When a movie goes by a title like Stay Out Of The Attic, you enter with certain assumptions. You assume there’s something in an attic, you assume at some point one of the characters will say the exact words “stay out of the attic”, and you assume the film is going to be pretty ropey. Happily, Stay Out Of The Attic exceeds expectations on at least two counts. Not only is there something in the attic, there’s something in the basement too. And it’s not ropey at all – it’s actually a rollocking good, turbo-charged horror movie.
We join three ex-cons gone straight, working as house movers. They’re employed to empty a creepy mansion owned by a creepy old German guy who warns them to stay out of the attic and basement and leaves them to it. Before long, arms are popping out of holes in the plasterboard and evidence of the man’s obsession with the Third Reich practically throws itself at the trio. Pretty soon the place becomes a fully-fledged Holocaust haunted house.
Without wanting to spoil any of the fun of this cabaret of grotesque, there are things in this man’s personal concentration camp – a gas chamber, for example – that come as close to the boundary of mainstream movie morality as you can get. Tricky stuff for a first time director to navigate, but Jerren Lauder keeps everything on the right side of the line while delivering a pacey film that feels like the work of a young Wes Craven, particularly The People Under The Stairs and The Serpent and the Rainbow.
Streaming platform Shudder has been making a push to produce its own content lately, and has been erring on safe choices unlikely to offend modern sensibilities. The same can’t be said of this one. Stay Out Of The Attic isn’t anywhere near as dumb as it sounds, but it has so much fun trying.
Details
- Starring: Morgan Alexandria, Bryce Fernelius, Ryan Francis, Michael Flynn
- Director: Jerren Lauder
- Release date: March 11 (Shudder)
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