THE GUEST: The Less You Know, The Better
I was trying to think of a good and witty introduction for The Guest, but this movie doesn’t need any clever words to fill it out. It’s not only one of my top ten favorite horror movies of all time, it’s one of my top ten favorite movies of all time. Period. It has a killer soundtrack (do yourself a favor and go listen to “Anthonio - Berlin Breakdown Version” by Annie right now). It has one of your girl’s favorite things (drumroll please).... an ambiguous ending/protagonist. It has the perfect amount of gore, uneasiness, and tension to make you squirm but keep you watching. Most importantly, it has the dynamic duo of Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett at the helm.
As a wise coworker once said, this movie is “a mix of Halloween and The Terminator,” and honestly, that’s better than any other description I can give you. I believe this movie is best watched without any outside information (and a nice Cab Sav), but for the sake of movie reviewing, I’m going to give you a very, very brief description: The Peterson Family receives a visit from a soldier who allegedly served alongside their son, but things are not what they seem. I absolutely know that sounds like it came straight of the bargain bin of movie synopses, but believe me when I say you’ll thank me later.
I’ve been a huge fan of Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett from day one. I love the stuff they did for the first two V/H/S movies (V/H/S Viral is dead to me/they didn’t do any work on it). I LOVE You’re Next (you know Wingard and Barrett are good because they got Barbara Crampton). I enjoyed Blair Witch (I wasn’t a fan of the drone stuff, but I genuinely loved the concept). I truly believe Wingard and Barrett have their fingers on the pulse of the horror genre, and that pulse beats in perfect rhythm with the 80s synth-esque music so prominently featured in all of their work. The Guest is something special and unique and totally bends the genre; it makes horror accessible to those who don’t like scary movie while simultaneously writing a love letter to 80s slashers for horror fans to enjoy. Watch this absolute treasure as soon as you can, and once you have, know you did the right thing.
Baillee MaCloud Perkins is a writer by day and a writer by night, so her Google search history is an actual nightmare. She also once met John Stamos on a plane, and he told her she was pretty. Follow her on Instagram, @lisa_frankenstein_ for an obscene amount of dog photos, movie-themed outfits, and shameless self-promotion.