“Knock Knock” is a 2015 thriller from director Eli Roth (“Hostel”, “Cabin Fever”) and it’s a remake of the obscure 1970s film “Death Game”. This is movie reminded me a lot of “Play Misty For Me” as well as “Audition”. The latter being no surprise as I’ve heard Roth cite it as one of the few films that really scared him.

In “Knock Knock”, architect Evan (Keanu Reeves “The Matrix”, “John Wick”) is busy finishing up some work while his wife takes their kids to the beach for the weekend. During a stormy night, there is a knock at the door. Two girls, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood”) and Bell (Ana de Armas “Blade Runner 2049”), appear in need. He welcomes them inside but they are not as innocent as they initially appear.

Keanu Reeves gives a terrible performance in this movie. He’s so wooden and is never believable in the role. I can’t get into too much detail about the girls as it would spoil things but I didn’t find either of them to be that memorable. This is a film with very few characters but nobody in the movie does a good job. Colleen Camp (“Clue”), who appeared in the original movie, has a small role in this version.

I’ve never seen the original movie so I can’t compare the two versions. All I can safely say is that this is a disappointing movie. It’s definitely going to make for uncomfortable viewing for most people with subjects referenced including adultery and paedophilia. It’s not as violent as “Hostel” as it’s more psychological but the material here is almost as disturbing. Both “Hostel” and “Knock Knock” suffer from poor writing and weak performances. It’s hard to be scared when the characters seem so ridiculous. Again, Roth has demonstrated that he knows what situations are harsh and disturbing but isn’t capable of crafting characters or dialog that get us invested in the situations.