The Guest is some good, bloody, twisty, twisted, B-movie fun, filled with loving homages to a variety of 80’s and 90’s action-thriller staples, and a great, career-changing performance from Dan Stevens (formerly Matthew Crawley on TV’s Downton Abbey) as a soldier returning home from Iraq who, in more ways than one, may or may not be fit for society. He ingratiates himself into the household of one of his dead squad members, telling his parents and sexy sister (Maika Monroe) that he died heroically in battle. But what is the mysterious house guest hiding from the innocent people who have taken him in? This isn’t a serious film about PTSD or anything like that, but rather, the filmmakers have taken something tangible and turned it on its face, crafting a violent, nasty, John Carpenter-esque thriller out of shopworn ingredients. The results are funny, over the top, suspenseful, and extremely action oriented especially in the last act.
Director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett clearly love to skewer genre; check out their clever spin on the home-invasion scenario, the wild and absurdly entertaining effort You’re Next. And like that film, with The Guest, they’re up to their usual tricks: The Guest is a ludicrous movie but made with such confidence and a good amount of panache that you can’t help but go along for the ride. The filmmakers clearly have a lot of energy and they love what they’re doing; there’s a palpable sense of joy to much of this movie despite it getting very intense and trigger-happy. There are some vicious fights, some unexpected but refreshing cheesiness, a couple of left-field narrative “huh’s?” that take you by surprise, and a finale consisting of nearly 20 minutes of constant mayhem and bodily injury. Also, if you’re a fan of audio commentaries, the one featuring Wingard & Barrett is absolutely priceless, a film buff’s dream to be honest, as these two dudes are so in LOVE with cinema as a whole that their passion is totally infectious.
Podcasting Them Softly 