10/28: 1BR

10/28

Today's horror movie is an entry into the there's-a-cult-in-your-apartment-complex subgenre (that old chestnut), 1BR. Sarah, a young woman with daddy issues (as in her dad was cheating on her mother while the mother had cancer. With her nurse),

Yeesh.

moves to Los Angeles in an attempt to leave her troubles behind. She moves into an apartment building that seems amazing with incredibly nice neighbors. In the definition of the phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fire," though, she finds that her neighbors may be too nice when they destroy her life and indoctrinate her into their apartment cult.

Don't you hate it when that happens? 

I'll give this to 1BR: it's a very different entry into the cult genre. Sure, it may lay it on a bit thick at times and steers into cliche at parts, there's some scenes that genuinely get under your skin. Word of advice: don't get too attached to the cat. Sorry. All in all though, I found 1BR to be a perfectly passable horror flick that brought enough new to the genre to feel fresh and surprise you. It takes the idea of a cult and spins it into a weirdly relatable thing; who hasn't had a creepy or overly nice neighbor? Well guess what, they're probably part of a cult and getting ready to nail your hands to a wall. Hate to break it to ya.

One bone to pick though: that ending. It's a cool ending, but it's almost like I've seen it before... oh, yeah. In The Invitation. Like... literally the exact same ending. No attempt to hide it or anything, just a blatant, glaring, and frankly lazy ripoff. I guess the director was banking on no one having seen The Invitation, but c'mon. It's exactly the same. As someone who has seen The Invitation, I found myself laughing at the ripoff instead of feeling shocked at the end. 

Boo on you, sir. Boo.

8/10