Fantastic Fest Review: Patrick Brice’s ‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’
In some ways Patrick Brice’s most recent feature There’s Someone In Your House is a return to his roots and in others, he steps into new territory for himself. Beginning with a fairly rapid fire opening, he channels Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer before sprinkling in some fun use of modern tech involving the killer. This well-paced story follows the standard teen friends group we see in most slashers but there’s been consideration put into the diversity and backstory of them all. Grief-stricken teenagers and the many nuances that accompany that are tough to pull off accurately, so it’s satisfying when it’s done successfully. There’s a solid effort put into representing that range of reactions here, from the somberly authentic to the laughably fake and horrifically exploitative.
Topped off with well-written albeit sometimes basic dynamics between the friends, their banter feels appropriate for high school teens specifically in the way it handles personal secrets. That’s sort of the killer’s schtick in this film, they force the victim to shamefully come face to face with their darkest secret before being skewered, sliced, or slaughtered soon thereafter. There’s also a fun gimmick that falls into one of the aforementioned uses of modern tech where the killer 3D prints the victim’s face before wearing it as a mask while stalking and murdering them, which is used quite effectively to add tension or excitement to scenes where the killer shows up.
The local police force here is as incompetent as ever but this time it’s cleverly been made part of the script, as there’s only one active officer in this town and he just so happens to be related to one of the primary suspects. This whodunit aspect is well executed, with plenty of false leads and well timed twists throughout. Once the killer’s identity is revealed and the film’s message becomes clear it feels admittedly a little on the nose, though I think that’s what the filmmakers were going for as it’s not really striving for the subtlety of something like Creep at any point. Fans of updated, homage filled slasher affairs like Netflix’s own Fear Street trilogy will surely find enjoyment in this politically aware narrative despite the very straightforward delivery, and gore fiends will get plenty of bloodshed to tickle their fancy. It doesn’t overstay it’s welcome at a brief ninety-six minute runtime yet manages to pack plenty of punch in the process, making this a very worthy entry into the genre that you can watch for yourself when it hits Netflix on October 6.
