Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel, Lakeith Stanfield, Stephen Root, LilRel Howery.
Possibly the third oddly, interesting horror to hit the big screen this year following M. Night Shyamalan's Spilt and Gore Verbinski's A Cure For Wellness. Blumhouse productions seems to be enthusiastically backing Jordan's Peele's main feature debut and it's easy to see why once you've seen the film. It has to be mentioned, that the highly lucrative Blumhouse, those success was born with low budget horrors like Paranormal Activity, Insidious and the oscar nominated Whiplash certainly has an eye for incredible talent, great and original storytelling, something different, has a knack for backing a good product, fast earning themselves quite the reputation and possibly pushing those they work with into the spotlight.
Jordan Peele is that next thing, but he has been around for awhile, probably best credited for writing and starring in MADtv, and commonly paired up with comedy superstar Keegan-Michael Key. And here's the thing, Peele is mostly recognised for comedy, not horror, but that shouldn't insinuate he's in the wrong field or not capable of making a damn good horror.
The idea was born from Peele watching one of Eddie Murphy's standup routines, racial stereotypical about an African-Americans dating white women in the states. Drawing influence from the original Night of the Living Dead and The Stepford Wives. It's actually hard to talk openly about the premise without giving anything but if there's anything you should know from the trailers, black folk have been disappearing in the suburbs and this girl's family certainly has something to do with it.
There's a proper cheer from me seeing Daniel Kaluuya taking lead as the protagonist boyfriend allured by his girlfriend to meet the parents. I first saw Kaluuya in the British mini series The Fades as the geeky companion to the hero. He was such a joy to watch, he quickly become my favourite character so I'm generally always happy to see him land these larger roles. He's brilliant, even with a faux American accent.
The supporting cast are great too, all of them adding that eerie believability that something is certainly amiss, but never actually being able to put your figure on it entirely. It was War On Everyone's Caleb Landry Jones and The Purge's Betty Gabriel that blew me away, both being very uncomfortable to watch, Jones' character being very intimidating and Gabriel's just being weirdly over polite that was very unsettling.
Just when you think you know what it's all about, there's a twist. The tension that builds huge, however, unfortunately, even though being in a full screening, there was a real lack of scares. It misses that expected knockout punch and falls in the final round, leaving me just bewildered than frightened. It might be the comedy that makes light of the situation that takes away the impact.
Nonetheless, it's beautifully made, well shot, creative and the sets reminded me of The Shining. Silence of the Lambs another film I thought of watching this. Michael Abels does a terrifying score that really emphasises the chillness, paying some attention to the looming mystery that's slowly unfolding.
Unfortunately for me, I think the timing of the comedy knocked the out the peaks of my intrigue, which then became anticlimactic for me. It'll certainly scare many people, freak them out, but as with a lot of horrors, what I find scary, won't be scary to someone else.
Running Time: 8
The Cast: 8
Performance: 8
Direction: 8
Story: 7
Script: 6
Creativity: 8
Soundtrack: 7
Job Description: 4
The Extra Bonus Point: 0
Would I buy the Blu-ray?: Maybe.
64% 6/10
