He’s Out There (2018)

Number Rolled: 63

Movie Name/Year: He’s Out There (2018)

Tagline: Terror is lurking.

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Length: 89 minutes

Rating: R

Production Companies: Screen Gems, Unbroken Pictures

Producer: Adrienne Biddle, Mitch Budin, Jack Campbell, Glenn S. Gainor, Ogden Gavanski, Richard Goldberg, Peter Jarowey, Tamara Nagahiro, Ryan Noto

Director: Quinn Lasher

Writer: Mike Scannell

Actors: Yvonne Strahovski, Anna Pniowsky, Abigail Pniowsky, Ryan McDonald, Justin Bruening, Julian Bailey, Stephanie Costa

Blurb from Netflix: While vacationing at a remote lake house, a mother and her daughters become pawns in the twisted game of an ax-wielding psychopath.

Selina’s Point of View:

I have some issues with this film.

Ignoring the fact that it is pretty much the most basic recipe of all, I feel like the majority of the dialogue and character actions are unbelievable. There wasn’t a single moment during the movie where I felt sucked in.

Now, granted, pretty much every slasher film needs some suspension of disbelief – but when you pair it with a ridiculous script and actions that simply don’t make sense, all you’re left with is a hot mess.

Let me put it to you this way. The kids in this film had less supervision than Carl in The Walking Dead (2010). On top of which, the adults make choices that no adult in their situation would make.

I’m not going to fault the actors here. Two of them were kids, which automatically excuses them. You can’t properly judge a child’s acting skills if they have bad direction – and there was some massively bad direction happening. I’ll watch them in other projects to give them a real chance.

It’s almost like the creators wanted to make a new masked slasher to turn into a franchise. Only, they didn’t care how they did it. They paid no attention to anything. Not even something as simple as continuity. For instance, and I’m only going into it because I don’t think it’s a spoiler, they come upon a man in the beginning that has to describe to them that he’s considered neighborhood security as though it’s their first time there. You come to find out later that they make the trip every single year. It’s a small – but noticeable – issue.

The concept was the only part of this film that had any promise.

He’s Out There is just not good.

Cat’s Point of View:

­Within the first 10 minutes of this movie, I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong. That’s not a bad thing, either. I definitely enjoy when films throw my expectations out the window.

It’s rare for a thriller or horror movie to not make me feel the urge to yell at the characters to not do something stupid. Surprisingly, there was very little of that for me here. Instead, I was leaning forward with suspense and hoping for the best.

I bought in at a level that my pulse was pounding. 

The sound that Netflix’s closed caption subtitles dubbed ‘demonic giggling’ gave me goosebumps and a sense of dread that has lingered after the final credits. (When I watch movies at night, I sometimes use the closed captioning so I don’t miss dialogue due to using a lower volume setting.)

The story was framed well; and the object used was outright dark. It set a nice foreboding tone that carried from the very beginning through the thematic elements that tied it in with the rest of the movie.

As I attempt to sleep without that horrifying laughter following me into my dreams, at least I do so knowing that I enjoyed myself obtaining that new nightmare fuel. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this movie, especially to fans of the genre and strong female roles.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 44%

Metascore - None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 5.3/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5

Movie Trailer: