Plot: What’s it about?
Keanu Reeves gets more than he bargained for when he opens the door to two strangers seeking help. Reeves plays Evan Webber. He’s an architect whose wife and two kids have gone out of town for the weekend. It’s also Father’s Day, but Evan has to stay behind to catch up on some work. During the early moments of the film, we see him goofing around with his kids and wife. By all accounts, he’s a good man. It’s late one night and raining (it always seems to rain in thrillers and horror films) when he hears a knock of the door. The two girls are soaking wet and ask for directions to the correct address. Reluctant at first, he eventually lets them come inside to dry off and try to contact their friend on social media to get the house address. They learn that they got the wrong address all together, so Evan gets them a ride, but it’s over 40 minutes away. The two girls say their names are Genesis and Bel. They seem nice, but they’re very open, often speaking of their sexual activities as if it were any other conversation. It’s clear that Evan is growing a bit uncomfortable by all this. It doesn’t take long for them to ask if they can dry their clothes. Evan lets them. As they’re waiting (both girls are in bathrobes), Genesis asks to use the bathroom. Bel continues to flirt with Evan until he goes to find Genesis. He orders both girls to get dressed. He soon finds them playing in the shower together, goofing off. They’re coming on to Evan, and eventually, he begins making out with both girls. Up until this point, we’ve viewed Evan as a good man just trying to help out. Now, it becomes harder to emphasize with him, but it’s obvious he regrets this decision. The ride shows up during this make out session, and leaves after waiting for a bit. After passing out and waking up the next morning, Evan is more than frustrated with the girls and drives them to where they live. Or, where they tell him they live. They make their way back to his house one night and the mayhem begins.
I realize it seems like I’ve revealed a lot of the plot, but the film is filled with many surprises. To be fair, it is a hard film to discuss since the main plot doesn’t kick in until midway through. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. It’s well paced and held my interest throughout. I was never quite sure how it would end. While we’re introduced to a few others, Evan and the two girls are front and center of the story. It did a good job of avoiding many of the clichés often associated with this genre. I won’t say it was particularly frightening, but there are still many tense moments to be had. There’s a fun, campy vibe here as well. Witnessing Evan transition from the everyday nice guy to sheer frustration was also amusing. Reeves demonstrates the kind of over-the-top acting Nicolas Cage could sleepwalk through. In fact, I’d say Cage is probably the only other actor out there that could deliver the kind of performance we have here. Some of the lines become comical, but somehow it all works. That’s how the film left me, too. Somehow, in some way, it all just sort of works. The film supposedly took inspiration from Death Game. I’ve never seen that film, but will seek it out now. I also think this is one of Director Eli Roth’s better films. He’s a bit hit-or-miss with me, but his direction seems nicely restrained here. Unlike Cabin Fever where he got so carried away with mixing genres, he’s much surer of himself here. The film earns my recommendation.
Video: How’s it look?
We get a (mostly) satisfying transfer here. I say mostly since there were a couple of instances of grain and blurring. One scene in particular seems washed out or blemished. There was also some noticeable grain in a scene or two, but outside of those moments, the transfer was more than pleasing to these eyes. The image is AVC encoded with a 2.40:1 ratio.
Audio: How’s it sound?
We get a solid DTS HD track here. Several moments are dialogue driven and quieter, but there were plenty of active moments as well. In a few scenes, I swore something was going creeping up behind me. Vocals were always clear and concise. The rear channels kicked in when needed and added to the track.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Audio Commentary – Eli Roth, Lorenza Izzo, Nicolas Lopez and Colleen Camp provide a running track for the film. Roth has always been very open and forthcoming in his tracks and this is no exception. It’s definitely worth a listen for fans of the film as it contains several insightful notes.
- Deleted Scene/Alternate Ending – The deleted scene is just an extended montage of the girls destroying Evan’s house. The Alternate Ending is interesting, but not necessarily essential. I won’t spoil specifics here, but it takes things in a different direction. Roth also provides commentary for these two scenes.
- The Art of Destruction: The Making of Knock Knock – This is an above average feature that talks about the inspiration of the film (Death Game is what inspired it) as well as several other topics. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of the film.
- Still Gallery
- Previews
The Bottom Line
I don’t know why, but I really enjoyed Knock Knock. Somehow it just works. It helps having Keanu Reeves as the main character as his performance is spot-on. The Blu-ray does the film justice with strong A/V specs and some worthwhile features. The film comes recommended.
