The Night They Knocked is an independently produced horror film. Still, there is no way you would know about this from the sound quality or the picture’s overall appearance. The acting is the one element that I can confidently say does not do the film justice. But essentially, even the acting is good.
Also, the film has a total run time of 80 minutes which is right on the money. In my opinion, films should always be concise and ‘tight’ when the story demands it. On the best classic horror movies like The Night They Knocked, it is a “must” requirement, and this movie does not disappoint.
If you are on the fence about whether or not this film is for you, you do not have to worry at all. Personally, I think many viewers will be convinced by the opening scene, and that is fine by me. I know it did for me!
Like every film, there are some elements of the plot that I am not fully behind. However, this is not anything major. Not to sound generic, but most of the other issues I may have had are answered during the movie. Because I constantly think filmmakers may leave loose ends when, in reality, they solve issues where I think there are none.
One small detail I still am struggling to wrap my head around is how all of them managed to leave their cellphone laying around at the same time. Sorry, but we are so damn hooked to that cellphone connection that I cannot imagine at least one person out of them would not keep their phone with them all the time.
Well, this is minor, too. But as I said, it would not have made that much difference in the long run, which is why I can forgive it quite easily. No, I do not think that I am ruining anything for anybody when I say that this movie is the definition of horror. In other words; yeah, there will be blood.
As stated before, the only real problem with this film is the varying degree of talent in the acting. And for the most part, it is standard, but when it is below standard, the audience most certainly knows! But then, it also makes it wonderfully clear when actors manage to do really good work.
On the topic of Shattering performances, I cannot miss out on Jack Buckley, who plays Derrick. At first sight, his character appears to be extraordinarily cliched, but he develops from there. And in all the right ways! Buckley manages to tie the scenes together, even where other people are a bit “off,” bringing everything together perfectly.
Most of the “knocking” villains are also pretty neat. To be honest, the primary reason it is “easier” to portray the villains is because there is no real standard expected.
However, the main “bad guy” for most of this movie is truly wonderful. The best mix for that character in the world as far as the level of “realism” versus “crazy” goes. He is played by Connor Roberts, and I really want to see him in more horror movies. Last but not least, there’s Deirdre Koczur who worked really well for me.
None of the actors in film were subpar, that much is certain. We are talking about a couple of scenes or lines that were “out of touch” and felt jarring. I won’t say terrible things about anybody because the film as a whole works well, and does not needlessly fall apart.
Sean Roberts is the writer and director of The Night They Knocked. This looks like a massive passion project for him which I feel proud of the end result. Whatever is next from Sean Roberts, we here at Heaven of Horror as well as many others are looking forward to it.
We hope that it is another horror movie, or something thriller or sci-fi related, because we cover those as well.
He wrote and directed three films and it was his third. The first was with The Wicked Ones in 2013 and then Traffickers in 2015 which also featured Jack Buckley. The Night They Knocked happens to be the first movie where he did not have an acting role but he has produced and co-edited all three.
Currently The Night They Knocked is being shown at multiple film festivals. We will be sure to update this review when new details regarding the release on VOD or streaming services comes out.
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