Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Our friend Warwick is a delightful host, and he's always dedicated to entertaining his... Guests. There's so many twists and turns that we never even come full circle. It's well worth the watch.

John Taylor carries out a bank raid and finds himself in an LA suburb with the cops closing in on all sides . Needing somewhere to cool the heat he tries knocking on a few doors only to have his feeble pleas for sanctuary rejected . Finding a post card in a mail box he knocks on the occupant's door and uses a cover story that convinces the owner to let him in . As it turns out John has a lot more to worry about than having the police on his tail A very quirky independent thriller even though if you give it much thought everyone will collapse very quickly . THE PERFECT HOST manages to get around this simply by being outrageously entertaining . Just when you think it's twisting one way it turns in to something slightly different . It does get off to a bad start when John walks in to a grocery store and something happened that made me think this was trying a little bit too hard and I thought we could have done without this scene . As the story continued I thought we'd be getting 90 minutes of John trying to bluff his way out of awkward conversations with Warwick , a bit like the scene where Matt Dillion's private eye tries to BS his way out of discussing architecture with Lee Evans in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY . This happens for a bit but then the story takes an entirely different tangent . I will say no more what this involves but I was thoroughly involved and did chuckle a few times while feeling a little bit guilty at the same time I'm not much of a fan of FRASIER but from what I recall David Hyde Pierce's legendary role as Niles Crane isn't a million miles away from the idiosyncratic way he plays Warwick here . I did think the character of Warwick could have been portrayed in a slightly more expressionistic manner similar to Sara Goldfarb's deluded mind in REQUIEM FOR A DREAM . I often had to double check with this site that John Taylor was played by Clayne Crawford because I was constantly thinking I was watching a young Ray Liotta . These two performances hold the film together for much of the running time and THE PRFECT HOST is a grotesque and amusing movie even though it's never entirely credible

The perfect host is a brilliant little movie in disguise. With an unknown director, no A-list celebrities in the cast, a small budget and no big studio backing it up, it seems like the kind of film a college student would make. But this movie not at all what it appears to be. The first twenty minutes or so it's relatively boring and similar to any other cheesy action/thriller; But as the movie unravels, an intense and superb plot comes to light. The story only keeps getting more interesting, we find ourselves empathizing with the characters, and often on the edge of our seat. It's a promising film that's entertaining and fun to watch. There isn't much to be said about it. Go watch it. 7/10

The plot is intriguing and with several unexpected twists, but e.g. the circumstances of John's getting into Warwick's house, and Warwick's real nature and background are unlikely - mildly speaking. However, everything is giftedly performed and the scene related to a mask made me giggle. David Hyde Pierce as Warwick Wilson and Clayne Crawford as John Taylor are equal to the task - both of the actors could be used more often in bearing roles. The other characters are more sketchy and ordinary, but do not diminish the value of the movie. The very ending is nicely left "open", for the viewers to guess what happens after the appearance of credits. The Perfect Host is a pleasant, not protracted dark comedy / thriller, preferably to be watched in a company of like-minded.