Neverknock (2017)

Directed by Sheldon Wilson [Other horror films: Shallow Ground (2004), Kaw (2007), Screamers: The Hunting (2009), Carny (2009), Mothman (2010), Red: Werewolf Hunter (2010), Killer Mountain (2011), Scarecrow (2013), Shark Killer (2015), The Unspoken (2015), The Hollow (2015), The Night Before Halloween (2016), Stickman (2017), Dead in the Water (2018)]

While I wouldn’t call Neverknock an excessively great movie, I would definitely put forward the film as being one of the better Syfy originals in the last ten years, with a decent amount going for it.

The film revolves around the town of Autumn Ridge and mysterious deaths that took place back in 1986 on Halloween. Some teenagers knock on the same door as those who died did, as is a Halloween tradition in the town, and soon thereafter, an entity is after them, forcing them to either face their fears or die.

As it is, I didn’t care for the entity’s design. It was sort of an oily black humanoid thing, and it just didn’t look that great. I don’t think it looked quite as bad as other Syfy films, but even Stickman looked better, so that wasn’t ideal. Also, it’s fair to say that few of the kills are really that memorable, but honestly, that doesn’t matter as much to me in this case, as I still love the Halloween vibe of the film.

And that’s something that really works for me – it has that small town Halloween vibe. There’s a hay bale maze, which looked quite impressive and folksy. There’s a House of Horrors, which was pretty dope – I loved the room with a bunch of body bags hanging from the ceiling, and what was funniest of all was that as the characters were going through the house, the teenagers were all scared at various points, but the youngest character there (played by Lola Flanery) looked more bored than anything else.

Somewhat amusingly, I didn’t really care that much about the lead of the film, being Dominique Provost-Chalkley (Buckout Road). She didn’t do poorly, but she was overshadowed by more impressive names, especially Jodelle Ferland. I’ve been a fan of Ferland ever since I saw her in The Unspoken, and I thought she did a really solid job here also. Also, as a win for retroactive recognition, we have Kiana Madeira (the Fear Street trilogy), who was fun. Others, such as Varun Saranga (Killer High), Eliana Jones, and Nicholas Campbell, tended to be less noteworthy.

Along with this film, Syfy also aired three other originals during October 2017, being Truth or Dare, House of the Witch, and The Sandman. Two of these (House of the Witch and this one) were moderately decent, whereas the other two were less impressive (The Sandman just sucked brah), and I remember watching all four back in 2017. I was impressed with Neverknock then, and I still think it’s quite a solid film.

Obviously, it’s not a movie that will be to everyone’s taste. I was already probably going to like it simply for the fact it had Jodelle Ferland in it. Even without her, though, it’s a fine movie, and I personally find it a movie worth seeing, even if it’s not exactly special.

7.5/10