The Roost

Name: The Roost
Genre: Horror
Released: October 21, 2005
Duration: 80 min
Rating: 62

2005

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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The Roost

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Movie Details & Credits

Vitagraph Films | Release Date: October 21, 2005

Summary: Following a near-death car accident, four friends on their way to a Halloween wedding venture to a secluded farm for help. Little do they know however, they will soon disturb an ancient evil with far more ghastly plans in store for them! (Ti West)

Director: Ti West

Genre(s): Horror

Runtime: 80 min

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Critic Reviews

Robert Koehler

Debuting helmer Ti West taps into the realist-horror spirit of mentor and exec producer Larry Fessenden, and makes a scarier pic than any by his master. Read full review

Scott Foundas

The Roost advances a nifty man-vs.-nature scenario that harks back to Fessenden's own "Wendigo" and provides a nice chaser to a summer movie season populated by cuddly penguins and benevolent cheetahs. Read full review

Eric Campos

It's clear right away that The Roost is no hack job. It's made by people who have a major love for the genre and generally anything that goes bump in the night. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

Ti West's affectionate homage to no-frills fright flicks keeps it simple and succeeds on its own stripped-down terms. Read full review

Jeannette Catsoulis

The Roost proceeds with such youthful enthusiasm that its rawness is more charming than annoying. Read full review

Joshua Land

The Roost proves that West has enough talent to do without the gimmick next time around. Read full review

Janice Page

Keep your big-budget horror movie expectations locked away in a separate crawl space, because this grainy feature debut from writer-director Ti West demands that you buy into the silliness, and the cheese. Read full review

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User Reviews

yoshij.

Oct 29, 2005

Awesome!

1 of 1 users found this helpful

TheQuietGamer

Jul 2, 2017

A homage to those black and white, late night fright films of the 60's. With it's grainy visuals and great low budget gore effects, "The Roost" manages to be more effective at entertaining audiences than it's big budget brothers. Sometimes less really is more. At least in capable hands thatA homage to those black and white, late night fright films of the 60's. With it's grainy visuals and great low budget gore effects, "The Roost" manages to be more effective at entertaining audiences than it's big budget brothers. Sometimes less really is more. At least in capable hands that it, and Ti West is certainly capable.

The movie takes us back to a time when zombies didn't come at you in hoards and hid in dark barns or houses, waiting for some unfortunate suckers to break down on the side of the road. The movie is more effective at making it's zombies threatening than any of the countless post-apocalyptic zombie movies out there. Those types of films have made zombies so easy to dispatch on their own that they have to focus on other humans being the real threat. Not The Roost though. It's zombies are tough to deal with and seem to be actually capable of some form of thought. At least enough so as to catch their victims off-guard. Plus, there are those killer bats they've got helping them out.

Ti West's strength is his ability to keep you engaged in the moment to moment action. By going to the basics and adopting a retro style of horror he has managed to create something more tension-filled than even a lot of the more recent horror films. You never quite know when the zombies are going to pop out. Even when you do, the jump scare is so excellently deliver it's to give you a little jolt of excitement. It wont ever scare you, but it's fun enough to keep you going. Even if it is a little disposable watch. I also appreciate the movie's knowing sense of humor and awareness. The little scenes in the beginning and end where our host introduces to the nights gruesome festivities are brimming with camp and humor. They serve as excellent reminders of those late night creature features from way back in the day. The Roost has more than enough to offer than just nostalgia though. It can also serve as a great history lesson as to what the early days of horror movies looked like, even if it isn't actually from that era.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JayH.

Apr 7, 2008

Great score, very suspenseful and the acting is convincing. Some genuine scares, it moves along at a great pace. Skillfully directed by Ti West. Good special effects. A lot is accomplished without much of a budget.

1 of 1 users found this helpful

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