{"id":25344,"date":"2017-05-24T22:06:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T02:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=25344"},"modified":"2017-05-24T22:06:20","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T02:06:20","slug":"you-have-to-see-this-the-guest-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/24\/you-have-to-see-this-the-guest-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"You Have to See This! The Guest (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Adam Wingard is one of my favorite filmmakers working in film today and he almost always works alongside Simon Barrett, a cuttingly funny and witty man who knows how to churn out a damn good script. Wingard and Barrett pull off some amazing feats together, and \u201cThe Guest\u201d is another notch in Wingard\u2019s belt that oddly enough doesn\u2019t get as much mention as his banner horror film \u201cYou\u2019re Next.\u201d Granted, I love \u201cYou\u2019re Next\u201d and have seen it at least two hundred times since it arrived in theaters, but \u201cThe Guest\u201d is such a unique horror thriller with a premise that\u2019s very socially relevant without ever being preachy.<\/p>\n

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Most recently I caught \u201cClass of 1999 II: The Substitute\u201d in which Sasha Mitchelle plays a robotic like substitute teacher who believes the best way to discipline students is by snapping their necks and reducing them to corpses strewn around his school. \u201cThe Guest\u201d is shockingly similar in tone and premise, where we meet the perfect soldier who is dedicated to his mission above all else. Dan Stevens is fantastic as a charming, good looking, and very valiant war veteran who arrives at the door step of the Peterson Family one unexpected afternoon. Known as David, he\u2019s a blue eyed, blond young man who is more than happy to ingratiate himself among what becomes his surrogate family. And soon enough he even begins to insinuate himself in to their lives.<\/p>\n

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Dan Stevens gives a powerful performance as a character who is supposed to bring us through the motions from the moment we meet him. At first he\u2019s this very charismatic and nice veteran who kind of looks like a more bad ass Captain America. But the moment he begins to reveal darker shades about himself, he is so much more an unstoppable killing machine like Michael Myers sans the pale mask. Wingard and writer Barrett work hard in making us like David before turning the screws on us and turning him in to a relentless killer. He isn\u2019t just a guy who happened upon the family of his old army buddy, but seemingly preys on them the more we learn about him.<\/p>\n

Director Wingard features so many memorable moments with Stevens who is allowed to show how crafty and clever his character can be. When he\u2019s on our side we can\u2019t help but enjoy as he lays waste to a group of bullies that delight in tormenting only son Luke in a crowded bar. But the moment he begins turning on our protagonists and indulging in a cat and mouse game with savvy daughter Anna, we suddenly fear for our lives a great deal. And that\u2019s because, well, we\u2019ve seen what he can do when pitted against people that he doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Stevens performance matched with excellent turns by Maika Monroe and Brendan Meyer constantly keep \u201cThe Guest\u201d a biting and memorable genre offering that could work as the beginning of a great movie series, or a deliciously one off tribute to those eight part slasher series when the killer never stopped coming. Director Wingard obviously gets a ton of his influence from John Carpenter, and with \u201cThe Guest,\u201d music is a big reason why the movie plays so menacingly. The film teeters from dark comedy, to horror thriller over and over, and the music by Steve Moore is a stroke of genius.<\/p>\n

The scene in the bar, along with the finale in the Halloween dance is complimented by Moore\u2019s synth score that injects the aesthetic of a neo-Carpenter genre outing. \u201cThe Guest\u201d was criminally under reported in 2014, and it\u2019s a shame since it\u2019s such a meticulously created action thriller starring a genuinely terrifying horror villain you\u2019d never see coming your way. With the coming of Wingard\u2019s high profile remake of \u201cDeath Note,\u201d it wouldn\u2019t hurt to re-visit why he\u2019s one of the best minds working the cogs of horror cinema today.<\/p>\n