Undervalued Films: The Guest 2014

 

    Hello everyone, my name is Jose Rabago, and I love watching and analyzing films. Film has interested me from a very young age, making short films on my mom's video camera as a child. This love for filmmaking has evolved throughout the years. As I fell in love with filmmaking, I also grew to appreciate films and the work that comes with making a film. While I love watching the occasional blockbuster that Hollywood comes out with, I also began to enjoy independent films with their particular stories and intriguing ways that they come up with to make stories. I will discuss many films in this blog, but I want to delve into unknown or forgotten films. Hence, the name of this blog is Undervalued Films. The reason for writing this blog is to introduce you all to movies you may have yet to hear about and should probably check out. I will cover all genres since they are important, and having an open view when exploring films is essential. The School of Life's video POP Culture: What is Cinema For? describes film as the best guide to life and compositions of applied philosophy. We as a society should see them as more than just entertainment. Cinema shows us the appeal of people far away, whom we'd otherwise be utterly unconcerned with. Art is meant to open our horizons and explore new ideas and worlds.     

    While some films will have more symbolic meanings than others, all films convey different ideas and feelings, making them essential. The fact that we can create this fictional world where people will come to see and be lost is incredible. Films have so much influence in our world and can be responsible for people to create ideas. In a video by TheGaroStudios, The Purpose of Cinema explains this concept exceptionally well. Civilization and growth intend to empathize with other people. Movies help us understand what it's like to be a different gender, age, nationality, and so on. It helps us identify with the people sharing this journey.

    The film I will discuss in this blog is The Guest by Adam Wingard. The film is best described by the film's screenwriter Simon Barrett in Red Letter Media's The Guest - re: View, where it is discussed that director Adam Wingard wanted to make a film described as Halloween 3 meets the Terminator. A tribute to action and horror movies of the 1980s, the film revolves around the Peterson family, who receive an unexpected visit from David, a U.S. soldier who introduces himself as a friend of their son who died in combat. The family accepts David, who seems friendly and well-mannered. He helps the family with a series of personal issues. While everything seems to be going well, dead bodies appear, revealing a dark past. The film is excellent in creating its atmosphere through its setting and soundtrack. It is also really great at building tension. The performances are great, especially Dan Stevens, as the guest, who does a phenomenal job. Wingard is best known for films like You're Next and Godzilla vs. Kong. This is one of Wingard's less-known films in his filmography, but it is worth checking out. It is a fun, intense, and stylistic film that engages you the whole watch.