Two couples rent a beautiful home over a weekend. Their goal is to escape from the world. And how do you do that? Apparently, by drinking, drugs, sex and amongst that, sort out personal (and yet mysterious) issues from the past. While the weekend is underway, someone next door has car problems and seeks help from our four house guests. Little do they know that the night is about to get violent. Soon, the four have become victims of a home invasion. Will all four survive the bloody night together?
As the film opens, we get some insight into the killers. Their faces, however, are covered up, so we are given some element of mystery. From this, we are introduced to our four characters, who consistently deliver the cliché horror one-liners that we’ve all seen before. The dialogue feels extraordinarily forced, and ultimately it’s nothing new. If you have ever seen a teenage horror flick, this is a carbon copy of all of them. Our couples have personal problems that are holding them back in life, or they are cheating and telling lies. From the introduction, I struggled to have a reason to care or cheer on anyone to survive the night. That’s odd for an audience member to feel, right? Shouldn’t I care about the main characters? Or at least one of them?
If you like your films filled with gore and blood, well look no further than this R+18 film. The kills for most of the film’s duration come across as more slapstick and accidental with the added gore. For those who enjoy torture gore, you will need to stick around, at least for the third act.
Speaking of the third act, I’m going to confess how confusing I found this act to be in regard to its plot and reveal. There is also a forced use of colours such as red and blue covering the screen, which also overstayed their welcome for me. The ending is ultimately rushed, and I was left feeling a little surprised by the film’s choice and outcomes. The film’s loud score is also an unexpected choice, but I suspect some will praise it (sorry, it’s not for me).
Overall, this is a disappointing film for multiple reasons. It had uninteresting main and supporting characters I generally found hard to support through the film. Sure, there is gore and violence, but the majority of it feels more accidental and loses the concept of thrills or horror. In the third act, I was slightly confused (am I the only one!?!?), and it had a rushed ending that left a horror fan feeling somewhat hollow inside.
2.3/10
4th February 2020
Written by Peter Walkden
2.3/10
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