Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) stars as Juliet Devereau in The Resident; the latest horror movie from Hammer Films (the widely acclaimed masters of the horror genre); which is starkly different to the myriad of hack-n-slash horrors we’re used to being released nowadays, and is a psychological thriller based on a very simple yet unmistakable fact.
It’s a fact that almost no-one who moves into a new house (or in this case New York apartment) and changes the locks, and Juliet is one of those people; a woman who knows nothing of her landlord (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, The Losers) other than the fact that he’s unbelievably charming, thoughtful, and the opposite of her cheating ex-husband (Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies), yet jumps at the chance to move into the stunning apartment he has to rent thanks to his witty charms, and rock-bottom pricing.
And everything seems well in the beginning; with the landlord’s intense and creepy Granddad (Christopher Lee, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) being her only concern; as she even toys with the idea of entering into a relationship with the landlord, but begins to develop an uneasy feeling that something isn’t quite right; as she’s uncharacteristically sleeping through her alarm, and hearing strange noises in the apartment at night, as if someone is there with her.
Of course viewers know that someone is right in there with her, watching her undress, bathe, and sleep, as they stroke her hair, lie down next to her, and even suck her fingers, but one of The Resident’s main problems is revealing who the watcher is way too early on; as there are potentially three culprits (the landlord, the Granddad, and the ex-husband at a push) that could have done the deed; via a rather unnecessary flashback that while slightly enhancing the creep-factor of the watcher, only really tells us something we knew since the beginning; yet despite the reveal, The Resident manages to stay thoroughly tense throughout its runtime (largely by focussing on the watcher’s descent into madness, and watching the extreme lengths he goes to in order to feel close to Juliet), right up until the laughable conclusion.
By far the worst part of The Resident, and the thing that actually stops it from being a solid and affecting horror, is the film’s finale; because it’s so ludicrous it completely pulls any viewer out of the film, and just makes them laugh at the immeasurable number of colossally stupid decisions Juliet makes (if you were at work while you found out someone was drugging you, and breaking into your apartment to do things to you while you slept, would you really go home before calling the police? if you get home, the watcher comes in, realizes you know and tries to kill you, when you get into a room on your own wouldn’t you climb out of the window, or at least shout down to the street for help? and being a doctor, do you not think you would be able to master a computer mouse?); something which ruins an otherwise tense and fairly gripping horror.
The Resident has a pretty solid cast overall; Academy Award winner Hilary Swank could have easily been replaced here by any halfway attractive woman/girl who’s able to pull off looking a little bit vulnerable and sleepy, but does her job well enough, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is surprisingly well cast, and believable throughout (yet while he’s undeniably good, he’s far from the best actor when it comes to expressing his dark side; nobody tops Rutger Hauer in that respect), Lee Pace is adequate, and it’s always a pleasure to watch Christopher Lee, who’s flawless as the creepy Granddad (though likely only used as a marketing point, since The Resident marks his first return to Hammer; the studio where he earned his name; in over 30 years).
In brief, The Resident is worth a watch, but far from brilliant; it’s great to see a horror film that’s a little bit different from simply watching a bunch of teenagers in tight tops gets hacked to pieces in the woods, and particularly engaging to watch a horror movie that despite being a worse case scenario could potentially happen, effectively builds and maintains a huge degree of tension throughout, and has a solid cast; it’s true that the ending lets it down immensely, and will likely leave a number of viewers feeling cheated, but until the closing act, The Resident was a tense, watch-through-your-fingers movie that was too gripping to look away from; it’s just a shame the conclusion let it down so much.
Picture:
Whilst not outstanding, the picture quality on The Resident’s DVD transfer is solid; containing a slightly warm tone that pushes the limits of what appears natural, yet never seems odd or out of place, generally solid colour, a strong level of fine detail, and decent (though not astounding) black levels; meaning that no-one watching will be put-off by the visuals, though they unfortunately won’t be astounded either.
Audio:
The Resident’s Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is also fairly strong; containing a solid low end, excellent and well centered dialogue, precise directionality, and plenty of artificial atmosphere constantly emanating from the rear channels; making for a track that may not contain too many stand out moments, but does its job as well, or better than, most others.
Extras:
Where The Resident’s DVD release does falter however is in its noticeable lack of special features; as with crafting a film out of this real-life issue of people not changing their locks there was obvious potential for a featurette showing examples of how that’s not gone well in the past, plenty of room for interviews with the key cast members, an audio commentary (which could have worked brilliantly given this material), and even a featurette covering the new direction of Hammer Films, and Lee’s return to the studio. However all fans get in the way of bonus content is the chance to view the trailer for the film; which as the film itself is included on the DVD, and likely to be anyone who has the DVD in their possession, is as worthwhile an inclusion as a condom machine in the Vatican.
The Bottom Line:
In the end, due to an extremely disappointing finale, The Resident fails to be anything more than an average horror movie; the uncomfortable setting and moody camera work help to create a tense environment which is brutally shattered by a generic, predictable, and frankly ludicrous, closing chapter which unfortunately drags the entire movie down and ensures it will be little more than a flavour of the week flick.
As far as the DVD quality goes you could do a lot worse than The Resident (aside from the appalling lack of special features); as it sports solid picture and audio quality; but with a film that’s ultimately very forgettable, and a bit of a wasted effort, it’s definitely one to rent, and not blind buy.
