Review: 'Bad Times at the El Royale' lacks substance, but it’s beautiful to watch
Even though “Bad Times at the El Royale” is only the second film he’s directed, writer and director Drew Goddard is already an auteur. He made his name as a TV writer on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Lost,” and wrote scripts for such films as “Cloverfield,” “World War Z” and “The Martian.” But with his 2012 directorial debut, the devilishly clever horror flick “The Cabin in the Woods,” Goddard proved what really makes him tick: the meta genre exercise. The contained hotel mystery “Bad Times at the El Royale” is another exercise in genre play.