Nice effects though.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

What do you expect from a run-of-the-mill crazed criminal terrorizes an innocent woman? Not much I would hope, but there is some decent thrills to be had if one turns off the overly analytical part of the brain.Idris Elba delivers a solid performance as psychopathic killer Colin Evans, the film's antagonist. Elba uses subtle menace and his husky vocals (convincing American accent included) to convey the evil within Colin instead of being a caricature of an over-the-top madman. The actor also makes his violent actions erupt like a volcano rather than methodically killing his prey; Colin kills in fits of rage than planning out his deeds, but his mind games are planned methods of psychological torture and threats of harm. Too bad the actor's ultimate demise is generic with the plot of a home invasion film like 'The Hand that Rocks the Cradle'.Actress Taraji P. Henson also delivers solid work as the film's heroine, Terry. Henson comes across as the typical bored housewife who gave up her dreams to raise her kids and longs for excitement in her life. However Terry's world is turned upside down when Colin shows up and she is initially not too suspicious of her guest. However Colin's behavior soon unnerves her and Terry doesn't hesitate to start acting on removing him from her home. Henson does not become a stereotypical damsel in distress as she combatively attacks Elba's Colin and is able to protect herself throughout the chase scenes and of course triumphs in the end.The film's script is generic for a thriller of the home invasion genre with the psychotic killer, innocent homeowner on her own and of course plenty of killings and chases. The film does contain some genuine tension and some jump scares. The chemistry between the leads is believable as the tension mounts and you wonder how Henson's Terry will escape and Elba's menace spooks the viewer as much as Terry.

"No Good Deed" isn't a bad home invasion thriller, but it's completely unremarkable, and merely satisfied with fitting a standard studio woman-in-peril mould. It's not difficult to tell where the events are all leading right from the beginning.To its credit, the performances from Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson and Leslie Bibb are decent, and the film manages one strong suspense sequence early on (Elba's first encounter with his ex-girlfriend after he leaves prison). There's also one mildly surprising twist in the final third, but its not enough to save a tepid, predictable middle section."Deed" is a film is enjoyed best as mindless entertainment on a rainy, stormy night (like the one in the film), with the proviso that you expect a film that trots along an utterly formulaic, seen-it-before path.

No Good Deed reunites Idris Elba with his director from the Luther mini series Sam Miller. Now Luther when it was first shown on UK television was a middling, slightly bonkers and implausible thriller. When it returned for a second series they ramped at the bonkers part and made it more frightening and Luther became a runaway hit.I think trying to transplant the formula in No Good Deed has led to this dud. Elba plays Colin a killer who escapes while being transported from his parole hearing.He first gets his revenge on his ex-girlfriend and then he crashes his car and ends up in the home of Terri played by Taraji Henson. She is a wife (maybe not happily married) and mother all alone and Colin charms his way into the house but then starts to act creepy especially when a friend of Terri arrives at the house who senses something is not quite right with Colin.The film has a great opening scene, you think Colin is a reformed man worthy of a second chance until at the parole hearing he is systematically broken down as a narcissistic psychopath.However you are left wondering what is his motive after that. Why is he loitering around Terri's house and not making good his escape? What is the point in terrorizing Terri and her family? There is a twist and you later realise that this was no random encounterAs a thriller it comes across as half baked because its not well plotted. I felt the cast was left floundering in trying to make sense of a badly written film which lacked guile, invention and thrills.

No Good Deed is actually not a bad film as such, it sticks rigidly to a formula and has all the requisite requirements - however ridiculous - for a home invasion thriller, and does it competently. The problem is that it has absolutely nothing new to appeal to anyone who has been watching movies through the 80s and 90s.The 1990s was particularly a thriving hot-bed for such thriller fare, where some unhinged nut-case - male or female - would impose themselves upon some amiable good person's life, and then unleash mentally distorted hell upon them. Sam Miller's film is just a lazy retread of what has gone long before. Only he and his backers think that shifting the focus to black characters somehow makes it more vibrant. It doesn't.Idris Alba is a fine actor (in great physical shape as usual), and Taraji P. Henson is a more than effective actress, but the turgid screenplay on offer here does them no favours, where even an intended "big reveal" is hamstrung by the familiarity of it all. If one is fortunate to be of a youthful enough age and lucky enough to be viewing this thriller format for the first time? Then this works, it absolutely does. The more mature film lovers, however, will be jaded to the point of sleep status. And no, that's not meant to be patronising. 4/10