David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) and Clayne Crawford (Swimfan) star in Nick Tomnay’s upcoming psychological thriller, The Perfect Host, which is set to hit theaters on July 1st.
The Perfect Host is about John Taylor (Crawford), a man who has just robbed a bank and needs to find a place to hide. After unsuccessfully attempting to con his way into a few places, he stumbles upon Warwick Wilson’s (Pierce) steps and convinces him to invite him into his home. He claims that he is a friend of a friend and that is how he found Warwick’s place. Warwick is in the middle of planning a dinner party when John shows up and eventually decides that he needs to stay for dinner and maybe even the night. As the gracious host that he is, Warwick lets the wine flow and soon enough things begin to go awry. John attempts to take Warwick for hostage and soon enough the tables turn on him. Without giving any more details away, I’ll say that The Perfect Host is a very creepy film and the perfect example of how appearances can be deceiving.
The movie is chilling, slightly deranged, a tad F’d up, and chock full of lies and deceit. Having very little knowledge about the film before going in, I was completely thrown for a loop. My expectations leaned one way, then through me off course, and then back to my expectations only for them to be completely thrown off again. This is a movie that will play mind games with you. It wants you to be John Taylor so that you are just as confused as he is. But there is also a great visual element that helps you understand how messed up Warwick is and how unfortunate of a situation John is in. It is a fascinating little film about the powers of deceit.
As for the acting, David Hyde Pierce was scary good. His appearance, in conjunction with his acting, is what freaked me out the most. He looked undernourished and boney and walked with an odd swag, bobbing his head back and forth like the brothers from A Night at the Roxbury. Also, he was extremely quirky, manipulative and just plain crazy. I can’t tell you why because it would spoil a major plot point. As for Clayne Crawford, he did an average job. He looked and acted like Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), which freaked me out a bit, but was able to at least not sink the film like Liotta normally does.
The Perfect Host is co-writer/director Nick Tomnay’s first feature length film, and it isn’t a bad debut either. While there may have been a loop hole or just some stupidity when it came to any scenes that involved the police, I’m able to look past it because I think Tomnay put together a very inventive feature that is reminiscent of The Silence of the Lambs. He still has room to grow but if he plans on making more thrillers in the future then this is a great bas point to build off of.
Overall, The Perfect Host is pretty good little flick that surpassed my expectations and completely warped them as the movie progressed. It isn’t a very slow movie but it isn’t fast either, it moves deliberately, making sure to carefully construct the various illusions that end up throwing you off guard.
Rating: A chilling, psychological thriller that is bound to surprise you in more ways than one (7/10)
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