Ti West’s feature film debut hit UK shores long before its domestic debut and I must say that the film is akin to the likes of the Evil Dead.
As part of a late night horror show, we are presented with a tale of four friends who get stranded in the middle of nowhere when their car gets stuck. The friends head to an isolated house in search of help, only to fall foul of a roost of rabid bats. Once bitten you turn into a zombie. The friends hold tight trapped in a cavernous barn as they avoid the bats and the zombies.
The film starts out well as we meet our horror host and chuckle at the dodgy sets and gags such as a gravestone which reads ‘Here lies Jake, he hit the gas instead of the brake’, before we meet the characters who form the real focus of the film.
The actors who are largely unknown do great jobs but the film is a winner overall thanks to the genuine passion and enthusiasm of its director (as evidenced in the plethora of special features on the excellent DVD).
The film is fun and scary thanks to some highly effective musical stingers and top notch gore effects.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The Roost could be described as The Evil Dead for the naughties as it shares a lot of similar elements in terms of tone and style. The film is definitely entertaining, short, sweet and straight to the point and could well be the best 80’s horror movie that never was.
