Horror!

Movie: Someone's Knocking at the Door

My Rating: 3 stars

Whoa!  This movie is pretty graphic.  I can’t honestly say that I wasn’t expecting this.  I found this movie while browsing Netflix’s more obscure horror titles.  The synopsis they gave didn’t really give me enough information, though, so I went ahead and read some member reviews too.  That means that I was pretty well prepared for all the drugged-out hillbilly rape that this little title had in store.  Although, the reviews did throw me off a little bit.  The member write-ups had me thinking that this was going to be somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek, horror/comedy.  But, I think what they meant to say was that this film is comedically bad.  Because, it looks to me like the filmmaker who created this little number (Chad Ferrin) was pretty serious about it.  I bet he thought he had made a really super-scary movie.  Well, at least it isn’t the most delusional piece of independent filmmaking I’ve ever seen.  No, that distinction still goes too Birdemic in my mind.  This one is way higher quality.  But, it’s still pretty ridiculous.

The story in this little movie is about a handful of edgy medical students.  These are the “bad” kids on campus—the ones that like to party a lot and do drugs.  They especially like to experiment with some of the new controlled substances they’re learning about in their classes.  So, one evening, these kids decide to sneak down to a boarded up, old storage vault, where they can try out their newest injectables while listening to recordings of some old, scary medical-hypnosis sessions.  The particular session they listen to is of a pair of serial killer lovers, who liked to rape their victims to death.  It’s super creepy.  And, before too long, these students start imagining really scary things.  They start hearing noises, seeing strange movements at the end of long, dark hallways, and even seeing hallucinations of this hillbilly couple (apparently come to kill them all).  Are these visions leftover side effects of the crazy new drug they tried?  Or, are their worst nightmares actually coming true?  Well, the bodies do start piling up, so something’s definitely going on.

This is definitely one of those films that’s only for serious horror fans.  It’s a little too grisly, a little too bare bones, and a little too earnest for the casual viewer.  Sure, the final product is a little laughable, but I think it’d only be funny to someone who has seen a few too many of these things already.  And even then, I’d only recommend this one if you find yourself with a couple of hours to kill some random Sunday morning like I had.  In retrospect, I’m not sure why this seemed like the best choice at the time.  All I can say is that when you’re browsing the streaming options on Netflix, trying to decide what you’re in the mood for, you know it when you see it.