Knock
Knock
(2015/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B-
Eli
Roth returns with Knock
Knock
(2015) starring Keanu Reeves, Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo. A film
that is every bit an exploitation film a bit along the same lines of
the original Last
House On The Left.
Though I am a big horror fan, I haven't yet really been blown away
by Eli Roth's work (aside from the fantastic Thanksgiving
trailer he did for Grindhouse).
That being said, I think this is probably his most effective film
that I've seen so far (though to the date of this review I haven't
seen the other film he made this year, Green
Inferno)
and respect the fact that he made a film with minimal actors and one
location.
When
a devoted husband of an artist and father of two cute kids (Reeves)
is left home on his own for the weekend, two stranded young women
unexpectedly knock on his door for help. What starts out as a kind
gesture results in a dangerous seduction and a deadly game of cat and
mouse full of black mail and murder.
The
film is pretty dark and succeeds at giving Keanu's character enough
character development to make him sympathetic. Almost operating the
way a play would, the film's three act structure ups the stakes to
the point of hopelessness. While the last scene of the film is
funny, the abrupt climax feels a bit unsatisfactory. A terrifying
point to the film, however, is that this could easily happen in real
life to anyone.
The
best part of the film are the performances themselves. After having
success with the incredible action film John
Wick,
this film continued a year of good role choices for Keanu as this is
a character that you don't normally see him play. More often than
not, he usually plays a loner where here he is playing a 'Mr. Nice
Guy' family man. Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo are also superb and
pull off being innocent and alluring to heartless and chaotic as well
as being pretty easy on the eyes.
Presented
in a crystal clear, 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 2.40:1 and a powerful DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track,
Knock
Knock
plays well on Blu-ray disc. English and Spanish subs are also on the
disc as well as a digital copy of the film via Ultraviolet.
Other
extras include:
Commentary
track by the filmmakers
Deleted
Scenes with optional Eli Roth commentary
The
Art of Destruction: The Making of Knock Knock
Stills
Gallery
An
interesting character study with strong performances, this film could
have easily been made in the 1970's and shot on 16mm and been more
effective.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
