The Kriterion is a cinema/pub, run by students. They host the Imagine Festival every year, and with lots of succes. I know some people there and I asked them how the audience liked the first screening of the movie. I was told that the audience really loved the film and the response was great. The film was also in the race for the Spits Scream Awards. Every time they show a movie at the festival, the audience gets a small note where they can tell how they like a movie. The Perfect Host was 4th at the time. Not bad, considering that Malice In Wonderland was somewhere in the 20s.
John Taylor robbed a bank and is on the run for the police. Warwick Wilson is prepariing a dinner for friends, and it is there, where John looks for shelter. Warwick hesitates, but John can convince him to let him stay. But things are not what they look like. Clayne Crawford does a great job as John. He is very convincing in his role. Nathaniel Parker was very surprising. I am a huge fan of this actor, but I hardly saw him in American films. His accent however was the best. I am sure that people who don't know about him, will be surprised that he is British. The star of the film is David Hyde Pierce. He plays Warwick, and starts as a very vulnerable man, but then he changes into maniac. There are some parts of the movie that made me close my eyes, but most parts made me, and the whole audience laugh. The movie was filmed in 17 days and I have nothing more than respect for the cast and crew of this film. Everybody did a great job on this movie. The Perfect Host is a must see for people who like mindgames and humor. It is a sort of cat/mouse game that is played between Warwick, John and even Detective Morton (Nathaniel Parker) and Detective Valdez (Joseph Will).
When the endcredits roled, I heard an enormous applaus and people were even cheering. The only times I saw that was when I was at the European Stardust premiere and first screening of the last Lord Of The Rings film. The audience was buzzing, and they loved the film. The Perfect Host is currently second in the Spits Scream Awards. The movie can't win the award no more, as the last screening was Tuesday afternoon, and another film (Super, another comedy) got better rates from the audience. But The Perfect Host is a number 1 for me for sure. It is the first feature film by Nick Tomnay, and I hope that Nick continue to make more movies like this. I like movies with humor and mind games, so this is the Perfect Movie for me. People in the US can view it on demand from 27 May or see it in the cinemas from 1 July. After that the movie comes out on DVD. I hope that the movie will get a European release. The Perfect Host deserves to be seen by the audience. It might not draw huge audiences, but it can do very well in the Art Movie cinemas, as they call it here in Holland.
