The Rental

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When it comes to some of the more easy and convenient vacation choices nowadays, it seems interesting to me that there's not a whole lot of horror based around some kind of "catch" to said convenience. The 'Hostel' films did it, sure, but as far as I can tell, convenient, low-cost vacationing has been fairly untapped since then. This time around, we look at the potentially creepy dangers of renting an unfamiliar, but beautiful house for a weekend getaway.

Two brothers, Charlie (Dan Stevens) and Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and their respective girlfriends, Michelle (Allison Brie) and Mina (Sheila Vand) end up renting a beautiful ocean view house for a weekend getaway. The couples arrive and meet the property owner, Taylor (Toby Huss) who comes off as pretty creepy, and the gang collectively agrees to avoid him whilst enjoying their trip. Throughout the film, they grow more and more suspicious of him, especially when certain things are revealed, such as camera, implanted in the shower head. Soon, the film becomes a really solid blend of others, while somehow it ends up looking so typical on the surface.

This one comes to us from first-time director, Dave Franco, who is mostly known nowadays for his acting, but constantly doing it under his older brother, James' shadow. Not in any sort of negative way, mind, as the two collaborated on 'The Disaster Artist'. But I must admit that after seeing this, Dave is definitely set to come forward, and I'd love to see more from him, especially as a horror/thriller director. The man knows how to creep out with subtlety - a low, droning musical score, lighting, and overall setting are things he gets, and I'm truly hoping to see him work on more, and continue the wonderfully successful comedian-horror trend, which also features Jordan Peele ('Get Out'), John Krasinski ('A Quiet Place'), and Danny McBride ('Halloween' 2018). To me, this is the new era of horror, and has so much potential.

The film is a mixture of a few different things; the typical parts including a group of friends, who enjoy drugs, going to a remote location, and facing something inherently "evil". It further blends with a home invasion horror, as we clearly see various invasions of privacy, and yes, one way or another, there IS a masked serial killer behind it all. As mentioned before, on the surface, it's very typical and without a lot of surprise. But with that said, the film does take some interesting enough turns to make it not as typical as it seems.

A lot of the movie is about who you can trust, much like 'The Thing'. Only instead of not knowing who the monster is, it's a bit more about these four close friends having to look at each other in a whole new light. Beyond that, the identity of the killer... I won't spoil anything, but I will say that it's not what you might expect, AND, we may very well have a new slasher on our hands. This has the solid potential to be a first reveal of something that can easily continue, and could make for a great series that keeps its killer, but every situation changes.

It's a short, easy-to-watch cautionary thriller that relies much more on atmosphere than any kind of blood or gore, and for me, that has always been a solid preference when it comes to showing me "scary". I'd rather be tensed up, waiting for something through a thick fog and never jumping that a random gut tear-out that says "look how shocking I am!" For me, atmosphere always wins me over first, and this was a movie where it ran very solid. It's just really creepy with its music and setting, and it's just enough to make you look at a gorgeous lake-side house and second guess renting it for a weekend.

​4/5

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