Review of The Guest (2014) by Josh L — 06 Feb 2015

(60%).

If double features had lived on, then this would have been the fantastic "Cold in July" B-picture follow-on. As while this is an entertaining sit, it's still unquestionably a B-movie that's well within touch of the better examples of strait-to-video action fluff. The film's concept in all honesty isn't worthy of merit, as it inevitably becomes a cuckoo in the nest type of affair akin to the one found in Hitchcock's classic "Shadow of doubt", only here it's much cruder, more fatuously told. And considering the quite rave reviews endowed upon it, which in turn has only over-inflated expectations, meaning this had a difficult task from the very start in hitting its questionably high target. Also on the DVD cover this quotes "The Bourne identity crossed with The Terminator", which is a terrible summery as it's not like either of those films. It may feature a character who is a waitress (Sarah Connor), and have a cool 80's electro score, but as for the Bourne movies? It's pushing it. What this does have is a touch of quality, it may only be a touch, but it's enough to mean that the performances/direction are both fine, and it's always watchable. But is that really enough? As a rental possibly, but I'd stick to a free watch only for this over-hyped time-passer.