Horror Movie News Report
Adam Wingard’s Onslaught is set in the same universe as The Guest, but Dread Central’s review finds the new film to be a less consistent—though still entertaining—successor. The movie is scheduled to open in theaters September 4 via A24.
Written by Simon Barrett, Onslaught follows Celeste, played by Adria Arjona, a veteran with PTSD who lives in an isolated desert trailer park. Her routine changes when Hans Kammler (Dan Stevens) loses control of three genetically engineered super soldiers created to kill without remorse. After the soldiers escape, the government uses the situation as an opportunity to test them against civilians, bringing the threat directly to Celeste’s home.
The review identifies strong John Carpenter influences throughout the film, citing echoes of The Fog, Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from L.A. Among the details highlighted is Matthew Pusti’s riff on Carpenter’s Halloween score, which accompanies scenes of Celeste practicing with firearms and destroying jack-o’-lanterns.
Dread Central also praises the film’s bloody set pieces, particularly the super soldiers’ attacks on military personnel and civilians. The review describes the killers as silent, relentless figures who move through their victims without hesitation. A gas-station massacre is singled out as one of the movie’s most effective sequences, while also serving as part of the film’s commentary on the consequences of deploying heavily armed forces against ordinary people.
The review is more critical of the movie’s tonal shifts. Onslaught reportedly moves between atmospheric slasher filmmaking, pulpy action and deliberately strange humor, with those elements not always working together. The super soldiers’ extended stalking of Celeste’s trailer is also described as slowing the movie considerably, while the film’s treatment of PTSD and its government-focused subplot are considered underdeveloped.
The cast additionally includes Rebecca Hall as Hanna, Michael Biehn as Baylor, Drew Starkey as government agent Cyrus and Blake Kennedy as Daisy. Dread Central ultimately characterizes Onslaught as a gory, Carpenter-inspired genre exercise that falls short of The Guest but still makes a case for further stories in that shared universe.
