Tiger House (2015)
R, 80 min.
Directed by: Thomas Daley
Written by: Simon Lewis
Available on Netflix Streaming
In a brief found footage style shot (don’t worry, the rest of the film isn’t like this), Tiger House introduces us to Kelly (Kaya Scodelario) and Mark (Daniel Boyd), two young lovers whose day in the park suddenly goes very wrong. The film then fast forwards an undisclosed amount of time to a night that both Kelly and a group of intruders sneak into Mark’s parents’ very large home. We learn a little background on the characters before the home invasion is in full swing. Kelly is an able gymnast but has a nagging injury and has a secret she needs to tell Mark. While in hiding, Kelly also overhears Mark’s mother explaining why she’s not good enough for him. Mark and Kelly have the conversation regarding this secret cut short by strange sounds and Mark goes to investigate. In a tussle with the intruders, Mark injures one (Dougray Scott) and he is taken to Mark’s room where Kelly is in hiding.
The Good:
This set up works well enough. There is potential for great conflict given the dynamics presented between the house’s current inhabitants. Considering the type of film, Kelly’s gymnastic background, her stealthy entry into Mark’s home and her screen presence, Kaya Scodelario seemed poised to be another badass final girl ala Sharni Vinson from You’re Next.
The Bad:
Pretty much everything else. The film has major issues. When forced to hide for her life, Kelly hides under the bed rather than hiding in her previous hiding spot in the loft. This goes on for an intolerable amount of time as we see Kelly bang her head on the floor, crawl mostly out from under the bed on at least two occasions and escape entirely from under the bed, all while two intruders are in the small room with her. It’s just simply impossible to believe she wouldn’t have been found. The decisions made in this film become no less bewildering either, we see Kelly reject fleeing from the house on a number of occasions that seem perfectly suited for it. You might think she’s just devoted to her boyfriend, but this doesn’t work for two reasons: 1) she’d do him more good by fleeing and calling the police and 2) she still tries to escape, just not when there’s a golden opportunity. All those interesting dynamics that were setup? All wasted, they never really matter again, not even the nagging injury. Kaya Scodelario never gets to truly shine either, which is a shame. There’s also a twist near the end that debatably might have worked in a better film but here just reminds you of recent films which worked so much better.
The Horror:
Despite getting some pub on horror sites and podcasts, Tiger House is definitely horror-lite. The intruders make it clear they would prefer to not kill anyone, and there’s very little bloodshed. It’s horror probably insomuch as any home invasion film could be called horror. The IMDb page calls it action, crime, drama, which is probably more accurate.
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