Panic Home

This film is completely unbelievable and ridiculous.

I don't want to give any spoilers by mentioning specific things that happen so that you hopefully read this BEFORE deciding to watch it and save yourself a complete waste of time.

As you will know from the brief description this is a home invasion thriller, quite early on the film starts to make you realise that luck is always on the side of the female lead who is trying to avoid being caught by the gang who break into the house. What starts as a few situations where you think "that's a bit daft and unrealistic, how did she get away with that?" quickly snowballs into a completely laughable chain of events but unfortunately it's not 'so bad it's good', it's just SO BAD.

The presence of Dougray Scott initially encouraged me to think the film might have some redeeming features but unfortunately his character makes some perplexing decisions that seem to be completely at odds with his role as leader of the gang and the loyalty shown to him by them.

When I reviewed this it had a score of 4.9/10 but I gave it the benefit of the doubt because of some other positive reviews but really it deserves a lower score because it is just so completely unbelievable.

This is a solid thriller. The lead actress is the same one from Crawl. Also, it's the same kind of movie, instead of being trapped with alligators it's criminals.

Right from the get-go of the British crime thriller "Tiger House" we learn that this young lass (Kaya Scodelario, "The Maze Runner") is a competitive gymnast. And her character's athletic prowess is showcased in some scenes here certainly. Still, it never reaches the level of kick-ass ninja warrior stuff you fully anticipated considering the dire circumstances of this home invasion horror show.

Tiger House......eh, more of a tabby shack.

PROS: A pro could be the build up of tension. Although it lacked the entire film, when it came to the climax the director knew what needed to be done.

CONS: The most obvious con to point out is within the plot. If you watch the movie you'll understand what I mean when I say, the movie simply put up too many road blocks. There was one idea that could have been strong, but it was hindered by smaller plots that gave a large disconnect between motives and actions. Another fault was with the acting. The secondary characters did a great job at delivering what their intent was, but the main girl character just lacked when it came to genuine emotion. The final thing that was frustrating was the creativity. The entire movie was based around this girl being a "secret weapon", but she did nothing special. The girl did nothing that was out of the ordinary; she did pretty much basic things.

www.chorror.com

Tense, well-crafted home invasion thriller that doesn't, in the end, add much to the genre and doesn't leave much of an impression once it's over. I appreciate that the screenplay by Simon Lewis reaches for some thematic resonance about characters at critical turning points in their lives without belaboring the points or becoming hackneyed, but the character development takes a back seat to the mechanics of a twisty plot that isn't as compelling as it should be. This film has both too much and too little going on. It could have been longer and I wonder if it fell victim to some overzealous pruning. Still, crisp direction by Tom Daley and a good performances all around make this an entertaining watch while it lasts. I just wish I wasn't already starting to forget that I saw it.