The last horror movie I truly enjoyed was probably “Cabin in the Woods”. Recently, I liked “Green Room”, and “Split”, but it continues to be a hard genre to break out with a truly original idea. Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” felt like the universe had heard my prayers. A smart satire on social commentary with genuine humor, and yet a still bone chilling plot? How have we been so blessed?

The balance of horror and comedy is weighted incredibly, with every release of laughter being used to reset the suspense, giving the audience the chance to build back up to paralyzing fear over and over again. All of the performances were pitch perfect (Alison Williams with the keys!), and I anticipate this is only the beginning of Daniel Kaluuya’s rise. Lil Rel Howery brought the humor needed and a big win for the TSA, so while the ensemble was minimal, they made all the right casting choices.

I often complain to my friends that the biggest disservice of the horror/thriller genre is that by pigeonholing something as “a scary movie”, you isolate a whole demographic of people who want to just go see a blockbuster on the weekends. Having Peele’s name attached and released by Universal on the perfect weekend (only up against week 3 of Lego Batman) gave this layered story a chance to breathe and be appreciated for what it is. Creepy as all hell, and maybe a little too believable. 9.5/10