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A struggling band condemned to a cabin in woods: the basic premise might echo that of Frank (2014), and yet Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room could not resemble the comedy-drama any less.

Green Room follows a group of grungy punk rockers straining to get by on a string of measly paying gigs. When offered a gig in an outlying “right-wing but maybe extremely left-wing” haunt, they suppress their misgivings and focus on the more sizable amount of dough it promises. With an anticipated turn the protagonists end up in a barricaded deadlock, which enables the film to ramp up sufficient tension before leading the viewer into a gasp-provoking, shield-your-eyes warzone.

At first, Green Room appears to be unoriginal and contrived, following the well-trodden path of American survival horrors. Its familiar setup, combined with a handful of overly simplistic plot devices and irritating dialogue featuring lines such as “music is technical wizardry,” makes the film seem undeserving of the resoundingly positive response it has received thus far.

But the horror-thriller has several redeeming features, not least its first-rate ability to build tension. Effective jabs of black humour prevent the film from descending into an all out gore-fest, and the gore itself, which employs masterly make-up and special effects, is provocative and unsettling while avoiding gratuitous extremes. Perhaps the film’s most redemptive feature is that it diverges from the well-trodden path by employing techniques that are atypical of its genre. For example, the balance Saulnier strikes between the opening and closing shots creates a synthesis that augments the film’s otherwise lean artistic merit.

Green Room isn’t for everyone but if you’re looking for a grisly thriller, look no further.