By Liz Lopez
Rating: B-/C+
The Netflix original, There’s Someone Inside Your House, is a slasher film directed by Patrick Brice (Creep) from a screenplay by Henry Gayden, based on the novel by Stephanie Perkins. It’s set in present day of the fictional town of Osborne, Nebraska. Makani Young (Sydney Park, “The Walking Dead”) moved to town to live with her grandmother following a vague reason, but she does have flashbacks. Although she has made plenty of friends at Osborne High School, she keeps her past life a secret. The quiet town with the usual Friday night football celebrations becomes terrified when a series of murders occur. The killer seems to know many of the townspeople’s secrets, exposes them one by one and kills them in different ways while wearing a 3-D printed mask of each victim’s own face. Who knows why?
Although I found the film entertaining enough in the theatrical release as part of Fantastic Fest in late September, the story often is predictable. I do like the performances by the young actors, principally Sydney Park in the role of Makani Young, and her friends Alex (Asjha Cooper), Darby (Jesse LaTourette) Rodrigo (Diego Josef), and Zach (Dale Whibley). Ollie (Théodore Pellerin) has a brother who works in local law enforcement, but most shun him – except Makani who meets up with him away from school.
There is plenty of speculation about the killer’s identity, with fingers pointing to Ollie. The killer keeps unearthing secrets for all to see, terrifying each person who feels they have a secret they don’t want exposed. You will know when Makani’s turn is next when she happens to temporarily spend the night all alone at grandmother’s house. That is no secret!
Most all of the murder scenes are predictable as the killer uses knives (or similar), but for me the first victim’s injuries are the most dramatic ones and yes, I felt squeamish. The rest will seem like others seen before in other teen slasher/horror films.
Additional cast includes: Burkely Duffield, Sarah Dugdale, William MacDonald, Andrew Dunbar, Markian Tarasiuk
Get the popcorn or other favorite snacks ready to watch this teen slasher film when it becomes available on Netflix October 6th
RUNTIME 94 minutes, RATING Not Rated, LANGUAGE English
Source: Fantastic Fest and Netflix