Film Review – Trespassers

Rating:

Synopsis

Two couples travel to a remote rental home in the desert for a sex and drug fueled escape from reality. As tensions escalate over the course of a debaucherous night, things take an unexpected turn when a woman (Fairuza Balk) claiming to be a neighbor with car trouble shows up at the door. She seems harmless enough… or so they think.

Hit the jump for my thoughts on the film.

Use Your Words

After watching the trailer, and even after the first 20-30 minutes of the film, I thought this was going to be another ho-hum, cookie cutter home invasion horror movie with an overuse of sex, drugs, and possibly some gratuitous torture scenes. For the most part, the film surprised me with it’s ability to offer a tense and truly horrifying overall atmosphere despite the predictable sex and drugs kicking things off. After the opening cliches, this movie is commanded by the performances from both Fairuza Balk and Carlo Roto. Though you may not remember the name, I immediately recognized Roto for his bad guy performance in Boondock Saints. Oddly enough, he kind of plays a similar character in this film, though be it without the Italian accent and triple the amount of terror invoking gusto.

Two things this film adds to what is becoming a diluted genre of home invasion films at this point.

1. A few unique and promising pieces of cinematography from Noah Rosenthal. I found myself saying “wow I’ve never seen anything like that before” on many occasions.
2. An absolutely perfect, 80s inspired horror movie soundtrack. Something I could see being released via Waxwork with synth heavy tracks paired well with heavier, guitar driven metal.

This film would earn more praise from me without the, kind of not needed, sex scenes and the usual plot holes which can plague this genre. It’s a quality horror flick that will work very well with fans of the horror genre. I honestly haven’t felt this tense while watching a film in a very, very long time.

Now Show Me

Who Should I See This With?

Your best bud who likes a good scare mixed in with some quality death sequences. Don’t take your mom. Definitely don’t take mom.

Final Thoughts

Look, I’ve read some reviews of this film online and lot of negativity comes from big sites who will go into this movie ready to not like it. Sorry you hated it, but it IS an IFC Midnight film and likely won’t work for most of your readers who will enjoy the utterly groundbreaking movies Yesterday or Aladdin. Sorry, not at all sorry. It’s a bonafide, old school horror movie that will please fans of the genre like me, but likely won’t be topping the box office. The film is great for what it is, and adds a few elements to the genre without trying to be something it’s not. Anyone else think of this scene during a particular part of the film?

Austin Showtimes & Trailer

Nothing as of yet for an Austin release. Sorry friends.