Common Sense Media Review
By Michael Ordona
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gore, mutilated bodies in witless slasher exercise.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
He's Out There
What's the Story?
In HE'S OUT THERE, a woman named Laura (Yvonne Strahovski) and her two young daughters proceed ahead of her husband/their dad to a remote vacation house hours away. While waiting for him to arrive that night, weird things start to happen. Then a masked guy with an ax shows up -- and you can guess what happens next.
Is It Any Good?
There's precious little to recommend this brainless, bloody horror movie. Strahovski is appealing, and there are a handful of creepy touches, but He's Out There almost immediately gives up all pretense of caring. Why doesn't the family just wait a few hours to drive such a long distance together? Why is Laura intentionally leaving her phone in her car? Why are the kids essentially following breadcrumbs into the woods and eating the mysterious cupcakes they find there? By the time Laura lets a guy die because it doesn't occur to her to break the window she's ineffectually banging on, viewers will have abandoned all hope.
The film was originally billed as being directed by Dennis Iliadis (the remake of The Last House on the Left) but now lists a mysterious "Quinn Lasher" (who has no other credits anywhere) as the person behind the camera. Hard to blame Iliadis if he wanted to step away; the movie's lack of tension, its whimpering kids, and its almost contemptuous disregard for logic pose as great a threat to viewers as the garden-variety masked maniac does to the characters.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence in He's Out There. Is there justification for any of it? What's the impact of media violence on kids?
When you see characters make poor choices in horror films, does it make you scared or annoyed?
What did you think of the kids' behavior? How did it affect you to see kids that age being menaced?
Movie Details
- In theaters : September 14, 2018
- On DVD or streaming : October 16, 2018
- Cast : Yvonne Strahovski , Abigail Pniowsky , Anna Pniowsky
- Director : Quinn Lasher
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Vertical Entertainment
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 89 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : horror violence, terror, and some language
- Last updated : July 28, 2022
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