Fantasia 2010: The Perfect Host

The Perfect Host

Directed by Nick Tomnay

A criminal (Clayne Crawford) on the run cons his way into the wrong dinner party, wherein the host is anything but ordinary. David Hyde Pierce, best known for his work on Frasier, takes on a more intimate role as said host, Warwick Wilson. Waiting for his guests to arrive, Warwick allows the scam artist into his home only to find himself at the wrong end of a long knife. The film evolves into a not so clever cat-and-mouse game between Warwick, his captor, and a police detective (Nathaniel Parker) who’s closing in on solving that bank robbery (a crime fleshed out in somewhat unevenly presented flashbacks).

This unique twist on the home invasion genre strives on just that – a twist, but an idea that works best as a short film, which the movie is based on. The already too-familiar horror/suspense flick suffers from plot gaps, leaving the pic to gradually erode – the net effect is that it takes far too long to reach its inevitable conclusion. Director Nick Tomnay shows talent with his darkly effective visual style and careful approach to shifting the film’s tone from suspense to dark comedy, but nevertheless, the story is less-than-satisfying. A low-budget psychological thriller, reminiscent at times of Stacy Title’s superior The Last Supper, that fails to hold our interest.

Ricky D