John Erick Dowdle

Dog’s Movie House: “No Escape” Slick But Somewhat Unpleasant Thriller!

 

 

Howdy Folks!  It’s The Kendog!

 

Pierce Brosnan And Owen Wilson In "No Escape"

Pierce Brosnan And Owen Wilson In “No Escape”

 

 

 

John Erick Dowdle is primarily known for his horror films.  Movies like “Quarantine” and “As Above, So Below” trade on the menace of inhuman threats for the thrills he generates.  It’s not a bad formula and those two films, while far from perfect, have some genuinely interesting elements to them.  I suppose, then, I could forgive Dowdle (along with his brother Drew, who co-wrote the script) for applying the same formula for the new political thriller “No Escape.”  Trouble is the people menacing the recently arrived to Thailand (or Cambodia or whatever country to which they’ve recently moved; the film doesn’t say) are supposed to be people, no monsters, and treating them as the latter makes this otherwise slick exercise in suspense and action filmmaking uncomfortable to watch in all the wrong ways.  Continue reading