O Estranho Habitante: The Strange Inhabitant

" The Strange Inhabitant " in a word, unsettling.

Horror films don't normally have an effect on me, much less scare me, but this one was unnerving in a very palpable way. It's about a templar knight that has mission to retrieve a relic that was stolen from the templars but what he will find on his way, is even more horrible.

It creates this tense atmosphere and maintain it over nearly the entire length of the film.

The performances were also pitch perfect and very believable for the characters the actors played, the soundtrack was good, but it could have been better.

Ultimately, the film is rather ambiguous as to whether or not the events occur in the manner you see them, but that's the beauty of it.

7.7 for me.

Although it is far from being a classic, "The Strange Inhabitant" fares better than most with good performances from the two lead actors (Rui Constantino and Miguel D. Dias ).

The action is paced nicely throughout the story, keeping the tension levels and the viewer's interest high from start to finish.

The scenery is also used to excellent effect, helping to evoke the danger and despair of the period. The scenes set amongst the squalor of the villages helps to convey the desperate conditions that many people were living in.

On the downside, the special effects aren't very special, if you'll excuse the pun, and the dialogue occasionally borders on the cheesy but all in all, the film manages to succeed at delivering what the viewer wants, the fantasy of swords and sorcery, and ultimately the battle between good and evil.

For fans of the genre, this is a must see, for me a 10, i´m a sucker for these movies.

The movie gets really interesting around the midpoint. The first half of it prepares you for what´s coming, we get to know the characters and feel confortable with them, then the story begins to unfold and this is when the action starts.

The second half is much more intense paying off some story aspects.

This is an intriguing horror, the pulls us in, and never let´s go.

This is what I call a good movie, it´s fresh and new, and we get this feeling that the inhabitant is always present in Joseph´s journey to confront him.

There are creepy moments most of them without gore.

The direction is tight and the cast works well within the story.

The cinematography is also impressive.

So i´m ready for more, if there´s a sequel down the line.

Rui Constantino´s vision for this movie, allows him to create atmospheres that fully immerse you in his selected and unique dark twisted tale.

It would be impossible to talk about this film without acknowledging how well-budgeted it is. The ammount spent on the creation of the environment that truly feels set in the dark times, with sets and costumes that are tangible, it does not feel like a low budget independent production for a second.

I absolutely love films that have to do with biblical themes and ideas, whether literally as they do here, or metaphorically and thematically.

Great, tight, and unknown cast, everyone brought forth the necessary emotions that raised the tensions to a maximum by the end if it.

This is how it´s done an 8 for me.

The character of the inhabitant is one for the ages, i really like it at all, he doesn´t have much time on screen, but when he appears, he makes a terrifiying entrance that will haunt your dreams, he´s that creepy.

Now for the story, we got a templar knight on mission to retrieve an ancient object, that has a curse attached to it, the inhabitant, so in the wrong hands, the inhabitant awakes to kill all that touches it.

The templar knight travels from town to town searching for the object only to find a trail of blood left by the creature until the final showdown between them.

This movie is made on low budget, and we can see that, but the story pulls us in, and we are attracted to the path of the knight to retrieve it.

I´m giving this an 8 for the effort of the telling not only a good dark tale, but fill it with a real menacing creature.