Unfortunately, the other major issue with Evil At The Door is just how passive Kennedy, Nixon, Trump, and Eisenhower are in the home. Jessica goes to take a bath just before the break-in. Instead of knocking on the bathroom door every few minutes, cutting the fuses, so the power goes out, or otherwise tormenting her, they wait for Jessica to finish (yes, there’s a moment or two where they do such acts, but few and far between). All this waiting does not draw out the suspense as intended (maybe?), but rather it grinds things to a halt for way too long.
However, the home invasion thriller is not a total wash. When the plot settles on who to focus on, the four marauders are relatively engaging. Hearing about their past kills and seeing them try to one-up each other is kind of fun. It certainly helps that the actors portraying the killers are quite good. Siegelman is very commanding as the de facto leader, while Hamm is clearly relishing the role. As Liz, Blanco ably overcomes the underwritten part and helps audiences stay engaged, as they genuinely fear for her safety.
“…the actors portraying the killers are quite good.”
Plus, Tribble is adept at staging the brutal attacks… when they finally do happen, that is. The final 20 or so minutes is where the carnage begins, and Evil At The Door begins to live up to the promise of its premise. By this point, some viewers might have already tuned out entirely, but anyone still with it will have some fun.
Evil At The Door isn’t sure who to focus on, so the shift to fleshing out the home invaders is jarring at first. Plus, the plot makes you wait for the good stuff. But, the bad guys are interesting, and once the proceedings boil over, they are worth the wait. As such, this is a solid recommendation to home invasion and/or giant Purge fans like myself.
"…a solid recommendation to home invasion and/or giant Purge fans..."
