This movie went straight to DVD in the U.S and only recently opened in the U.K. Most of the U.S. reviews have ranged from fair to terrible and while I can understand that, I don’t agree with it. I think THE RESIDENT has a lot more to offer than it’s given credit for. Is the film predictable? Of course, most “women in peril” films usually are from the basic set-up to the inevitable conclusion. Is it suspenseful? Not as much as many thrillers I can name but then I don’t think that’s the main point of the film. It’s more about a portrait of perversion done in the style of the classic M and the (reviled at the time) British horror film PEEPING TOM than standard thrillers like THE ROOMMATE or PACIFIC HEIGHTS. In other words, it’s creepy.
The basic scenario is as follows. Single female rents a too good to be true apartment and then has cause to regret it thanks to a psychotic individual who has designs on her. Nothing new here but the way it’s handled in THE RESIDENT I found more far more unsettling than in most of the films in this category. THE RESIDENT is extremely well crafted from the editing and the camerawork down to the eerie and effective score. The script doesn’t probe deeply into psychological issues but as voiced by Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and the 88 year old Christopher Lee, it kept me engaged. Another plus (or maybe not depending on your POV) is that it has a very high “ewww” factor.
THE RESIDENT also reminded me of some the classic Hammer “mini-Hitchcocks” made during the 1960s and early 70s like DIE DIE MY DARLING and CRESCENDO both of which star Stefanie Powers who Swank bears a superficial resemblance to. Christopher Lee makes the most of his limited scenes, but it is Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his portrait of the disturbed landlord that gives THE RESIDENT its resonance. He starts off like Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO and winds up like Glenn Close in FATAL ATTRACTION. The scene where he brushes his teeth with Swank’s toothbrush I found as chilling as anything else in the film. But that’s only one of the many disturbing things he does. While the ending is rushed and formulaic, it’s to be expected in a glorified B picture which is what THE RESIDENT is.
This is only the third film to be released by the newly revived Hammer Films. LET ME IN, the remake of the Swedish vampire film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, garnered mostly positive reviews but tanked due to mismarketing and a backlash from fans of the original. WAKE WOOD, a film similar in nature to THE WICKER MAN, has already come out on Region 2 DVD. Although all three carry on the Hammer tradition of quality films on a limted budget, they are having trouble finding American distribution which is what killed the original company in the first place. The remake of THE WOMAN IN BLACK with Daniel Radcliffe which is scheduled for release later this year should not have that problem and will hopefully be the hit that Hammer needs to have.
The Capsule Critic 