'Piercing' review — A twisted homage to 70s horror

Piercing is a twisted watch that will completely satisfy genre fans and polarize mainstream audiences — but that's why it works (mostly).

Piercing — based on Japanese novelist Ryū Murakami's book of the same name — feels so familiar. It has story elements of American Psycho and tinge of Phantom Thread while boasting stylistic flourishes reminiscent of 70s horror movies like Carrie and Suspiria— down to the horn-infused score, split-screens, and breezy music montages.

That isn't to say that it's not original. Piercing brings all those elements together as a lean, entertaining genre romp that is a bit hollow in its story and themes, but stunning in execution. 

Reed (It Comes at Night's Christopher Abbott) is an unassuming family man with a beautiful wife Mona (Laia Costa) and adorable newborn. However, like Patrick Bateman, Reed has impulses to kill. He frighteningly hovers an ice pick inches away from his daughter but resists. Instead, he finds another way to relieve his urges.