James Director Adam Wingard's lack of interest in convention chimed neatly with Dan Stevens's desire to distance himself from "Downton Abbey" in the weird and not-so-wonderful piece of film-making that is "The Guest". As I noted in my less-than-fulsome review of the (2015) film "The Boy Next Door", "The Guest" - or rather Stevens's portrayal of that guest, bears quite a striking resemblance to the work of Ryan Guzman as Noah in that other (apparently later) film. Sporting a serviceable American accent (somewhat recalling that of Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes), the Brit Stevens appears as David, who starts off by bringing such joy and enrichment to - and a kind of justice on behalf of - a mourning family, that it is all the sicker (and ultimately all the more implausible-looking) when he later turns on said family, which he kills and/or terrorises, in the course of killing and terrorising pretty much everyone else too. Of course, he can't actually help it because - in the second film that emerges out of the cocoon of the first - he is actually a "modified" soldier programmed to kill everyone around him once the safeties are taken off. That is a message that could be offered deeper treatment (as it is somewhat more so in films like "Morgan"), but not too much so in this film.Do I need to say more? The film is violent, at times a bit erotically-charged and all-in-all rather pointless, though one cannot exactly say it is badly-acted. For my money, Maika Moore does especially well here, while poor old Lance Reddick (again playing a somewhat Broyles-like part) hardly gets into his stride before being bumped off. Stevens himself is OK.

alinstroming I felt intrigued by the work of Adam Wingard after watching one of his short movies in the V/H/S. Now that he stepped up to make an indie movie, I was kind of interested. And thus, The Guest was born.The Guest is horror-thriller movie, which stars Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe and other not so very known actors. What confuses me about the categorization of this movie, is the "horror" label. This movie isn't horror, HOWEVER it is made to LOOK like a horror movie. To be exact, The Guest is a homage to 80's slasher flicks, and it does it without ripping off any movie really.==== SPOILER ALERT / SPOILER ALERT / SPOILER ALERT ==== Plot: A man claiming to be the friend of a son, that the Petersen family lost visits the family in an effort to take care of them. However, soon it is discovered that this new visitor is much more on the surface.The plot sure is something new. Never have I seen really an idea so well incorporated into a feature length movie, that The Guest succeeds at. The movie is essentially built up as a horror movie, particularly a 80's slasher. That's what makes this movie kind of enjoyable, as it tries to pay homage to then known horror movies with scream queens, unstoppable antagonists and synthwave/retro music popularized by John Carpenter.Acting: Dan Stevens comes off as an interesting, but ominous character, that has charisma and intelligence. Every time he was on screen, his influence could be seen on the other characters as well. The interaction between characters is also very very well done. Its fluid and smooth, because in here you actually CARE about the family members and even the guest himself becomes extremely likable. Character development is strong with this movie at least, so if you want to see that sort of interaction, this movie is fit for that. Here's a bit of a spoiler: there's a scene with two characters discussing on keeping a secret from flowing outside by putting it just between them. It tells about professionalism, that these officials have for the sake of the plot and the pacing.Soundtrack: As the movie is basically a 80's slasher flick, the entire OST consists of remixes of electronic songs or completely made up songs that feature synthwave/electro punk/wave genres. This is one aspect, that makes this movie feel like a blast from the past.Cinematography: Not much can be said about it, however there are several shots of Dan Steven's character looking straight into the camera for a handful of seconds. Even though his expressions are neutral, he still looks menacing, especially due to the fact that he is a tad bit too friendly.Overall: The movie is one of those gems, that people will eventually come to. It has great acting, music and action to keep it refreshing and original. It's pacing is one of the best things, as said before, since its developed as a horror movie from start to finish. I recommend The Guest for those wanting something different and organic. It's fun, thrilling and enjoyable. 9/10.

Callam_10 let me start by saying this a "throw-away" movie, by that i mean i expected it to be garbage, but it only cost £1 so i'm not bothered if its a massive flop.I found myself bored yesterday, so decided to chuck this movie in the ps3, like i mentioned before i wasn't expecting much, however within the first 10 minutes i was hooked. I have no idea who Dan Stevens is but his performance was incredible, he makes a psychotic killer seem like a cool friendly guy. As we see his progression from a random nice guy, to a FBI slaying madman you can't help but root for the guy. The other characters in the film are mostly well played Brendan Meyer "Luke" being another favourite of mine. This is one of those unassuming movies and my god I'm glad it watched it, definitely up there on my list now. Just reading through IMDb before posting this and apparently it did terrible in sales, which is a massive shame as its an incredibly well done film with some great talent, i cannot recommend it enough

tapio_hietamaki 'The Guest' is a stereotype-defying thriller with great acting, nice action scenes and real shocker plot twists. A really unpredictable movie - at the start you can't really fathom where the story is going to go and when some secrets are revealed you still can't even guess which characters end up dead.The movie actually combines horror into its action thriller premise. The ending sequence is straight out of a 90's slasher movie.Visually the movie was endlessly pleasing. There are a lot of quiet-type characters and a lot of mystery in the air, so you have a lot of time just processing the production values. The movie takes place in a small town, not much to say about that, but the lighting and the music takes the cake. It's one of those 'neon-noir' movies like 'Drive' or 'John Wick' with colorful lightning and retro synth soundtracks and I hope they make more of this style of movie because it just works.