By Geno McGahee
On 11/10, GUEST HOUSE is currently On Demand and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray from Lionsgate. The film stars Pauly Shore and he’s been off the radar for quite some time. He was put on the map by MTV and turned that into a successful film career with movies like ENCINO MAN and SON IN LAW. His mannerisms and catchphrases went viral but he’s been off the scene for quite some time. He’s back now and is quite the pest in GUEST HOUSE.
Blake (Mike Castle) and Sarah (Aimee Teegarden) are in the market for a house and finally found the home of their dreams. Unfortunately, they have to deal with a tenant in the guest house, Randy (Shore), but they are assured by the real estate agent that he won’t be there long. That turns out to be untrue and they have an obnoxious squatter on their hands.
The initial plan is to be nice to Randy and try to gently persuade him to leave, but it doesn’t work. Soon, Blake is partying with Randy, who has all sorts of drugs at his disposal. Randy throws a party and gets Blake to join in and the partier side of Blake that existed in his college years emerges and it starts messing with his relationship and give Randy plenty of ammunition to use against him.
After the party, Blake gets arrested and Randy has no issue throwing him under the bus. It was nice to see Lou Ferigno as Kip Werner, a police officer. He is really funny in this. He even threatens Blake with arranging prison rape, which was very funny.
A war ensues between Blake and Randy and both are playing very dirty. Randy drugs both Blake and Sarah with molly and they become sex crazed, leading to some funny scenes. Delivery guy Ricky (Chris Kattan) shows up and gets attacked by Sarah, looking for loving, and he doesn’t know how to perform. It’s really funny and Kattan was the right guy for the role.
Sarah and Blake set up a wedding in their backyard and Randy sets up his attack, leading to an all-out war with the guests being drugged and total anarchy. The war gets the best of Blake and it leads to a lot of turmoil in his relationship and job status.
GUEST HOUSE proves that Pauly Shore has a lot left to offer. I think there are glimmers of his comedic genius but there are also parts of this film where he’s very unlikable. I know that was the purpose of the film, but the funny side of him in this film was so good, it seemed uneven at times.
I really liked GUEST HOUSE. It was a good neighbor vs. neighbor film with a happy ending. I am happy to see Pauly Shore back and I hope that he starts doing more films. He has plenty left to give. The rest of the cast was great too and I think that Billy Zane deserves a mention as Sarah’s father.
The film is available On Demand and on Blu-ray and DVD on November 10th.
