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Next up in Last Movie Outpost’s Spooky Season series is The Guest. It may seem like an odd choice, seeing as this 2014 Adam Wingard thriller isn’t particularly spooky. However, The Guest is set around Halloween, and just about every scene features a pumpkin and people dressed like this:
The soundtrack is dominated by 80s-style synth tracks. The composer, Steve Moore, used the same synthesizers that John Carpenter and Alan Howarth used for Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
The Guest takes a slasher/horror turn towards the end with a hunt through a haunted house maze and a hall of mirrors (of course, there’s a hall of mirrors – it’s the law). Obvious inspirations are Halloween and The Terminator, but it’s not a horror movie. It just has that vibe sometimes.
The Guest stars Dan Stevens in a breakout role as David, a former soldier who pays an unannounced visit to the Petersons, the family of fallen comrade Caleb, who was killed in action.
Although the Petersons have never met David before, Caleb’s mother Laura, invites him in. David points himself out in one of Laura’s photos of Caleb’s unit, so his story checks out. It’s a smart move because the audience would likely assume he is an imposter, but the movie rules it out immediately.
I suspect the other reason she invites him in is because David has blonde hair, blue eyes, a nice smile, and calls people ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir’ in a respectful way. You can get away with practically anything with good looks and manners. Right, Dan?
That’s right, sir
The Chris Pratt Method
Dan Stevens had slimmed down noticeably from his Downton Abbey days. His new physique was first noticeable in A Walk Among the Tombstones, also from 2014. I assume it was because Hollywood casting agents told him he needed to cut the fat to achieve leading man status (otherwise known as the Chris Pratt method).
In an ironic twist, he was considered too skinny to be convincing as a soldier. He still got the job but had to spend the entire shoot weight training to bulk up for his shirtless scene, which was one of the last to be filmed.
It’s great casting. Like the Petersons, Downton Abbey fans may have been lulled into a false sense of security. Could there be something sinister lurking beneath David’s polite, all-American façade?
Well, yeah. We wouldn’t have a movie otherwise. And I’m not talking about the fact that he’s English.
Laura invites David to stay in Caleb’s room. Her husband, Spencer, protests but is weak and gives in. Their two other kids, twenty-year-old Anna and teenager Luke aren’t thrilled with the new arrival either.
Despite their hesitation, David starts to win them over. For the first half of The Guest, David acts as a kind of dark guardian angel for the Petersons. He shares beers with Spencer and, without giving too much away, helps him achieve a promotion that he was previously overlooked for. He helps Luke take a stand against school bullies. Anna and David attend a Halloween party, and he saves her friend Kristen from her ex.
He also carries kegs
Reg flags
David’s behaviour is unsettlingly robotic and violent at times, but the movie invites you to ignore the red flags because the Petersons are benefiting from his actions. Everyone needs a friend like David.
David and Anna develop a brief attraction, but it goes nowhere, which is a missed opportunity. I would have liked more of David embedding himself in the family (and Anna) before everything falls apart.
But the movie takes a sudden turn in the second half of its lean runtime, partly due to David’s actions and partly due to Anna snooping into David’s military history. I won’t spoil it too much here, but secret military experiments may be the cause of David’s behaviour, and he may not be who he says he is.
The specifics of David’s past are left vague in the final cut. Scenes were filmed that explain it fully, but test audiences felt it demystified David, and maybe even turned him into a victim. Ultimately, the makers of The Guest had to decide if David is an antihero or an unhinged psychopath.
Personally, I would have preferred the former. Instead, we get a character that’s part Terminator and part Michael Myers, except with good looks and manners, which means he still gets laid.
The final act is pure carnage as a special forces team led by Major Carver (Lance Guest) hunts David while David hunts the Petersons. We even get a slasher-style ‘it may not be over yet’ ending.
The Guest has developed something of a cult following over the years, and a lot of that may be due to its kickass soundtrack. A sequel is yet to materialise, but it’s not through lack of trying.
Sequel?
Adam Wingard and Dan Stevens have both teased the possibility of a sequel. Adam Wingard even released a soundtrack to The Guest II on April Fool’s Day 2022, complete with fake poster, despite the movie not actually existing.
I don’t know about you, but that poster looks batshit crazy. I’ll be there on opening day.
The post Spooky Season: THE GUEST (2014) appeared first on Last Movie Outpost.
