Director: Zach Cregger
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Arriving at a remote house, a couple of strangers find that they’ve been accidentally booked to stay at the house through separate AirBnB services and spend the night together, but the more time they spend at the house reveals a dark and demented owner living there with them that puts their lives in danger.
Review:
Overall, this was a fairly solid and enjoyable genre outing. One of the better attributes of this one is the surprisingly endearing setup that provides a genuinely unnerving starting point for a premise like this. The general concept of the double-booked home where they both inadvertently arrive at the same time unaware of their other’s intentions to stay there through their reservations is a wholly worthwhile idea that has a modern flavor and feeling to it. That it takes an idea that’s very plausible and can actually happen starts this off rather nicely while also making for a generally fun time as they get to spend time together at the house despite all the signs signaling they should leave, both from the state of the community around them as well as the testimonial of others around that knows the area far better. This all creates a workable setup while also generating the kind of likable starting point so that the creepiness slowly starts to work in on worthwhile characters.
Once the creepiness does start to come about, the film shifts into high gear rather nicely with the secrets of the house coming into play rather nicely. As we’re already unnerved from the initial setup and the initial discovery of just the strange room in the basement, the gradual reveal of what’s going on in the house with the strange being in the basement living behind secret walls and hidden underground corridors is quite chilling for the most part. Once the full extent of her psychotic intentions is given, the demented antics present here add a rather dark edge to what’s going on that plays a big part in what’s going on throughout the last half that utilizes this information for context of how the chases carry on in the house and the final confrontation at the abandoned factory which plays into that setup quite heavily. Combined with the stellar makeup on the main villain and a few solid gore effects, these manage to provide a lot to really like about this one.
There are a few minor issues to be had with this one. One of the biggest issues with this one is the inclusion of the secondary subplot involving the exploits of the actor being brought up on misconduct charges that arrives at the house out of the blue which is entirely problematic. The whole idea of the character feeling incredibly topical and ripped from the headlines is a bit too on the nose, but with a tenuous connection to what’s going on and just being suddenly dropped into the storyline out of nowhere with little explanation during a point in the secondary storyline that was really building a lot of interest is the wrong call entirely with this one. As well, there’s also a problem with the constant and utterly infuriating move-set by the characters who are frequently placed in harm’s way through rampant stupidity on their part more than anything else, routinely walking into areas unarmed or trusting the situation to resolve itself rather than keeping themselves alive which is quite disheartening and holds this one down.
Overview: ****/5
A highly enjoyable if somewhat slightly flawed effort, this one manages quite a lot to really like that helps to overcome the few minor drawbacks that creep in here. Give this one a look if you’re a fan of this kind of feature or curious about it in general while only those that are turned off by this kind of mainstream genre outing will be put off by this one.
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