Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Tenant and Knowing When to Scream: A Movie Review



*full disclosure: a Blu-Ray screener of this film was provided by Indican Pictures.

Director/writer: Ric La Monte.

The Tenant is a feature that went straight-to-video August 9th on DVD and Blu-Ray through Indican Pictures. This is a film that stars Michael Berryman, Randy Molnar and Bill Cobbs, in what is a slow burn initially that changes into a predictable film later. The Tenant blends genres from horror to science fiction with some film elements hampering the enjoyment of the film. There are audio issues early that will have some audience members playing with their remotes. Turn the volume up, then down! and again. Also the acting from Ashley Totin is atrociously bad. Laughing during your murder is not the performance you should be after. And horror genre fans will see the late character reveal a mile away. This makes The Tenant hard to recommend.

The plot breaks down as follows: Dr. Newman (Molnar) has developed an inferiority complex from early childhood. He has to wear a leg brace so "he could not dance like the other kids." He sublimates his inadequacies by delving into genetic research. This plot line seems to be a stretch as psychiatrists do not generally delve into bio-engineering. But hey, this is fiction. A meddling nurse uses one of his experiments on a live fetus which leads to the creation of one terrifying looking monster. The doctor experiences an accident, so the sanitarium closes down. The creature is left to rot in the now abandoned asylum. Cue the van full of victims for an hour full of predictable bloodshed.

Film elements that were driving this reviewer crazy were the sound, overuse of sets and some really bad acting from Totin. First the sound and dialogue were too low and then the music was too loud. These sound issues continued for the first 10 minutes which means that you the viewer will have to fiddle with your sound controls often. As well, a corridor and series of four rooms are over utilized in the film. More than half of the film, approximately an hour, are set here and this film fan wanted cinematographer Jose Zambrano Cassella to take the film anywhere but these tired blue hallways. Surely there was a victim or two waiting outside in the rain, no? Also, Totin's display of a terrified counsellour is more reminiscent of comedy than horror. Are you really supposed to be laughing during heated arguments or while you are being choked to death? Her portrayals are innappropriate for a thriller and Totin shows some immaturity in some of her scenes.

The writing from La Monte is good for the first half of the film, but the screenplay moves in to some routine territory in the second half. After the title "Present Day," you know that the van full of kids pulling up to the sanitarium is bringing the fodder to this horror party. Unfortunately, more than half of the occupants are deaf, so they are easy killing for a deformed killer. As an aside, is the monster supposed to be straight out of 1985's The Goonies? He looks like his brother at least. Back to this film, the character reveal involving sibling rivalry can be seen a mile away, thanks to some good casting. The late twist ending is not so much of a twist and more of a letdown. Wait, you are trying to tease a sequel?

Maybe this critic is being a little too hard on the film. There were a couple of jump scares of note, as a fellow watcher nearly had a heart attack during one door smashing scene. However, the film had a lot of flaws that were not overcome by some of the excellent acting from Molnar and others. Some of the other acting, as mentioned, was not up to par. There were sound issues and the final half of the film was a little too straight forward. Some B-movie fans will find some fun here, while most others should skip this film in favour of other great titles from Indican Pictures e.g. Circle or Dark Metropolis.

Writing/story/plot: 7 (the first half was good, the broken timeline was interesting, the second half was too simple).
Acting/interpretation: 6.5 (some are much better than others).
Climax/denouement: 6.5 (disappointing and a late stab at a sequel was not set up properly).

Overall: 6.6 out of 10 (not recommended, but not a disaster either).

Another review of this film at Best Horror Movies (Don Sumner):

The Tenant Reviewed at Best Horror Movies

The Tenant at Indican Pictures w/trailer:

The Tenant Film Details at Indican Pictures

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