I watched this movie without knowing anything about it.
Within a short time, I sensed that this was an older movie, guessing that this was from the 1990s or maybe even the 1980s. This is a good thing because I often purchase movies from Shout Factory and other such companies that re-release older movies, often with great quality which is astounding, especially when your only comparison is VHS.
Movies from a couple of decades ago, or older, are actually refreshing because they don’t contain social propaganda that poisons much of current entertainment. While I await a return to an emphasis on storytelling rather than brainwashing, I delve into the past.
This story begins in an office setting, with a large number of desks on an open floor, showing an expanse of workers moving busily, and attention eventually centers on a man who appears to be a bit less frenzied, and who looks over some listings for homes. At first, I thought this was part of his job, but the next scene cuts to the man visiting the property.
At this point, I could not tell whether this was a thriller, a comedy, or a horror movie. The dialogue and actions could have fit any of those movie categories. I was intrigued.
When the man moves in, he discovers a vagrant in the house. The homeless man exits without conflict, but the main character calls the police, and his words made me fear that this was a social-agenda movie because the white-collar man had a judgmental attitude, but I still kept watching because there were so many odd things in the short amount of time that I had watched, that I gave the movie a chance. Do you see how repulsed I am by the current movie climate? I am happy to report that the judgmental tone of the phone call sets up some character traits of the protagonist. There is no propaganda.
As the movie played, I still could not get a sense of which category fit what I was seeing. Of course, movie categories are for sales, not for artistic reasons. Could it be that I was watching a movie that transcended that paradigm?
It could be argued that this was a comedy because some accidents can be considered slapstick. Have you ever watched commercials for household products in which something like a can-opener is used by a total spas who hurts himself while trying to wield the contraption and ends up splashing the contents everywhere, and then the narrator introduces a product that is much safer and easier to use? Some scenes in the movie are like this. It’s entertaining.
The comedic moments in the movie are offset by constant tension. It’s almost like being in a nightmare. This is what makes the movie weigh heavier toward the thriller category or even horror. Indeed, some of the situations are like those in nightmares.
I finished the movie feeling impressed. I wonder if my sense of never being oriented as to which genre I was seeing was intentional by the writer. It provided a unique sense of unease. If you watch a movie that adheres to the rules and abides by set formulas, then you can predict many things, or at least you constantly try to predict. This movie confounds that. Horror endings are different from comedy endings. Add a dash of thriller to the recipe and you get to taste a completely new recipe.
I am happy that I took a chance on this movie. If you want a palette cleanser after ingesting too much current junk, this is an excellent choice.
