The Roost (2005)

Four friends are travelling to their friend's wedding when they have a car wreck on a secluded rural road. With nobody likely to drive by and no celphone reception, they trek off through the woods to find help. When they come upon a farmhouse, they discover a barn filled with a flock of bloodthirsty bats. The bats' attack is bad enough, but what awaits after one of their party is bitten is much, much worse.

The Roost is the feature film debut of writer/director/indie horror darling Ti West, and some of the elements that he would later put to use in The House Of The Devil and The Innkeepers are already apparent here. Like his later works, The Roost is no slap-stick, action-packed horror movie. West loves the slow burn, and that's what we get in The Roost. The movie takes its time in setting up the characters and lets their naturalistic acting and dialogue breathe before cranking up the horror. By the time it's at full tilt, the suspense is intense and the highlight moments of horror are shocking.

West also shows his love for the "throwback" movie with The Roost. While The Innkeepers and The House Of The Devil are steeped in the look-and-feel of 70s/80s horror, The Roost is a 50s/60s b-movie creature feature. In fact, the movie itself is framed by the setup of watching a Saturday Afternoon Frightmare broadcast, complete with a "horror host" played by the brilliant Tom Noonan.

This broadcast intrudes on the movie here and there as little bursts of static or cutaways to the horror host making a comment. Strangely, we even get an instance where the host "rewinds" the movie so the characters can make a different decision than before. It's easy to say that these little interludes "take you out of the movie," but to be honest, it's not the kind of movie where that really matters.

The Roost is lighter, breezier fare than House Of The Devil or The Innkeepers, but that's not saying much. It's still far more dialogue-heavy and deliberate than most horror movies, and that works to its credit if you aren't looking for a high-octane affair. If you like what you've seen out of Ti West's later work (and Cabin Fever 2 doesn't count), track down The Roost.

Oh, and another Ti West hallmark - the poster for The Roost is amazing. Beautiful.