In 2007, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez tapped an up-and-coming genre filmmaker, Edgar Wright, to make a parody trailer for a fake movie to play between their “Grindhouse” double feature. Wright came up with “Don’t,” in which a gravelly voice intones, “If you are thinking of going into this house — don’t! If you are thinking of opening this door — don’t!” It was funny because it was deeply recognizable, and it tapped into the audience’s urge to yell at the screen, “Don’t go in there!”

This is also essentially the plot of Zach Cregger’s “Barbarian,” about which the less one knows, the better. In fact, consider this permission to stop reading this review now and just buy tickets. Do not watch trailers, do not read reviews, proceed directly to the theater for one of the more wildly scary horror films of the year.

How can one describe “Barbarian” without giving away the twists and turns? Well, it’s a triumph of what could be a new subgenre: “Airbnb horror.” It starts on a dark and rainy night, as a young woman named Tess (Georgina Campbell) attempts to access a lockbox at the Detroit rental home she’s booked for a job interview the next day. A light flicks on inside. Someone else is home.

It turns out that the house has been double-booked, and Keith (Bill Skarsgard) already has taken up residence. Despite her best instincts, she decides to crash with him in the same house while things get sorted.

Cregger demonstrates a knack for flipping expectations, so he gives us a horror heroine who is smarter than the average scream queen, and he gives us a mysterious loner who might be a nice guy.

Cregger also uses “Barbarian” to explore women as victims, villains and victors within the horror genre, and the ways in which they’re both endangered and empowered by empathy. He wraps this multilayered contemporary social commentary in an utterly horrifying flick that’s inspired by classic horror filmmaking and tropes. It’s the throwback appeal coupled with fresh ideas — and plenty of skull-rattling scares — that makes this such an exciting film and one of the must-see horror movies of the year.

Movie details: Rated R for some strong violence and gore, disturbing material, language throughout and nudity; 103 minutes. Grade: A

Georgina Campbell stars as Tess in “Barbarian.”

BARBARIAN

Courtesy of 20th Century Studios