The Perfect Host

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The Perfect Host
Perfect host ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNicholas Tomnay
Written byNicholas Tomnay
Krishna Jones
Based onThe Host by
Nicholas Tomnay
Produced by Mark Victor
Stacey Testro
Starring David Hyde Pierce
Clayne Crawford
Helen Reddy
CinematographyJohn Brawley
Edited byNicholas Tomnay
Music by John Swihart
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release dates
July 1st, 2011 (US Theatrical)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$500,000
Box office$454,000 [1]

The Perfect Host is a 2010 American black comedy, psychological thriller film written and directed by Nicholas Tomnay. It is a remake of Tomnay's short film The Host (2001). The film stars David Hyde Pierce and Clayne Crawford. Filming took place in Los Angeles, California, over 17 days. [2]

Contents

Plot

Fugitive John Taylor flees an initially unspecified crime, with a wounded foot. (Flashbacks and news reports reveal he robbed a bank, in collusion with a teller.) He stops in a convenience store for some disinfectant, just moments before it is robbed; he turns the tables on the robber, but she gets away with his wallet. The store's TV identifies John and his car, so he quickly abandons it, proceeding on foot into an expensive neighborhood. Claiming to have been mugged, he gains entry to the house of Warwick Wilson, who is preparing a dinner party. John makes small talk and drinks red wine while trying to figure out his next move, and how to keep his lies from being found out. When the radio makes an announcement about the robbery, he angrily shushes Warwick and reveals himself. After forcing him to call his guests to cancel the party, John states that he intends to kill Warwick, but that he might spare him if he accommodates John until morning. Suddenly, John keels over; the wine has been drugged, and Warwick is not the person he seems.

When John comes to, he is tied to a chair, and the party is in swing—but all the other guests are figments of Warwick's imagination. Warwick takes a Polaroid picture of John and reveals a scrapbook of his past dinner parties, featuring similarly captive guests arranged in a timeline of increasing distress and injury which culminates in death. Unknown to John, Warwick's hallucinatory guests are cleaned-up, respectable versions of the people from the album. As the night wears on, John is further terrorized, drugged and incapacitated, and learns various things about Warwick's strange lifestyle.

John and Warwick play chess, with the prize being John's freedom; John, who is an excellent player, wins. Warwick lets John go as agreed but taunts him before he can leave, calling him worthless. John takes one of the swords on display in Warwick's living room and stabs him with it, but it proves to be a collapsible prop weapon. John is knocked out and regains consciousness in Warwick's bathtub, where Warwick runs a blade across John's throat.

John's body is left outside with the trash. He awakens and discovers that most of his injuries are fake; Warwick is a master of movie makeup. Detective Morton, who has been investigating the robbery, arrives at Warwick's door—Warwick is a police lieutenant supervising the case. Meanwhile, John becomes suspicious of Simone, the bank teller he conspired with, and discovers she made alternate travel arrangements out of Los Angeles that don't include him. John confronts Simone in a parking garage over her betrayal and faking illness which motivated him to rob the bank to pay for her medical treatment. He takes her car and the money, leaving her to be captured by the detectives. However, Warwick stops John from leaving and takes the money at gunpoint, leaving him with a couple thousand dollars to flee into Mexico.

A couple of months later, Detective Morton receives mail from Mexico (implied to be from John) containing a dinner party Polaroid of Warwick and John together. Morton confronts Warwick, who dismisses it as a fake, but when Morton persists, Warwick invites Morton to a dinner party.

Cast

Release

The film premiered in January 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival. The Perfect Host played at several other film festivals, including Fantasia 2010 and Sitges 2010. It won the audience award at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival 2011, a Saturn award and best feature at the Abertoir Film Festival 2011: Wales' national horror film festival. The film was released theatrically in the United States on July 1, 2011 in a limited release. [3]

Reception

The Perfect Host has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 45% based on reviews from 33 critics. [4]

The film tied with Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 for the 2011 Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Release. [5]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Perfect Host (2011)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Benardello, Karen (22 June 2011). "Interview: Director Nick Tomnay Talks The Perfect Host". Shockya.com. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Perfect Host (2010/2011)". Covering Media. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011.
  4. ↑ "The Perfect Host". Rotten Tomatoes .
  5. ↑ Vary, Adam B. (27 July 2012). "'Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' 'Super 8,' 'Breaking Bad,' and 'Fringe' win big at the Saturn Awards". Entertainment Weekly .


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