TheRetroCritic

I talk about Jordan Peele's latest: Us .

Few films from 2017 made quite as much noise as Get Out in terms of starting a conversation about social issues. Directed by Jordan Peele, this was a horror film satirising more subtle forms of racism through a full-on psychological thriller with gory elements and a twisted sense of humour. Get Out sees Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) drive to the latter's parents' house so Chris can meet her family for the first time. Chris is somewhat reluctant at first because the parents haven't been informed that he his an African-American but he goes along with it eventually. This leads to thoroughly awkward encounters with Rose's parents and other family and friends who seem friendly enough at first but are also kind of creepy. When Rose's mother Missy (Catherine Keener) hypnotises Chris and, later, a guest loses it, warning Chris to "get out", the film descends into madness and this family turns out to not be at all what they

I review the 1992 dark comedy Stay Tuned .

I talk a bit about Netflix's new show Ozark .

Here's the video version of my Vulgar review.

If you thought that going to a dinner party hosted by Niles from Frasier would be a lot of fun then think again as David Hyde Pierce proves he's not all there in The Perfect Host , a thriller from 2010 in which a criminal unexpectedly meets his match. Bank robber John (Clayne Crawford) is on the run, he somehow talks his way into a mild-mannered man's house in order to hide somewhere overnight. His host, Warwick (Hyde Pierce), mentions he's having a dinner party but, soon enough, John realises that he's stumbled onto one sick individual as he is drugged and shown graphic pictures of a man being gradually murdered. On top of that, Warwick's friends are all imaginary and John is forced to spend one crazy night indeed. This scenario feels very much like a rather tame version of The Human Centipede , Tusk or Texas Chainsaw Massacre in that someone stumbles onto a harmless setting that turns out to be quite the opposite. The Perfect Host definitely has its cree

Danny DeVito directs this 2003 dark comedy which stars Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore as a newly married couple who move into a duplex in New York only to find that they have a tenant who might just drive them insane. The tenant in question is Mrs. Connelly (a brilliant Eileen Essell), an ageing Irish lady who seems harmless enough early on but who, little by little, successfully gets on Alex and Nancy's (Stiller and Barrymore) nerves. The former is a writer who is trying to focus on completing his book but he soon struggles when Mrs. Connelly starts getting him to do various mindless chores every day. Eventually, the couple even start considering murdering the old lady who may or may not be deliberately trying to ruin their lives. The film is a bit like a cross between Home Alone , The Money Pit and Throw Momma From The Train as two people who are clearly not cut out to be criminals find themselves reluctantly thinking dark thoughts while suffering through slapstick misha