Though he’s been tabbed as a horror filmmaker, Eli Roth’s distinct point of view, audaciously infused in his body of work (Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno), suggests an artist who’s not confined by the strictures of genre labeling. With his new thriller Knock Knock, Roth ventures into the perilous journey of a happy and well to do family man (Keanu Reeves) whose world is shattered by two seductive women (Lorena Izzo and Ana de Armas) with vengeance on their minds.
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Though the movie is set within the hilly confines of a tony Los Angeles suburb, Roth shot most of his story inside a home that was located outside Santiago, Chile. Filmmakers Roman Polanski (Contempt) and Alfred Hitchcock (Rope) were masters at shooting in confined spaces while also giving a liberating visual depth to the proceedings, and Roth achieves similar heights with Knock Knock.
“(Knock Knock) had to have this stylish look from start to finish,” said Roth who also produced the film with Reeves and Colleen Camp. “I wanted to show that I could do those Hitchcockian (flourishes) – really like early Paul Verhoeven, from Turkish Delight to The 4th Man, that Jan de Bont photography that (Verhoeven) had. I love movies that look beautiful, and feel rich and lush where you can really give the actors a great frame.”
In the audio clip below, Eli Roth discusses his visual inspirations for Knock Knock (which includes the 1977 feature Death Gamewhich stars Colleen Camp and the highly underrated Roman Polanski work Death and the Maiden ):
Knock Knock hits theaters and On Demand October 9.
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