Marshall and the Movies

A new spate of American genre films that wear their influences on their sleeves often underwhelm.  After all, the downside of name-checking is having to weather comparisons to the source itself.  Adam Wingard’s “The Guest,” however, is the rare film from this revival that actually stands well on its own merits.

The plot could more or less be reduced to saying it’s “The Terminator” for the age of the Iraq-Afghanistan military industrial complex.  Dan Stevens stars as David Collins, the titular guest, a self-professed veteran who slyly ingratiates himself with the family of fallen comrade Caleb Peterson.  His stay just keeps extending due to the kindness of the Petersons and his insidiously winning charm.

Wingard plants the seeds of conflict and action in this idyllic sojourn of “The Guest.”  The movie jumps from a mostly dramatic piece to a tense thriller and then into an all-out action fest (whose ending nods cleverly to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”).  Somewhat surprisingly, all these elements coexist rather well.  This is due in large part to Wingard allowing knowledge of cinephile cult classics to enhance the movie, not drive it altogether. It also helps that “The Guest” does not feel like a litany of references to his VHS collection circa 1993.

Wingard simply brings a fun amount of campy pulp to the table while also maintaining the movie’s integrity.  “The Guest” lands in the narrow strip between parody and believability.  It is serious enough to command and maintain attention without being so serious that it precludes a great, enjoyable time.  And that throbbing synth-pop score underneath it all?  Just icing on the cake.  B+ /