Wild and frightening thrills not for the easily offended

Review by Matt Adock

Meet Evan Webber (Keanu Reeves), a happily married architect who has it all: nice house, talented wife, two cute kids and decent job.

But Evan’s world is about to be turned upside down when two beautiful young women arrive on his doorstep late one night, drenched, and in need of using a phone due to theirs being lost.

Evan’s wife Karen (Ignacia Allamand) has taken the kids away to their beach house and he’s a nice guy so he agrees to help the stranded young women who go by the names ‘Genesis’ (Lorenza Izzo – director Eli Roth’s wife) and ‘Bel’ (Ana de Armas).

Knock Knock is an unashamedly old-fashioned exploitation flick that jumps in with a seedy seduction scenario, which then sets up a horrific aftermath of escalating repercussions.

Director Eli ‘Hostel’ Roth has form for effectively nasty cinematic tales and Knock Knock cranks up some very uncomfortable ‘what if’ situations both for Evan and the viewers. If you’re easily offended or freaked out this really isn’t the film for you, as it gets pretty full on with steamy sex and grim violence.

Keanu makes for an interestingly tormented protagonist, a man who can’t resist what he refers to as ‘free pizza delivered to his door’ but gets much, much more than he bargained for.

The grisly scenario that unfolds certainly builds up some edge-of-your-seat tension that will probably be differently received by males and female viewers. Throw in nifty use of social media for maximum cultural relevance and whilst the premise for the film might look like a sexed-up riff on home invasion horrors like Funny Games, there is much to make you think about here. The sexy/scary duo of Genesis and Bel are potentially iconic new cinematic horror threats – it will be interesting to see if audiences make this viable for a potential sequel. It’s a testament to the skill of the actresses to be able to switch from coy and innocent to brutal and psychotic in seconds.

Knock Knock is a frightening, wild thrill ride – which if you have the stomach for its justifiably ‘18 rated’ action will leave you breathless and disturbed in equal measure. Modern horror hasn’t felt this fresh for a while.