The Daddy Issues sibling melodrama set-up for this is a bit generic but once this gets its killing machine engine revved-up, this as relentless and gnarly of an old-school stalk-and-prey slasher as I’ve seen in some time. Part Craven (The Rivers Have Eyes?), part The Strangers, part survival/home-invasion thriller, with a really good eye for escalating its various cat-and-mouse logistics. Simple and economical stuff but impressively constructed for a debut. Great geographical use of the locations (the boat and the house); well-composed, naturally lit frames (by moonlight, flashlights, flares, fire, etc); some creative use of slow-motion and dissolves that generate this creepy, contextless sense of the mythic, supernatural inevitability hunting them down in between the more conventional physical violence and jump scares. Levy and Rothe are both well-versed enough final girls to sell that quality with their eyes and screams too. Crossbow yank and beer chug of the year, hands down.
