Sommerleigh Pollonais – Senior Writer
What would you get if you mashed The Shining with The Amityville Horror? Well, you would get property that would be impossible to rent out on AirBnB, but you’ll also get a movie like You Should Have Left.
Starring Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried, the story is a simple one – A retired banker and his actress wife and young daughter rent a house for the holidays in the middle of nowhere Wales, only to discover this house has an owner who likes his guests to stay permanently.
One of the best aspects of this movie is the performances. Kevin Bacon is no stranger to the horror genre starting with his iconic death in Friday the 13th Part 1, then showing up in the extremely underrated Stir of Echoes, and not to mention his version of The Invisible Man who’s only interested in being a perv aka The Hollow Man. Here he delivers as always and his relationships with Amanda Seyfried (Jennifer’s Body/Red Riding Hood) and child actress Avery Essex are very believable as a husband and father struggling to deal with his past and his repressed emotions.
Essex also shines as Ella. I loved how normal she was, albeit very astute for her age. Most horror movies with young children either make them weirdos or evil or evil weirdos. She’s a breath of fresh air and works so well with her adult counterparts that you’re genuinely afraid for her the entire movie.
Which leads me to another solid point for You Should Have Left – Atmosphere. The tension is cranked all the way to ten and as soon as this family arrives in this strange house I found myself dreading what would come next. As a horror connoisseur (she said while brushing off her shoulder) I was able to predict everything that would happen, but that didn’t make me enjoy this movie any less.
This film also manages to have zero gore and blood, and yet it’s genuinely suspenseful and will bring the thrills to even the biggest gore-loving fans. So if you’re looking for an entertaining thriller to fill the time, you could do a lot worse than this.
Ranking: 6 out of 10
For my Quick Bite review of The Invisible Man you can click here.
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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