Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long

Directed by Zack Cregger

20th Century, out now in cinemas (UK); HBO Max (US)

 

A woman staying at an Airbnb property discovers that the house she has rented is not what it seems.

In 2007, Edgar Wright directed a fake trailer for movie Don’t, parodying the slew of exploitation movies that warn you not to do things, like go into the house, open the door or go into the cellar. And documentary filmmaker Tess (Georgina Campbell) really should have followed that advice in writer/director Zack Cregger’s debut movie.

There are red lights right from the outset. The Airbnb property has been double-booked. There’s a creepy stranger in the house. He wakes up screaming in the night. No other hotel rooms are available. We say ‘run for your life!’ but then there would be no movie, and Tess wouldn’t have to descend into multiple levels of hell, door leading to hidden room, to cellar with another room, deeper and deeper.

Cregger has seen all the horror movies, and he knows that we have too. He plays on our expectations and fears, pushing us further and further. This isn’t the movie you think it’s going to be, and then it is, and then it changes again. Logic is thrown out the window, meaning you have no chance in working out what happens next, and I’m certainly not giving any more away.

Verdict: An effective, gory, ghost train of a movie with lots of twists and shocks. The influences are clear, and you could argue that you’ve seen everything here before, but it’s a great night out for Halloween viewing. 8/10  

Nick Joy