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Film / Knock Knock (2015)
aka: Knock Knock

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Knock Knock is a 2015 erotic horror-thriller film co-written, co-produced and directed by Eli Roth, starring Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, and Ana de Armas. It is a remake of the 1977 film Death Game, and not only was most of the cast and crew of the film involved in the production of Knock Knock, one of its stars, Colleen Camp, has a cameo in this film.

The film revolves around Evan Webber (Reeves), an architect married to a successful artist with two children living an idyllic life. When his family goes on holiday without him (due to Evan having to catch up on work), he's greeted by two young women named Bel and Genesis on his doorstep who ask for shelter from the rain. Evan lets them in, sealing his fate.

The two girls then force themselves on Evan before telling him that they're both only 15 and that they now have complete control over his life. Powerless, Evan is forced to take whatever punishment the girls deem appropriate.

Not to be confused with the 2007 supernatural horror film of the same name.


Tropes relating to this movie:

  • Alpha Bitch: Genesis is clearly the brains of the operations and the one who planned the whole thing.
  • Ambiguous Innocence: Evan really shot himself in the foot when he had sex with Bel and Genesis. To be fair, he was pretty much coerced into it.
  • Asthma Peril: Louis has an asthma attack after finding Evan tied up and Genesis and Bel smashing his statue. As Genesis and Bel have taken his inhaler, he dies, and they torment Evan further by making it look as though Evan killed Louis after discovering that Louis was having an affair with his wife.
  • Ax-Crazy: Bel and Genesis grow more and more violent as the movie goes on.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Bel and Genesis get away with everything, although the video they posted online could be used to track them down. Considering that the girls decided to spare Evan, odds are he is in more than the perfect position to set things straight. In the alternate ending, this is exactly what happens.
  • Brainy Brunette: Genesis is The Chessmaster with Bel as her accomplice.
  • Casting Gag: Genesis' actress is Lorenza Izzo, a Chilean who's a native Spanish speaker. At one point she stops Evan and Bel speaking Spanish together, claiming not to speak it. However, this could be a lie like so many things she says.
  • Chained to a Bed: Evan is restrained while Bel rapes him the second time.
    • Though this qualified as assault, I saw nothing that indicated penetration happened. He was fully clothed when she got off of him. I think she was just simulating sex for the video.
  • The Chew Toy: Evan. After having the threesome with the girls, when he wants them to leave, they threaten him saying that they are underage, tie him to a bed, and Bel rapes him. Then they vandalize and smash Evan's wife's sculpture, tie him up with a hose, bury him in a hole in his backyard, leaving his head above ground, upload the video of him getting raped by Bel to his Facebook profile, and then depart, taking his dog with them, just in time for his wife and kids arrive home to the entire house ruined.
  • Cleanup Crew: The girls call a guy they know to get rid of Louis's body after they kill him.
  • Damsel in Distress: Bel and Genesis present themselves as this at first.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Punishing infidelity (they they coerced him into) with humiliation and possibly death.
  • Double Meaning: "I don't think people just meet randomly."
  • Ephebophile: The girls accuse Evan of this the morning after since they claim to be teenagers and underage.
  • Ethical Slut: Subverted with Bel and Genesis. They believe that they're in the right for what they do to Evan (though it's debatable if they're putting on an act to justify their destructive urges).
  • Fan Disservice:
    • The threesome scene is intended as sexy, but given that Evan is cornered into it, it is not at all titillating.
    • The later scene of Bel dressed as a schoolgirl is intended to be such, given that Evan is unwilling and tied to the bed, and Bel is in his daughter's clothes. The scene then adds to this effect ten-fold by depicting Ana de Armas grinding on Keanu Reeves while role-playing Parental Incest.
  • Faux Affably Evil: The girls act chipper and upbeat while doing some horrible things, acting like ruining a man's life is little more than a game to them.
  • Freudian Excuse: Bel mentions being sexually abused by her step-father, though given the context in which she says it, it's ambiguous whether that actually happened.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Evan's family are all blond and at all times nice people.
  • Humiliation Conga: The girls vandalize and smash Evan's wife's sculpture, tie him up with a hose, bury him in a hole in his backyard, leaving his head above ground, upload the video of him getting raped by Bel to his Facebook profile, and then depart, taking his dog with them, just in time for his wife and kids arrive home to the entire house ruined.
  • Ignore the Fanservice: You just know Evan's saying this to himself when he first meets those girls.
  • I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Evan tries fending off the girl's advances, but as soon as they start fellating him, he jumps into bed with both of them.
  • Looks Like Jesus: Evan. He's lean, with a beard and mid-length hair. It's both fitting, considering the crap he goes through, and ironic, given that the mess started with him having sex with two women.
  • Meaningful Name: Bel is the name of a demon in Jewish mythology, while Genesis alludes to the story of man's temptation and fall. Evan can be a short form of Evander (or Evandros) which means "good man." The one name not changed from the original film is that of Evan's wife Karen, which means "pure."
  • Ms. Fanservice: Bel and Genesis are both quick to get naked and quite good-looking.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Punishing infidelity with humiliation and possibly death.
  • No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Evan, especially because he's married.
  • Not Distracted by the Sexy: When Genesis and Bel try their charms on Louis, he sees right through them.
    Louis: Bitch please! You're barking up the wrong tree. I’m from Oakland! I recognize skank-ass bitches when I see them!
  • "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: A major part of the film. The scene where Bel and Genesis seduce Evan is clearly rape, as he repeatedly tells them "no" while they take his pants off and fellate him. According to the girls, they can't be charged with rape since he eventually gave in.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Probably intentional, as the girls seem to be lying about their backstories anyway.
  • Pedo Hunt: When you're a married man who has just been coerced into sex with two girls who may be underage and are destroying your life, no amount of explanation on your part is going to make you look like less of a victim than those two girls. They know and use this.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite all the horrific things they do, the girls never harm Evan's dog. They even seem to like it so much they steal it when they go.
  • Plenty of Blondes: There's only three brunette characters in the whole movie.
  • Politically Correct Villain: Bel initially chants "Monkey in the Middle" while passing Louis' phone back and forth between her and Genesis, until Genesis tells her that the phrase is too racist given that Louis is black. Bel then rephrases the chant to "Man in the Middle" instead.
  • Psychopathic Womanchild: Bel spends the bulk of the movie behaving like little better than a child.
  • Questionable Consent: The sex scene. We know Evan's the victim, but no one in-universe does.
  • Rape as Backstory: Bel mentions being sexually abused by her step-father. It's ambiguous as to whether she was being honest or simply playing more mind games with Evan.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Even though Bel and Genesis were the ones who came onto a non-consenting man, they use their age to make him look like the bad guy in all of this. For their part, the fact they rape him makes it clear just how evil both are from the get go.
  • Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Though nothing gets burned, Bel and Genesis rape Evan and pillage his house.
  • Remake Cameo: Colleen Camp, who plays Evan's physical therapist Vivian, was one of the stars of Death Game, the 1977 movie of which this one is a remake.
  • Revised Ending: An ending was filmed but not used in which Evan shows up at the girls' doorstep as they are working on another unfortunate victim. The looks on their faces are more than justified.
  • Right Through His Pants: When Evan manages to get free and knock Bel off him, he's completely covered by his underpants.
  • Sequel Hook: The film's alternate ending has Evan tracking down the girls to their latest victims' house, ready to dole out a little revenge.
  • Sex Montage: Evan is shown having sex with Bel and Genesis alternately in the shower and then on his bed in a long sequence with different positions.
  • Sex Slave: At one point, Evan is tied to his bed while Genesis films Bel having sex with him.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: Bel and Genesis get away with ruining a man's life with no one who could testify in his defense. They presumably move onto their next target to start the whole thing over again. Although if the alternate ending is taken as canon, their life-ruining days may be numbered.
  • Shower of Love: Though "love" is being used liberally here, Evan has sex with the girls in the shower.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Bel and Genesis reveal that they've been keeping an eye on Evan's family for a while, which explains how their arrival could be so well-timed when Evan's family was out of town.
  • Stalking Is Funny if It Is Female After Male: Averted. When Bel and Genesis reveal they've been stalking Evan for some time, it's played as seriously as possible.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Evan. It's Keanu Reeves after all.
  • The Thing That Would Not Leave: Bel and Genesis are dark, twisted variants of this.
  • Threeway Sex: Evan, Bel and Genesis engage in one, though it begins as nonconsensual.
  • Traumatic Haircut: The girls cut Evan's hair because they know he'll hate it.
  • The Unfair Sex: Invoked; Bel and Genesis use their status as attractive women and claim to be underage in order to make Evan look like the bad guy even though he got raped.
  • Villainous Friendship: One of the only redeeming qualities Bel and Genesis have is that they genuinely seem to be friends with each other.
  • Villainous Glutton: The morning after they coerce Evan into sex, the girls help themselves to heaps of food in his kitchen and devour it as if they've been raised by wolves. Genesis even drinks syrup straight from the bottle.
  • Wall Bang Her: Evan has sex with Bel and also Genesis up against the wall of the shower and later also his bedroom.
  • What You Are in the Dark: Subverted. While Evan did give in to temptation, it took a lot of coercion from the girls.
  • Wig, Dress, Accent: The alternate ending reveals that Bel and Genesis were both wearing wigs that they swapped when they moved onto their next victim.

Alternative Title(s): Knock Knock

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