Title: Knock Knock
Director: Eli Roth
Writers: Eli Roth, Nicolas Lopez, Guillermo Amoedo
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Ana De Armas, Lorenzo Izzo
Release Date: Out now on DVD
Review by Dave Griffiths
While the horror world spent last year mostly marveling at how good Eli Roth’s Green Inferno was, his other release last year, Knock Knock, seemed to creep into Australia with barely a whimper. Except for a screening at the legendary Monster Fest. That was a crime, because Knock Knock is a horror thriller that ventures into the same territory that Michael Haneke’s Funny Games does and certainly pulls it off in a truly horrific manner.
Knock Knock sees Keanu Reeves play Evan, the perfect American husband who loves his family and would never do anything to hurt them. His world is turned upside down though when his family go abroad for a holiday and he remains at home to finish off an urgent work assignment. A knock on the door delivers the very sensual Genesis (Lorenza Izzo – The Green Inferno) and Bell (Ana de Armas – Exposed) into his life and they have a very deadly and erotic game that they want to play.
A film like Knock Knock can fall apart pretty quickly if it’s not in the hands of an experienced filmmaker like Eli Roth. Without a smart script and a director who is willing to go the extra mile, this film could have become a c-grade sex thriller that would have only had the raincoat brigade excited. Enter Mr. Roth who lifts this film to the a-grade level with his true filmmaking genesis.
The key to making Knock Knock work was to make the film reek of suspense and luckily the screenplay easily does that. While the audience does get a pretty good feeling of what Genesis and Bell are planning on doing, the film takes enough twists and turns to have the audience on the edge of their seat from start to finish. The film doesn’t even seem to go off the rails when Evan’s moral compass goes right off the map. It was a risk that Roth took and it pays off really well. The fact that Roth also makes the two girls a little more psychotic than what your standard Hollywood thriller would have, certainly lifts this into the horror genre and it’s that extra effort that makes this a film outdo its simple premise.
Like he did with John Wick, Reeves relishes from a script with a bit of meat to it, while Ana De Armas and Lorenza Izzo push their ‘genre queen’ statuses a little further forward with faultless performances. Yes, their looks probably helped them earn their roles, but they certainly show that under the pretty facades lie two talented actresses as well.
Knock Knock is the kind of film that is perfect to put on during a cold, dark night, just be warned that it will have you nervous the next time someone knocks at your door.
5/5
