Knock Knock (2015)

Knock Knock (2015)

This is not the Eli Roth of Hostel or The Green Inferno, he much more sophisticated in this blessedly kinky home-invasion thriller. Other than a fork stabbing and a paper-mache artwork with a corpse inside, Roth doesn't indulge in his forte of graphic dismemberment. However, a blaring headphone-volume torture is an innovatively depraved method indeed. It's almost crystallized through sweeping helicopter shots and gliding camera movements through Evan's (Keanu Reeves) palatial home that this is the highest budget for the maverick Roth. Reeves has been accused of overacting in the latter half of the film but, quite honestly, it requires unhinged, blood-curdling rants when he is systematically raped, degraded and buried to his neck in a backyard grave (his analogous rationalization that their seduction was "free pizza" because they "suck his c**k" is bombastically delivered). If anything, Reeves' mischievous impishness with his two children beforehand is more strained. The foreplay to Evan's indiscretion is masterfully choreographed with Reeves visibly squirming from contact and the two girls fawning over his 43-year-old physique and deejay skills. It would be impossible for any non-impotent to not be aroused during the erotic threesome. The social commentary behind Roth's solid script is how male adults despicably sexualize school-girl-age women and whether a seemingly felicitous family man will succumb to temptation if teased with the opportunity. This could signal a turning point for Roth to segue into more psychological terror. While the endgame could be easily equivocated in Evan's favor, the film itself is a labyrinthian cautionary tale about whetting one's appetite.