Everyone knows how hilarious the deadpan David Hyde Pierce can be after getting to know his snarky, snobbish, anal-retentive therapist on " Frasier ." But who knew he was capable of scaring the hell out of an audience as a snarky, snobbish, anal-retentive psycho, the way he does so brilliantly in "The Perfect Host"?
Australian director and co-writer Nick Tomnay cooks up a deliciously slippery psychological thriller about career criminal John Taylor ( Clayne Crawford ), a hapless bank robber with an injured foot and an urgent need to get out of sight, who cons his way into the sleek L.A. bachelor pad of one Warwick Wilson (Pierce), claiming to be a friend of a friend from out of town. Warwick is in the middle of preparing a fabulous roast duck dinner for expected guests, but he takes pity when John claims he's been mugged, lost his luggage and has nowhere else to go. Warwick even graciously invites John to stay for supper and offers him a glass of wine, but all of this mutual civility instantly evaporates when a radio news flash makes it plain who John really is.
The intruder turns ugly, threatening Warwick at knifepoint, but he's soon shocked to find that his fastidious little host can turn even uglier " with horrific results.
Crawford serves well as the dangerous guest, smoldering like a young Ray Liotta , but Pierce is the perfectly priceless scene-stealer all the way through, delivering acidly witty dialogue as only he can, mixing dark mirth with real menace as his character reveals, with a chilling, thin-lipped smile, ever deepening layers of psychotic malevolence. Think of Dr. Niles Crane , finally pushed over the edge by his pompous brother and his grumpy dad.
And as the harrowing night unfolds, John " and the viewer " are in for several more jarring surprises in this darkly comic and highly original chiller.
" Gene Triplett
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