Spoiler Alert: This article contains major spoilers for Osgood Perkins’ The Keeper, now in theaters.
Director Osgood Perkins has given us not one, but two twisted horror films this year. It’s a very different, but equally chilling horror movie. They are the gory Stephen King original “The Monkey,” which was released in February, and the haunted house thriller “The Keeper,” which opens in theaters this weekend.
Like Perkins’ previous horror films, “Long Legs” and “The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” “The Keeper” involves much more than just a couple camping out in a spooky cabin in the woods. A nature vacation quickly takes a terrifying turn for Liz (Tatiana Maslany) and her boyfriend Malcolm (Rosif Sutherland). Liz begins having visions of undead spirits, and Malcolm’s true intentions become clear.
Near the end of “The Keeper”, it is revealed that Malcolm is not actually a diligent doctor, but actually an immortal manipulator who lures women into his cabin and sacrifices them to prolong their lives. In a flashback to 200 years ago, young Malcolm and his cousin catch a mysterious pregnant woman who was trespassing on their land. It turns out that she is some kind of witch who creates hordes of monsters. Over the next years, the creatures grant Malcolm and his cousin eternal life, and in return they give them a feast in exchange for the lives of the women they bring to the cabin. This also explains why Liz sees visions of undead ghouls roaming the grounds, including a woman with a bloody bag on her head, a long-necked ghost, and a white-faced monster spewing goo from its mouth.
However, Liz does not give in to Malcolm’s evil plans. After revealing his true intentions, he locks her in the basement, but the monster actually embraces Liz and does not tear her away. In a twist, the pregnant women from 200 years ago looked just like Liz, so the creatures consider her their mother. The monster wears a bag on its head, reveals a creepy face with multiple eyes and a mouth, and claims to be Liz’s child.
When Malcolm wakes up the next morning, he suddenly becomes decades older overnight. With the help of her creepy friends, Liz flips the script and captures him. She ties him upside down, hangs him by his feet from a tree, and dips his head in a jar of honey. In the final shot, we see Liz’s face, which has the same jet black eyes as her newfound monster children. As it turns out, it wasn’t the grotesque ghouls that were causing the harm, but the people actually inside the cabin.
