Keeper

With Longlegs, director Osgood Perkins burst onto the scene. It may have been his fourth movie, but it represented a stark evolution of his style into something more technically precise, more tonally playful, while still staring into the darkness. That shift, combined with Neon's brilliant marketing and audience hunger for Maika Monroe's return to horror, created such a fervor that it became Neon's highest-grossing domestic film to date, and second highest worldwide. So it was fortunate for them (and us) that at the time of its release, Perkins had already completed production on two more features. First to come out was horror-comedy The Monkey, an over-the-top, out of its mind, gory good time, which also happened to be the first of three Stephen King adaptations to come out this year. Keeper was the other, although he already has another lined up for next year. No one can accuse the man of slacking off!

Keeper returns to the dour atmosphere of his first two features. Liz and Malcolm (Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland) head to his family's cabin for the weekend to celebrate their one year anniversary. After being coerced into eating a slice of cake left by an unseen housekeeper (then devouring the rest overnight in a haze of sleep, despite its unseemly contents), Liz is beset by hallucinations and nightmares. When Malcolm is called back to the city to see after a patient, it's as if the house is out to get her. It begins to creak with the sound of footsteps, people appearing like reanimated corpses appear to her for a moment, and the previously perfect cell reception cuts her off from her best friend back home. Something else may be here...

Read my full review on Pop Culture Maniacs.