At the end of the day, I anticipated something akin to the film "Don't Breathe". A film which immediately grabbed my attention, and I thought it would be filled with surprises and brutal tension.
Trying to be as unbiased as possible, I sought an edge-of-my-seat experience, one that would keep my heart pounding and my grip tight as I cheered on survival at every turn, unfortunately, the film kept me shifting in my seat feeling very little emotion.
I found The Boy Behind the Door lacking in both suspense and tension, as well as in character depth. There was the occasional jump scare, and the first twenty-five minutes was reasonable appealing. However, the storyline was linear and cliché. When I become engrossed in a film, it's the background sounds, the eerie drawn-out suspense, and the sheer tense nature of impending events that captivate me.
However, the film never really shifts from third gear, it looks and feels very low budget. Even when Bobby (played by Lonnie Davis) locks himself in the bathroom, and we hear footsteps behind the door, it doesn't create the same heart-pounding scenario as "Don't Breathe", but rather feels like a weary attempt to build a similar but less effective atmosphere.
One aspect that truly bothers me is that at 12 years old, I had watched my fair share of horror films. Some were utterly terrifying. In my mind, I always came back to the same opinion: if ever in such a situation, given the chance, I would continuously defend myself, ensuring the abductor or villain is completely incapacitated.
Unfortunately, in The Boy Behind the Door, there are a few extremely imprudent moments where the boy attacks the enemy, only to drop the weapon in their vicinity while they are dazed or disoriented, clearly implying they will return for retribution, making is a spectacular facepalm moment of sheer stupidity.
The film itself is rather timid. It lacks crucial horror elements, but its strength lies in its depiction of abduction and what many people thankfully don't tend to see or hear in the darkness and horrors of our world about child abduction.
On a more positive note, although there aren't many to mention, Lonnie delivered a solid performance. He was emotionally invested, and his ability to remain silent for large periods of the film showcased his versatility, emotional depth, innocence, and believability. Another noteworthy performance came from Kristen Bauer (Miss Burton). I couldn't help but draw parallels to her role as 'Pam' in 'True Blood' as the similarities were striking.
The themes of abduction, friendships, innocence, gender, race, and evil were prominently presented; however, character depth and background were what I believed to be one of the film's major flaws. The kidnapping happened early and suddenly that it would have been better to build a solid foundation before the real horrors began.
I must say, Rotten Tomatoes has lost a significant amount of credibility, and dropped the ball by rating this at 97% "Certified Fresh". I would trust the IMDb rating of 5.7-6 as far more accurate reading.
This was the fist film I have seen from Shudder, and while the service has potential to unleash something fresh and gruesome, after this film it tends to fall into the Blumhouse hit and miss category.
Overall, I am disappointed and had expected much more. It's not a terrible film by any stretch, but The Boy Behind the Door is not one I'll look back on too fondly either.
5/10.
