He's Out There

Well contrary to the negative reviews I thought this film was actually pretty good. Im an old hat at horror from zombies to Siberian Film, I've delved into most genres. Nothing scares me or is a new concept anymore but this was a good tense 1 1/2 hours. Some jumpy bits and some gore all the great ingredients needed in a horror pie. Yes the kids screams where shrill, but they are kids and were scared after all!! There were also some anomalies where you think, nah that person should be dead, but hey arent a lot of films like that?! Decent film and good to see a strong female lead!

This movie is actually a love story gone wrong. A masked guy with talents in pastry and painting after living for a long time alone in a forest, falls in love with Yvonne Strahovski (can you blame him?). However, is she already has two very loud hyperactive kids that ruin the movie for everyone. In a futile attempt to fix the move and give himself a very happy ending he tries to bribe the kids with cupcakes and drawings. Kids get even louder, and the audience starts rooting for the masked avenger while checking out info on contraception at their mobiles. In the end our guy just gives up and will probably try to get it right in the next movie.

Wow. So, mom and girls arrive at their isolated, lakeside vacation cabin with the promise of dad showing up late the same night. However, there is a lunatic lurking in the woods and he has some plans for the family. Will anyone survive? This is your plot.

The thing that will irritate you most about this film is not the search for reasons why this lunatic is doing all this or the fact that children go into the woods and find a creepy "tea party" setup and think they should eat the food that has been laid out for who knows how long. The number one thing that will irritate you will be how the children are behaving. I have never seen a film that has kids that are so downright annoying. Mom can't even begin to figure out what to do because the girls are so distracting. "Mommy!' "Mommy, No!" "Don't leave us alone!" "I'm scared!" "Mommy, you're scaring me!" It just went on and on. I was ready for this guy to take the kids OUT.

Aside from the kids, this isn't too bad. Location is right, timing is right and there were a couple of nice problematic scenarios setup. There isn't much of a story for the killer, simply meaning you won't find any explanations as to why things are happening. So, if you are looking for it to all come together in the end, you'll be disappointed. This would've been a much better film had there been more attention to how the kids were reacting and making sure that the story made a bit more sense.

It's not just downright awful but it leaves something to be desired.

Stop me if you've heard this one, a group of people go stay in a secluded house within a forest and come under attack from a masked assailant. Original stuff, huh!

He's Out There uses that time tested formula and is a mindless slasher film which brings very little originality to the table.

A mother and her two daughters go to a cabin by the lake on vacation, the husband is running late etc etc etc. It's so cliche it hurts, it's 2018 why do they still make movies like this? Don't get me wrong I'm not putting down the slasher sub-genre, what I mean is a generic slasher film that is a near carbon copy of literally hundreds of others.

The film has it's moments (Though nothing ground breaking) but as I'm sat here writing this review I'm struggling to think of what to write. What can I possibly say about such cookie cutter material?

I will say this, the two children are deeply annoying. Being a person who generally despises kids that will probably come as no surprise but these two little "Darlings" take it to the next level. Annoying, unlikable, belligerent and characters like that just make me root for the bad guy!

If you like slashers you may find enjoyment but be aware you'll go in knowing exactly how the entire movie will play out step by step.

The Good:

Haunting opening

Interesting antagonist

The Bad:

Deeply annoying unlikable children

Very little in the way of originality

Yvonne is the only real redeeming quality of the movie. The kids whine ALOT, and it almost ruins the film. Yvonne, however, is the saving grace. There are some significant gaps in the plot, and it does make the film less enjoyable than it could be. It almost felt like a watered down version of The Strangers.