Don’t Knock Twice
Don’t watch once
released 3 april 2017 | 15 | dVd/ VOd
Director Caradog W James Cast Katee sackhoff, lucy Boynton, Jordan Bolger, Javier Botet
Don’t Knock Twice starts with a shot of someone anxiously picking at their fingernails so violently you worry they’re going to tear them off. It’s a strong opening sequence, packed with tension, which sets the tone for a white-knuckle experience. Sadly, it’s the best moment in a film that can’t decide what it wants to be, tries to be everything, and ends up being nothing in particular.
It’s a shame, as the relatively simple set-up has promise: teens ignore an urban myth which says that if they knock twice on the door of a specific haunted house, a demon will come and get them. One of the teens hides out with her estranged (ex-drug addict) mother, and the film turns into a weird drama, broken up by incredibly annoying jump scares. The rules are inconsistent, the scare imagery is incongruous and it often feels like four different scripts have been shuffled together in random order.
There’s some nice stuff here: BSG’s Katee Sackhoff is great as the junkie mum (she deserves better than this), there’s one originally shot dream sequence, and the production design is decent. But what with a monster you can’t see properly and a final act twist that inspires the wrong kind of hysterics, you should probably ignore this one until it goes away.
Extras None. Sam Ashurst
While on location in Wales, Katee Sackhoff found five baby hedgehogs, and helped to rescue them. Awwww.