When two attractive young women (Ana de Armas, Lorenza Izzo) appear at family man Evan’s door soaking wet asking to come in, you know something really, really bad is going to happen. You know this because of two reasons. The first is that this is an Eli Roth film, and in an Eli Roth film, only bad things happen. The second is that Evan. played by Keanu Reeves, seems like a genuinely nice person – and Eli Roth doesn’t take kindly to nice people in his films. In other words, Evan is screwed from the get-go for the simple fact of being good.
Knock Knock is not for everybody. In fact, it’s not going to be for most people. It’s sick and disturbing; it will leave you with a deep pit in your stomach. By the end of the film, I literally felt my heart drop. Knock Knock contains scenes that give you the emotional equivalent of getting caught doing something wrong by your Kindergarten teacher. That burning, embarrassing feeling when you accidentally call her “Mom” instead of Mrs….well, nevermind. It doesn’t matter. That didn’t happen to me. I’m just imagining. Shut up!
While it is most certainly a horror film, it’s more of a twist on the erotic thrillers of the late 1980’s. Think Fatal Attraction but on steroids. There’s really no hope in Knock Knock. It is bleak, it is dark, and it is oddly funny. There’s a certain black humor in much of Roth’s work, and this is no exception. Even Keanu Reeves adds to much of it through his painstakingly monotonous yet somehow appealing delivery.
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In this film, there is rape. There is murder. There is foul language, exploitation, and sexual deviancy. All of this is used as a weapon to assault you, the viewer. Yet, throughout all of this, there is a substantial amount of story; though it’s nothing groundbreaking, it is effective.
Knock Knock is a home invasion flick where the villains are the females, the ones who are usually the innocent victims in most other films like this. And even though Evan, the loving father of the film, is the one being attacked, he is not completely innocent here, either. There are a bunch of moral implications and greater statements to be made about innocence, infidelity, and harassment, but make no mistake. There really is no moral to the film, despite what Roth has claimed. The film that is sick and twisted, and really succeeds in being just that.
It’s a situation where you will undoubtedly find yourself laughing and then almost immediately wanting to go to Confession for. Eli Roth is a sick, sick man. But hey; as I said, it’s not for everyone. It’s the type of film that I do not even want to admit to enjoying, but the truth is, I enjoyed it immensely. It was an intense, upsetting film, filled with sequences designed only to upset you. Upset me it did, and yet, just like 2016’s Green Room, I have to admit to enjoying it.
Am I sick person just because I enjoy things like this? No. Of course not. Actually, wait. I might be. Oh God, I hope not.
The Geeked Gods Score: 4/5. Sick, twisted, and admittedly fun. I’m going to Hell.
