Director: Adam Wingard
Stars: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, and AJ Bowen
Sentence Summary: A classic home invasion movie featuring a not-so-classic badass female lead.
What can I say about this movie.
The plot is average. The plot twist will by no means blow your mind, but it might give you a little surprise.
The gore is decent. Nothing too over the top, but probably still enough to get your blood-and-guts fix.
In terms of the overall quality of this movie, it is your fairly standard home invasion movie. There is, however, one element that stands out. One fantastic Australian element that took this film from “average” to “awesome.” Sharni Vinson and her character of the new girlfriend (Erin) at a family reunion was one of the coolest female characters I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but let’s just say that she kicks a lot of ass and kills a lot of bad guys. The whole time I was watching I was just waiting for her to start crying, or hesitating, or apologizing — but I was consistently and pleasantly surprised by her bravery.
My fascination with this character might seem strange, but let me explain. The horror genre has very few powerful female role models. Of course there are a couple of them, but this idea of a brave and capable, but still emotionally real female character is something that I am not very used to seeing in horror movies in particular.
In saying how cool I think this character is, I’m NOT saying that all girls should go around stabbing people in the head (seriously, don’t do that), and I’m not trying to sound like a fanatic feminist. I’m just saying that people need to realize that girls can get shit done too. They don’t always need to be saved, they don’t always need to cry, and they don’t always need to shy away from the scary situations in life. This movie was just so incredibly refreshing. In a world where women are still too often associated with cleaning the kitchen or caring for a family, we need to see girls being powerful, strong, and independent. If it takes actors pretending to smash faces in with a meat hammer to get that message across, then so be it.
Verdict: See it, admire Vinson’s awesomeness, and remember that girls can do anything boys can do.
Photos courtesy of Internet Movie Database (imdb.com)
Didn’t really have to do much else, except for just play it cool, tense and exciting. That is what mainly makes it fun. Good review.
Agreed! I thought it was a really fun movie to watch because it didn’t take itself too seriously. Thanks for reading!
First, I agree Sharni Vinson’s character is cool. Second, I still don’t like the film. Just didn’t think it was funny enough, really.
I didn’t really find it funny either. There were one or two chuckles, but it was by no means a funny movie. Overall, a pretty average “home invasion” style movie, just with the added awesomeness of Vinson.
Thanks for reading!
Had some good fun with this one. NOt gonna set the world alight or anything but had a definite Scream vibe to it for me, which is always a good thing!
Agreed, it was just a fun movie to watch! Thanks for reading.
Geez, was worried you were gonna say skip it for a second there… very glad you didn’t, ha. Loved this movie.
Jordan
No, I liked it too! It wasn’t anything too shocking, but it was a lot of fun to watch, plus Vinson is so awesome.
I’m glad you posted this. It’s been on my “should I see it or not” list for a while. I think I will give it a shot.
I’d recommend it! It’s a good choice if you’re just looking for some good, old-fashioned, gory fun haha. Hope you enjoy it!
Loved that film! It was very nice to see a horror movie not following the usual cliches. Vinson was really great! Great review 🙂
I loved it too. Vinson’s character really made it into something special and unique!
Thanks for the comment!
Loved this movie!! Great blog you have going on here : )
I really enjoyed this movie too, a very pleasant surprise!
And thank you so much, I will have to go check out your blog too 🙂
Hey! That would be great!