The “sexy stranger who turns out to be a psychotic stalker” narrative is a well-rehearsed genre staple, from Ray Liotta’s creepy cop in 1992’s Unlawful Entry to Ryan Guzman’s creepy neighbour in this year’s The Boy Next Door. This latest retelling of a familiar tale sticks to the rule book as it serves up Michael Ealy’s creepy IT specialist (“my job is to make people feel safe”) who first woos and then terrorises Sanaa Lathan’s recently single career woman. Ealy gives good creep, seeing off unwelcome barflies, sucking up to Mom and Dad (Charles S Dutton lending a touch of class) and exuding oleaginous untrustworthiness from his hairstyle to his teeth. The B-movie riffs are efficiently executed, but the biggest mystery is why this supporting feature should be troubling our cinema screens when its target audience is firmly nestled on the sofa.
