The newest film from director Patrick Brice (Creep, Creep 2) is the ’90s-esque slasher There’s Someone Inside Your House. It is based on the 2017 novel of the same title by Stephanie Perkins and recently had its premiere at Fantastic Fest 2021. Although the film was well-produced and features solid performances, especially for the slasher sub-genre, it leaves much to be desired.
There’s Someone Inside Your House follows high school teenagers from a small Nebraska town who are picked off by a killer, but not before they’re confronted with their dark secrets. The murderer taunts the victims by wearing a mask resembling their own face and by leaving breadcrumbs such as photos, video, and newspaper clippings for them to find. One teen, Makani (Sydney Park), is confronted with her past while trying to survive the killer and make an ID before it’s too late.
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Although most of the performances were favorable, the main group of teens and their drama were simply uninteresting, and focused way too much on smoking pot. The soundtrack gave the film even more of a late-’90s-to-early-’00s feel, but at times crossed the line into obnoxious more than effective.
The kills, which are the backbone of any good slasher, are decent, especially the first two victims. Both scenes have strong Scream vibes, and were brutally fun as the killer showed what they’re capable of. The gore FX are top-notch and the face masks are genuinely creepy to look at, making me excited to see what it would all lead to. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film fails to reach those heights again, turning into an uninspired slasher. I was glad to see the final showdown taking advantage of the cornfield setting, which ratcheted up the tension, but it was unable to maintain the intensity as the scene continued.
Given the directorial talent behind There’s Someone Inside Your House — Creep was a downright masterpiece — it was disappointing to see the film struggling to find its balance between teen drama and slasher. As a result, the pacing slowed to a crawl at times and it became way too easy to mentally check out.
There’s Someone Inside Your House is now available on Netflix.
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