A ‘Frasier’ Star Takes His High Society Manners to a Sinister Place in This Subversive Thriller

While Kelsey Grammer might have the title role, the originalFrasierjust wouldn’t be the same without David Hyde Pierce’s Niles. His fussy habits and pushover nature combined with Pierce’s perfect deadpan delivery helped cement Niles as a TV icon. It’s hard to imagine these qualities being applied to anything other than a fully comedic character, but Pierce did just that in an unusual thriller called The Perfect Host. When a stranger enters Pierce’s home under false pretenses, it seems like the beginning of a harrowing home invasion. But Pierce’s character is not as polite and charming as he seems—well, he is, but he’s also even more dangerous than his unexpected guest with some unsavory habits of his own, turning the tables on both him and the audience. The Perfect Host combines the socialite sensibilities of Niles with the menace of a serial killer’s sadism, resulting in an unpredictable thriller with a performance from Pierce that is as funny as it is twisted.