Shudder are quickly catching up with Blumhouse in terms of output and horror originals and The Boy behind the Door is one of their better productions. It’s a premise that’s every parent’s nightmare when two 12 year old best friends Bobby (Lonnie Chavis) and Kevin (Ezra Dewey) are abducted by person(s) unknown when playing baseball in the park. Gagged and bound in the boot of a car they’re taken to the spooky house in the middle of nowhere like some sort of warped home delivery service for Michael Jackson. But its only Kevin whom is dragged into the house leaving Bobby alone in the car boot but who manages to escape. Yet the script has him adhering to that classic horror trope of returning to the house when he hears his friends yell. But there’s a sense to Bobby’s actions as the pair are avowed best buddies and at the heart of this is their friendship and refusal to leave one another behind
Writer – directors David Charbomier and Justin Powell have put together a decent little thriller in a claustrophobic setting although they have been unable to resist directly lifting an iconic image from a certain horror classic directed by Stanley Kubrick. Despite a few plot holes and moments of coincidence there’s enough here to move to sustain its brisk 88 minute running time with several unexpected plot twists (once again taken from The Shining) and moments to make you wince in several taut and intense scenes
The disc is thin on bonus features with only a Boy behind the Door music video and a blooper reel where the two boys, regardless of the night shoots and shocks, clearly had a great time making the film
Here’s the trailer….
The Boy behind the Door is released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital 2nd May 2022
