A solid directorial debut from Dave Franco, The Rental is a well performed psychological thriller that smoothly shifts gears into horror territory with swift and scary precision.

Setting plays a huge factor in horror movies. From the Bates Hotel in Psycho to Freddy Kruger’s house on Elm Street, these dwellings of death are a character in their own, within which all matter of monster stalk their prey. The house in The Rental, a picture perfect, smoothly designed holiday home for those who want their getaway in isolated comfort and with ocean views, is the kind of place people will kill for.

Next in line to stay in this lavish Airbnb are two couples: Charlie (Dan Stevens) and Michelle (Alison Brie), and Charlie’s brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and his business partner Mina (Sheila Vand). Their weekend plans are simple: get away, get high, and fit in a hike or two. Things get very messy when Charlie and Mina embark on an affair, an incident which is further complicated upon the discovery of hidden cameras in the house. Someone is watching them; they just don’t know who or why.

Co-written with Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies), director Dave Franco expertly morphs The Rental from adult hangout drama, to psychological thriller, to slasher movie, and surprisingly does so without missing a beat.

While there is an obvious 1990s thriller tackiness to its plot, The Rental wisely stays away from such drivel to make for an engaging thriller that although hardly original, takes well-honed horror/thriller ideas and makes them its own. Franco has created a sharp looking film that builds towards a bloody satisfying conclusion that leaves open the possibility of a much more interesting sequel, complete with a potential new slasher villain that is as ambiguous as they come.

The biggest shortcoming of The Rental is a lack of sympathetic characters to root for. Although well performed by the cast, this conglomerate of millennials – serial cheater Charlie, paranoid pot-stirrer Josh, hot headed Mina, and naïve Michelle – offer little more than a deluge of emotion over logic, that leads to morally objectionable decisions.

Then again, “morally questionable decisions” has always been the downfall of many would-be victims in the slasher genre. So it goes with The Rental: a film that plays by the rules, but has style and personality while doing so.