Director: Victor Zarcoff
Writer: Victor Zarcoff (Screenplay)
Starring: PJ McCabe, Brianne Moncrief, Sean Carrigan, Neville Archambault, Jim Cummings, Heidi Niedermeyer
Plot: Claire and Ryan, a newlywed couple, move into a new house across the country, only to find out that their marital issues are the least of their problems. Unbeknownst to them, Their grim and lascivious landlord has been spying on them from day one.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Solid Horror
Story: The Landlord starts with newlywed couple Ryan (McCabe) and Claire (Moncrief) moving into their newly rented house from their landlord Gerald (Archambault). With Claire expecting their first child this new home feels like it is going to be perfect for them.
Gerald has other plans as he has set up spy cameras all over the house wanting to catch all their intimate moments and we learn early on that Ryan has been cheating on his wife with his assistant. When this affair blows up in Ryan’s face he battles to keep his marriage together while Gerald continues to make improvements to the house as we learn what he is all about.
Thoughts on The Landlord
Characters/Performance – Gerald is the creepy landlord lacking all the social skills to go through life. He installs spy cams in the house he is renting out to keep his twisted needs satisfied. Claire is the pregnant wife that moves into the house with her husband and takes an instant dislike to Gerald. Ryan is the husband that has been cheating on his wife and needs to find a way to save is marriage when it all gets exposed. It is hard to supporting Ryan because of the way he treats Claire.
Performance wise, Neville Archambault is creepy from start to finish in this film. PJ and Brianne do a fine job without over acting just looking like a normal dysfunctional couple.
Story – The story does keep everything simple because it circles around the idea of a normal family life being watched by a psychopath pervert. It keeps us thinking it this could happen to anyone which does add to the horror but most of the outcome of the film is pretty routine to say the least.
Horror – The horror in this film shows us just how we don’t know what our landlords could be up to, being watched is a general good element for horror and this does what it needs to through the film.
Settings – Nearly the whole film is inside the house because it shows how the family is being watched.
Final Thoughts – This does have good elements for horror but this sub-genre in horror has started to become very predictable and this one is no different.
Overall: Solid late night horror film.
Rating
