Twenty-second review is for a movie similar to The Night House that I was anxiously waiting for, but different in that I really had a great time watching it. Surveillance, suspicion, infidelity, isolation, drugs, violence, terror. Includes #spoilers :
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The Rental (2020) Pros: Dan Stevens is a white actor I trust to be involved in great, twisted things (Legion, Apostle). And the vampire from A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Sheila Vand, stared in this too. This did not disappoint. I knew the basic set up but had not watched the whole trailer. The cheating element was really juicy and the revelations were teased out at perfect times. The killing was so abrupt that I was like “Ooooo” every time it happened. The plot, action, and tension were exciting, the acting itself was great. When I saw the camera in the fucking shower my mind was blown. I was like EWWWWWWw. I didn’t know this story was gonna go the hidden camera killer way. But he didn’t do it as a creepy thing like 13 Cameras, just for murder, blackmail, and scare tactics. I would connect this to Hell Fest where the killer’s identity was teased at the end of the movie and there were other Easter eggs like Josh finding polaroids in the basement, that could be brought up in a sequel/prequel that I would watch.
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Cons: I think the revelation at the end that this killer is doing this a lot was on the iffy side. And the renting process, shorty was using the same website I believe to rent out that spot before the other dude. I think it would have been a clearer A-Ha moment if they had been using different apps or it was clear that the killer had his own situation like folks were finding the spot through Craigslist or something off the grid. Makes the rental scenario of filling these places with cameras and then murdering them make sense. Because in the end it shows him doing it a lot, but there would be a paper trail so I do not think he would be killing that many people tbh.
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I give it a strong 8. For the confusing part that I mentioned about the renting process, no supernatural elements, and my high interest in seeing a sequel.
#halloween #therental #review #horrormovies #explorepage