very little about this one that’s worthwhile. The majority of the problems stem from the barely threatening aspects of the invasion itself. The whole idea of the society here carrying out the orders for breaking into the homes of others as some kind of mysterious secret cult is all completely underwhelming and unexplained. All the intel gathered about them comes from a comically overwrought recorded video message that still remains incredibly vague about what’s going on as the entirety of the invasion plays out in the house where the group is going along with already-aware information of what to do yet say nothing clarifying anything to anyone.

That, unfortunately, is barely enough to overcome the flaws found in the pacing and approach taken here. Since the film relies on a timer for all their activities to take place, nothing remotely interesting happens for long stretches of time featuring the various groups waiting around for things to happen. From the intruders waiting around outside the door to break into the bathroom politely during a home invasion, the sister that no one knows is there waiting under the bed for a spot to leave and the wife ignoring everything around her to take a bath, this lack of activity leaves long stretches of boredom here. Along with the utterly abrupt ending and lame CGI for the lone kill present, all make this one highly underwhelming and unenjoyable.

Overview: 0.5/5

A generally unimpressive effort in a highly problematic genre, there's very little hope for this one to work out for the better which makes this one just an utter slough to get through. Only those who appreciate the genre or the approach taken here should give this a chance, while most others should leave this alone especially if they're equally unimpressed with the flaws featured here.