Don't Knock Twice

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Caradog W. James directs. Adam Frisch behind the camera. James Edward Barker scores. Matt Platts-Mills cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in French, English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 9 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, Spanish.
• 3Directed by Caradog W. James, shot by Adam Frisch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by James Edward Barker. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Matt Platts-Mills shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Katee Sackhoff and Lucy Boynton and Javier Botet carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Pray she doesn't answer.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt3622110 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 10 themes, including "witch", "parent child relationship", "deception", "evil spirit".

The technical file

Cinematography

Adam Frisch

Original score

James Edward Barker

Editing

Matt Platts-Mills

Production design

Richard Campling

Makeup / hair

Gina Trinchese

VFX supervisor

Christian Lett

Sound

Paul McFadden

Runtime

93 min · 1h 33m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Don't Knock Twice (2017) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

28% 🥫 Rotten

Metacritic

45/100

IMDB rating

5.1/10 · 15,985 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Caradog W. James

• 
  Little White Lies

  2006 · ★ 6.0
• 
  The Machine

  2013 · ★ 5.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official UK Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Dan_Tebasco2017-02-23
  ★ 4/10

  Don't watch twice (or even once) I like Katee Sackoff, she's usually alot better than the movies she's in though and here is no exception. The movie starts out reasonably watchable, albeit very slow but still has enough creepy (albeit never truly scary) atmosphere to go around. Last 30 minutes was one big old mess though, what started as something really simple just did a 360 and became all over the place adding multiple twists changes in tone and pace and a bag of chips plus a couple burritos. Well not really but you know. The first hour I'd probably give 5/10 last 30 minutes was more 3/10 territory.

  Read full review ↓
• Gimly2017-06-21
  ★ 5/10

  Seeing as Katee Sackhoff was the best part of Don't Knock Twice, it might have worked in the movie's favour if the mother/daughter element was the focus, instead of just the backdrop for some oldhat horror. Creepiest part was when John Wick ate a baby. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.

  Read full review ↓
• Reno2017-10-09
  ★ 4/10

  Knock knock! Oops, I just knocked twice! Surprised to see some people actually liked it. If you have seen plenty of horrors, then this is nothing special. Just an average flick. The only plus point was, it was from Britain. If it was made in Hollywood, I would have bashed it from all the angles. Because there's no excuse like it was based on some book. So when someone writes, for a film, we expect something fresh, not refresh or repetition. It was a common platform. That's about a local legend. When a teen couple set to test one of the stories they have heard, it puts them in an extreme position. Later the girl joins her mother who had just returned to the town to win her back. Now they both try to escape from the supernatural threat. How much they succeed and the rest of the tale follows with a twist before the end. The same initiation, build up and conclusion as any horror film. Watchable film, but not any good. They even hinted about a sequel during the end, which I think never should go ahead, after seeing how ordinary this film was. Horror is the least average rated genre from collection and this is no surprise to join those low rating club. I don't know, that you might decently like it or maybe not, but I'm not suggesting or say ignore it. 4/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• SE

  Seymour Films

  GB

• 

  Red & Black Films

  GB

Key crew

• EditorMatt Platts-Mills
• Visual Effects CoordinatorJessica Saunders
• Script SupervisorNua Watford
• FoleyMeltem Baytok
• Makeup SupervisorGina Trinchese
• CastingManuel Puro
• Steadicam OperatorMatt Allsop
• Special Effects SupervisorDanny Hargreaves
• CastingLindsey Hayes Kroeger
• Production DesignRichard Campling
• Second Unit CinematographerSimon Poulter
• Camera OperatorJames Harrison
• Key GripGuy Smith
• Visual Effects SupervisorChristian Lett
• Visual Effects SupervisorKirat Gurung
• Additional PhotographyTorquil Fleming-Boyd
• Sound Effects EditorJon Salmon-Joyce
• Art DirectionAlex Woodward
• Special Effects CoordinatorJames Smith
• Sound Re-Recording MixerPaul McFadden
• Makeup ArtistBetsan Dafydd
• ProducerClaire Moorsom
• Set CostumerEleri Croker-Jones
• Visual Effects ProducerPeter Rogers

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• witch
• parent child relationship
• deception
• evil spirit
• prank
• urban legend
• custody
• sculptor
• haunted
• jump scare

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2016-11-13· NYC Horror Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2017-02-03R
• Digital2017-02-03R· Internet

Also known as

International titles

• Não Bata Duas VezesBR
• No toques dos vecesMX
• Baba YagaFR