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Year:	2008
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Bryan Bertino
Genre:	Home invasion terror
Starring:	Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482606/
Tagline:	What would you do if this was happening to you?
Favourite line:	"Is Tamara home?"

Home invasion horror.

The plot:
James and Kristen have just broken up. Returning to their holiday home, they begin to discuss the reasons for their separation.
Suddenly, a knock at the door.
It’s 4 in the morning.
A young woman on the threshold, asking if Tamara is there. Told that there is no-one called Tamara in the house, she goes away.
Shortly afterwards, James leaves to buy some cigarettes. Whilst he is gone, the young woman returns and, this time, she’s brought some friends wearing masks……

Not much there in terms of plot, then, but it is very effective in delivery.
Reminiscent of French film Ils (Them), here the director wisely elects to put the emotional aspect at the forefront, both in terms of the broken relationship, and the horror of the situation Kristen finds herself in.
Rather than focus on gore and bloodshed, instead it is tension and genuine terror he ramps up, resulting in something that, unlike much modern horror, is genuinely frightening and affecting.
Liv Tyler, long considered a bit of a wet fish in down here at Smell the Cult HQ, here puts in a decent enough performance, a true study in terror. I suspect the director simply asked her to imagine what it would be like to have no money, and they took it from there…..
Scoring low on originality, but well on actual product, this is a decent, if not altogether remarkable offering.
Spooky.