I must admit that I was expecting a tad more from the 2021 horror movie "Lair" frmo writer and director Adam Ethan Crow than what he managed to deliver here. Sure, I had not even heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it. But it being a new horror movie and having an interesting enough synopsis, then of course I had to watch "Lair".
And I will say that "Lair" was watchable, for sure. But it was by no means a milestone in horror cinema. Nor was it actually much of anything outstanding. In fact, once you've seen the movie, chances are slim that you will ever return to watch it a second time, as the storyline just doesn't have the contents to support more than a single viewing.
The pacing of the storyline is rather bland and slow, and whenever director Adam Ethan Crow does set the stage for someething sinister, the build-up is rather anti-climatic or just fails to deliver something wholesome. And that makes for a somewhat swing and a miss movie.
I saw that the movie had Oded Fehr on the cast list, and that was initially the main reason for me sitting down to watch "Lair". But imagine my surprise when I found out that he wasn't even in the movie a whole five minutes.
On the account of acting, then it should be said the actor Corey Johnson definitely carried the movie rather well, despite him not being the actual main actor in the movie. Also Alana Wallace did put on a rather good performance in "Lair".
Visually then "Lair" was bland. The movie didn't offer much of anything interesting in terms of memorable, spooky or interesting visuals. And whatever was there, was just not given enough screen time.
For a horror movie then "Lair" just didn't manage to deliver or bring anything new to the genre. And for a seasoned horror veteran such as myself, then it was a mere stroll through the park sitting through "Lair".
My rating of "Lair" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars, as I was left with a rather hollow sensation and a feeling of 'was that really it?' once the movie ended.