March 2, 2017 -- Usually, I don't bother going to horror films, but this one was getting good reviews, so I gave it a shot, and while it is too violent for my taste, it does have some clever comic touches and an interesting racial twist on the usual genre story. The story is a kind of modern science fiction take on slavery. It is kind of like a dark comic cross between “12 Years a Slave” and “The Man With Two Brains.”

The story begins innocently enough with a TSA officer, Rod Williams (played by LilRel Howery of “Get a Job”) warning his best friend, photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya of “Sicario”) not to go to the home of his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams of “College Musical”) since she hasn't yet told her parents that her new boyfriend is black. Chris goes on the road trip anyway, and trouble starts right away when the car hits a deer, and a white cop asks Chris for his identification, even though he was not driving.

The creepiness and sense of unease begins with the unnerving cries of the deer dying in the woods near the road. Chris walks into the dark woods to take a look. Other odd events surface quickly at the very large, fancy home of Rose's parents, where the black maid and groundskeeper behave very oddly, and so does a black guest at an otherwise all white party. Chris is introduced to all the guests, and one, an art dealer familiar with his work takes an uncomfortably close interest in Chris.

Late at night, after the guests leave, Rose's mother, Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener of “Captain Phillips”) hypnotizes Chris, ostensibly to stop his smoking habit. Chris begins to feel he has been manipulated by Missy and that he is missing some memories. He has nightmares about the hypnosis experience. Chris calls Rod on the phone and asks him to check up on the identity of a man he saw at the party. It turns out the man had been reported missing months earlier.

The sense of unease escalates. This aspect of the story reminded me of such films as “Rosemary's Baby” or “The Stepford Wives.” Chris begins to realize that he is in danger and he tries to get away, but is captured. Suddenly his visit to the Armitage house turns into a nightmare, and he must fight to survive. The story gets very bloody as Chris fights back against his captors. People die in very bloody ways.

The science part of this science fiction story doesn't add up at all, but I can't really get into that argument without giving away too much about the story. That part of it is a surprise which comes near the end of the film. Before that, there is just a sense that something isn't right, but it isn't clear just what is going on.

Part of the unease which permeates this film is the awkward relationships between Chris, who is black, and most of the people at the party at the Armitage House are older white folks with the attitudes one expects from that kind of crowd. Chris is very uneasy in this environment, but not nearly as uneasy as he should have been, it turns out. This is a very creepy film with strong performances. First-time director Jordan Peele (he also wrote the screenplay) proves adept at ratcheting up the suspense in the film. This film rates a B.

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