Director: Richard Greenwood Jr.
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Home Invasion
Plot:
Heading out to a remote cabin, a family attempting to use the Fourth of July trip to resettle after a violent tragedy finds that the trip is double-booked to a second family with extreme political differences, but when a series of deadly intruders arrive must put their differences aside to survive.
Review:
This was an all-right genre effort that has some good points. One of the stronger features of this one is the typically expected means through which the two families come together to get the film going. Featuring the expected double-booked rental property without each one's knowledge of the other makes for a fine means of getting them there, especially after the earlier encounter that shows some differing political ideologies that are going to be explored and extrapolated throughout here. As they try to get through the trip and not get on each others' nerves due to these issues presented which generate a slew of conflict and drama with the way they focus on these issues to generate some interest in this section.
That provides some wholly enjoyable fun to be had with the second half as the final half of this one is pretty much focused on the invasion of the cabin by the cult. With the introduction of the group coming off rather briefly but effectively with the book material about their activities and the videotaped exploits of their past transgressions, it sets the stage for their arrival at the house to take it over. This segment of the film is exceptionally fun with plenty of brutal, graphic, and highly effective confrontations taking place throughout the house as they come to terms with the intent behind the intruders and what they're trying to accomplish which is then carried over to the sacrificial ritual that has some great encounters with everything being enhanced even further that features some strikingly gory and bloodsoaked setpieces in this section leading to a fine finish. These are enough to make for a wholly enjoyable effort overall.
This one does have some issues with it. The biggest factor to bring this down is the wholly uneventful first half with the focus on building up the tensions between the families through their differing ideologies and approaches to family-raising that no Horror action at all occurs within the first hour. With these scenes bringing about the kind of tension that comes about with their opposing ideologies and viewpoints, it becomes incredibly overbearing seeing this carry on for as long as it does since the point has already been established by that point and the waiting around for the horror to come is outright tiring with this holding up the action. Rather than bring up the encounters more naturally since the intruders come in out of nowhere, it causes this to feel like something else entirely before the changeover which isn’t that enjoyable and is what brings this one down.
Overview: ***/5
A wholly fine genre effort that has some issues with it, there’s still enough to like here that it manages to keep this likable enough but really could’ve been better had several areas been fixed. Give this a look if you’re a fan of the style or approach taken here while those turned off by the flaws on display should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment