The Guest (2014) Aged like Fine Synth (Blu-Ray Review)

Things move at such a fast pace in the movie world. Rewind 10 years ago, horror was not in the healthy position it is now – some things did cut through the noise, but mostly it was a very middle-of-the-road era. A few directors had some degree of cultural cache. Adam Wingard and his long-term writing partner, Simon Barrett, cut through with the success of their indie horror, You’re Next. In 2014, they followed up the inheritance slasher with The Guest – a comparable excursion that hit closer to a wave of stylish action movies exemplified by Drive and Cold in July. The slasher continued to course its DNA through their work, albeit spliced in with guns and Alfred Hitchcock’s best film, Shadow of a Doubt.

Dan Stevens is ‘David’, a charismatic stranger who turns up on the doorstep of the Peterson family, who are mourning their eldest son – who he served with in the military. He is too good to be true: polite, handsome and willing to help out with Laura (Sheila Kelly) and Spencer’s (Leland Orser) kids – Luke (Brendan Meyer) who is horribly bullied and the troublesome older kid, Anna (Maika Monroe, who also had a lead role in ‘It Follows’ in the same year). This help may be a little excessive, especially with his violent retribution eeked out on Luke’s bullies, but everything is going great with their guest. He’s covering for Anna’s secret boyfriend, and Luke is finally sticking up for himself – when Anna overhears a conversation not meant for other’s ears. And, curiosity kills the cat. Instigated by a phone call with the local military outpost and leading to the blood-drenched climax, David rains down a storm of violence covering all loose ends.

This archetypal story is far from new; however, the thing that marks Wingard and Barrett’s take is the reluctance. David is not a mindless killer who, once activated, kills everyone with emotionless efficiency. Outside the military unit that turns up with the sole intention of eradicating the titular character and a gun dealing scene, David only resorts to killing when it is necessary, and even then, he apologises. While a hard balancing point, this is about as sympathetic as you can get for a killing machine. And put that performance in the hands of Dan Stevens, an actor better known for playing prim and proper posh English stereotypes, and you have a match made in heaven. There’s a reason why he was in the conversation to be a future James Bond: he can make a highly trained killer personable.

Back in 2014, the Guest was accused, by its detractors, of being too 1980s-centric – and as time would have it, that point has since become an irrelevance. To return to my opening point – 10 years is a long time, and in the interim, we have seen the rise of a wave of film slavish in their adherence, love and recreation of the 1980s. Time has been very kind to Wingard’s film. In 2022, the Guest feels subtler. The music has a distinct Synthwave vibe, and the over-the-top colourisation only occurs during the violent blowout at a Halloween dance in a local community centre – i.e. where it makes sense. To put it another way, like Maika Munroe’s other 2014 film, It Follows, this is styled out of time, influenced by what was hot in alternative pop culture at the time rather than wearing a bit obnoxious hat that constantly screams “1980s” at you over and over again. To put it bluntly, this is a cool film.

If you read that last paragraph with a critical eye, you could suggest that it is cool because it’s not as bad as some particularly egregious retro-fetishist offenders. And fair enough, that may be true if you don’t find yourself on the film’s wavelength. Find that vibe, and The Guest is an energetic watch with well-acted and written characters, culminating with some very violent and well-shot happenings. The Guest is part of a mini-wave of American action movies that were more patient, stylishly shot and much more violent. A style of movies in awe of a vibrant synthwave scene and this is one of the most vibrant examples. And, I may be shooting myself in the foot here – but this has aged considerably better than Nicolas Winding Refn’s, Drive – which shoots for a similar tonality.

This review is based on the Standard Edition 4K UHD reissue from Second Sight. In recent years, it is becoming an increasingly moot point to explain that Second Sight’s releases are incredible. From the ground up, the contained print received a new colour-grading supervised by Wingard, giving the film clarity and pop better than ever. Then there’s the library of riches when it comes to extras. There are two Wingard-Barrett commentaries (one new/one archive), as well as new interviews with Dan Stevens, Maika Munroe, Wingard & Barrett, producers, the director of photography, Robby Baumgartner, the production designer, and composer Steve Moore.

What else can I say? this rewatch totally converted my opinion, elevating me from middling to a new fan. And that’s why exhaustive releases like this are important: they provide an opportunity to give a film a real second chance, the sort you cannot get on any streaming platform.

The Guest