By Melissa Antoinette Garza
The 1977 film DEATH GAME is one of my favorite cult films ever. Though, Sondra Locke was notoriously dissatisfied with the outcome, her performance is phenomenal. I was a bit hesitant to watch the remake KNOCK KNOCK and it took me quite a while to finally give it a go.
It is not at all what I expected. I sort of thought Eli Roth would have tried to make it gritty or gory, but instead it was a very strange adaptation of a film that was quite bizarre to begin with. It wasn’t unwatchable. I actually enjoyed the movie overall, but for the wrong reasons. It falls into the same category as the 2006 version of THE WICKER MAN. Nicholas Cage’s overacting is right in line to the way in which Keanu Reeves portrays the male lead in KNOCK KNOCK.
The movie begins when Evan (Keanu Reeves) is going to have the home to himself for a few days. His wife Karen (Ignacia Allamand) and two young kids are going away for the weekend so that he may finish a project.
Evan has a loving marriage and other than not having sex in a few weeks, everything seems ideal and perfect. They had been together for over 10 years and though Karen is a bit irritated that Evan seemed a little flirtatious with a delivery woman, it’s mostly all in good fun.
That night, the doorbell rings and two young female strangers stand soak and wet on his front steps. Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bell (Ana de Armas) ask to come inside as they were searching for a party, but became lost. Genesis’s phone was so wet it stopped working.
Evan allows them to come in, gets them robes to dry off and orders an UBER which is scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes. They share some small chit chat, but the two girl keep bringing up sex which makes Evan uncomfortable. Bell tells him that she knows it isn’t in human nature to be monogamous so she’d rather have threesomes with her girlfriends and a guy so she can keep them ‘faithful.’
The talk gets more and more intense and when Evan shows off his old skills as a disc jockey by spinning some vinyl. Bell begins to dance seductively and Evan nearly gives in to temptation when the UBER driver arrives.
Bell runs to the bathroom to get Genesis, but when the two girls disappear he goes in to get them only to find them naked. He tells them to leave but they seduce him instead and the UBER driver leaves.
The next morning, Evan wakes up thinking they’ll be gone, but instead he finds them making pancakes in the kitchen. He offers to take them home and that’s when things get weird. They refuse to leave, claim to be under 18 and Genesis warns if he calls the cops that he’ll go to jail for pedophilia.
The remainder of the movie shows the two girls torturing Evan in different and bizarre ways. As Evan gets angrier, Keanu’s performance turns cartoonish and hilarious. I’m not sure if that was the intent or not, but it’s really the only thing that makes the film worth watching.
It tries to have a lesson built in about the dangers of social media and overall computerized technology where everything is at one’s fingertips. From Facebook, Facetime, Instagram etc. are attempted to be shown in a comedic fashion that they are dangerous connections where something one may not want the world to know can go viral as soon as it’s uploaded.
The lesson is hammered in, but unless you’re a kid, it’s a pretty obvious statement to make. Furthermore, it’s not done in a subtle or believable way.
Still, I did purchase it because it has a fun factor. Seeing Evan justify having sex with the girl by using the analogy of being offered free pizza was great. The mixture of unrealistic dialogue and Keanu’s insane performance makes this worth more than a few viewings.
In the end, I recommend this movie for fun reasons. The female leads do a fine job, but don’t expect to be scared. Many have pointed out that Lorenza Izzo is director’s Eli Roth’s wife. Honestly, that doesn’t bother me. She fit the role very well and though she can’t fill the shoes of Locke, I don’t think anyone can. It’s a bit irritating when reviewers feel the need to bring up that people incorporate their family in a picture. Many may not remember that KOJAK (1973) star Telly Savalas ensured his brother George Savalas had a secured role on the show. George was great in the role. If the person fits, they fit. Here Izzo fit the role and kudos to Roth for marrying a talented woman.
This isn’t THE STRANGERS (2008) or FUNNY GAMES (1997/2007). I think KNOCK KNOCK wanted to be FUNNY GAMES. It wanted to share the same type of social commentary and be viewed as a more highbrow film than it is.
FUNNY GAMES dealt with thriller killers and the prospects of how the media portrays violence without consequence, all the while keeping both a light and dark tone. KNOCK KNOCK wants to delve into the reliance of the internet and the dark downside in both a light and dark tone. That’s where it fails. It’s just too ridiculous and the stakes never seem too real.
There are attempts to shock. For example, the words “PEDOPHILE” and “DADDY’S LITTLE WHORE” are written over family portraits and over Evan’s young child, but it falls flat for several reasons. One of those reasons would spoil the film so I won’t reveal it, but the other is that the film does its best to switch the protagonist to the antagonist. Evan’s true nature is shown when he’s under serious distress and he’s a douchebag.
The women, however, aren’t redeemable either. Their plan seems to go around and punish married men who are seduced by them. It’s clear that Bell was heavily abused and screwed up in the head so that provides her some leniency, but then turning around and vandalizing a house with horrible and awful rhetoric that young children will see and forever will be able to un-see, makes them both just as despicable.
That said, DEATH GAME has quite a different tone. The two women are merely thrill killers. It’s obvious they weren’t treated well in life but more-so are just having fun. The tone is set early in DEATH GAME when a very eerie children’s song plays. It’s a haunting, creative movie where the women are hilarious in their insanity. It’s superior to KNOCK KNOCK in every way.
If you’re able to walk in to KNOCK KNOCK without comparing the two, you’ll be able to enjoy it for what it is, but afterwards seeks out the original. For easy finding, a link is provided below to watch the full movie for free.
KNOCK KNOCK: SCARED STIFF RATING: 6/10
DEATH GAME: SCARED STIFF RATING: 9.5/10
