A criminal on the run after a bank robbery seeks shelter at a mild mannered man's house. He uses a postcard found in the man's mailbox from a girl named Julie as his way in. After conning his way in, he soon finds himself in a sticky situation as the man is more dangerous than he is.
A very simplistic film that manages to be funny, weird, sadistic and odd all in one sitting. Even though the surprise of Pierce's character being a psycho is given away in the plot, the film still throws a few surprises your way. For a film that is very minimal it demands a strong script and actors that can carry a film with their talent and nothing else. That's exactly what you get with Pierce's role as a more sadistic and darker Niles. I never watched Fraiser, but even I can still see the Niles character show through here and there. That's the problem with playing the same character for years. Yet Pierce still manages to bring something new to the table. His performance is chilling, hilarious and something very few people can do. I'm glad he was cast in this role.
The film is very under the radar and those who see it will be surprised at how well done it is. The last bit of the film takes it in a different direction and it becomes a more cat and mouse flick, whereas before a lot of the cat and mouse was in the dialogue. The script was strong enough to keep me interested. It's definitely a flick that you can watch twice and catch a couple of things you didn't catch before or didn't understand.
The Perfect Host isn't perfect, by any means. It does suffer from unimaginative direction. It was shot in 17 days and despite the strong performance and a nice script, the direction seems to be very amateur. This is a longer version of a short film he made in Australia. The premise if good enough for a short film and manages to be doable for a feature. Although it is obvious that the last act was added on to meet the feature length requirement.
I'd recommend The Perfect Host to those looking for an interesting film that throws a few surprises and has one hell of a performance from a cooky guy. Without Pierce, the film most likely would have fallen flat. Few people can pull of a 'not all there' performance. I don't want to give away any details but his psychotic tendencies are some of the funniest moments of the film.
A very simplistic film that manages to be funny, weird, sadistic and odd all in one sitting. Even though the surprise of Pierce's character being a psycho is given away in the plot, the film still throws a few surprises your way. For a film that is very minimal it demands a strong script and actors that can carry a film with their talent and nothing else. That's exactly what you get with Pierce's role as a more sadistic and darker Niles. I never watched Fraiser, but even I can still see the Niles character show through here and there. That's the problem with playing the same character for years. Yet Pierce still manages to bring something new to the table. His performance is chilling, hilarious and something very few people can do. I'm glad he was cast in this role.
The film is very under the radar and those who see it will be surprised at how well done it is. The last bit of the film takes it in a different direction and it becomes a more cat and mouse flick, whereas before a lot of the cat and mouse was in the dialogue. The script was strong enough to keep me interested. It's definitely a flick that you can watch twice and catch a couple of things you didn't catch before or didn't understand.
The Perfect Host isn't perfect, by any means. It does suffer from unimaginative direction. It was shot in 17 days and despite the strong performance and a nice script, the direction seems to be very amateur. This is a longer version of a short film he made in Australia. The premise if good enough for a short film and manages to be doable for a feature. Although it is obvious that the last act was added on to meet the feature length requirement.
I'd recommend The Perfect Host to those looking for an interesting film that throws a few surprises and has one hell of a performance from a cooky guy. Without Pierce, the film most likely would have fallen flat. Few people can pull of a 'not all there' performance. I don't want to give away any details but his psychotic tendencies are some of the funniest moments of the film.