Like “Scream” Season 3 and the “Fear Street” trilogy before it, “There’s Someone Inside Your House” (Netflix) is a crisp statement on the state of Gen-Z and the horror genre. This slasher touches on privilege, diversity, equality and corporate takeovers. The Final Girl is black-Korean, and among her friends is a gender nonbinary person – and even more remarkably, not one plain ole white girl.
Old-school for a new age
Writer Henry Gayden (“Shazam!”) — working from Stephanie Perkins’ 2017 novel — and director Patrick Brice (“Creep”) demonstrate that old-fashioned slashers can function in the age of social media. Many modern slashers incorporate social media directly – see the “Unfriended” films.
In “TSIYH,” the killer has secrets on all the victims. Each kill is accompanied by an infodump about the victim’s dark secret. As is the accepted, unexplained trick in this subgenre, everyone’s smartphones ping with the information. I guess in small towns – here the corn town of Osborne, Nebraska – everyone is plugged into the same social media.
“There’s Someone Inside Your House” (2021)
Director: Patrick Brice
Writers: Henry Gayden (screenplay), Stephanie Perkins (novel)
Stars: Sydney Park, Théodore Pellerin, Asjha Cooper
But other than that, “TSIYH” is rather analog. The cold-open victim misses his football game (cueing everyone that something is definitely wrong) because the titular Someone steals his cellphone and replaces it with an egg timer, which sounds its alarm after kickoff.
While the killer perhaps uses a 3D printer to make masks that look like each victim, he/she/they also favors peppering crime scenes with printed photographs.
Can’t decide on a tone
Perhaps at the suggestion of producer James Wan, we’re hit with one of those screen-filling, old-font title cards. I was thinking this might be throwback fun, similar to Wan’s recent Netflix hit “Malignant.”
But that vibe does not continue. Up next is a “Varsity Blues”-esque comedic tone, as Final Girl Makani (Sydney Park) puts a “Get Well Soon” card on the football player’s memorial. That was all the store had left, she explains.
A sense of humor continues through two-thirds of the movie. In the lunchroom, the class president wants to appear accepting of all groups, so she announces she has been happy to support Darby (Jesse LaTourette) whether Darby has been “a he, a she or a they.”
Later we learn – not surprisingly – that this class prez isn’t as accepting as she pretends to be. “TSIYH” often makes the victim’s secret something to do with bigotry.
I like the concept a lot, especially with the killer wearing a mask that looks like the victim’s face. But the execution is so blunt that it’s almost cynical. “TSIYM” checks the boxes of hot topics but doesn’t have much to say about them – certainly nothing that goes against the grain.
When the old-school vibe, the comedy and the commentary (except for the killer’s dumb motive) have been set aside, we’re left with an obligatory conclusion wherein the teens start acting stupid.
A franchise?
The promotional angle of this film is questionable. The title fits with the opening kill and a reasonably chilling sequence later on. Thinking back on where the killer was hiding, although it’s not shown on-screen, is scarier than what we see on screen.
But the killer’s interest in making people pay for their dark secrets is the true hook. This could be the first entry of a franchise. But if so, we’re gonna get clunky titles like “There’s Still Someone Inside Your House” and “There Will Always Be Someone Inside Your House.”
Or maybe they’ll be location based: “There’s Someone in Your Garage.” “There’s Someone in Your Yard.”
Who am I kidding? I’ll be back for the sequels, especially if they are easily clickable on Netflix. “TSIYH” is structurally sound and decently engaging. It’s just too bad the commentary plays out in a safe space.