The Tenant

What a shame - this could have been so much better in more capable hands. The writing and direction here falls very flat as well as some of the "porn level" performances.

The story however is an interesting if somewhat schizophrenic one. A weird mix between it's alive and a slasher film the biggest problem with this film is the pace- it's all over and it's often dull which a gruesome slasher film shouldn't be.

A shame since the film looks good - is technically slick with solid effects work and has some very novel ideas - what a pity - better luck next time though guys. Some lame plot contrivances here and there but overall it could have been much worse, but should have been much better.

This review is as schizophrenic as the pace of this film :)

The Tenant takes you to Edgewood Asylum where Dr. Walter Newman (Randy Molnar) is experimenting with genetics to try and find a cure for genetic mutations. Dr. Newman remains oblivious to the fact that his nurse, Ms. Tinsley (Sylvia Boykin), is so obsessed with the doctor that she would do anything to make him happy. Before Dr. Newman knew what was going on, his worst nightmare becomes reality.

Directed by Ric La Monte, The Tenant, gives us a look at how mutation can affect an individual and the ones around them. This movie needs a lot of work. The story was mediocre and mixed with weak acting that really showed. I could never really get into the feel of the movie for a couple reasons. Character development was non-existent. Half of the movie focused around the doctor and the other half focused around a group of deaf children running for their lives so, we never had time to truly understand them. Liz (Aerica D'Amaro) and Jeff (J. LaRose), the heroes and the chaperone's for the deaf children, didn't draw me into the feel of the movie, I found myself very detached throughout.

The camera and lighting work was done fairly well. I recall a scene where the mutated being was bashing a wall and the camera would shake with each swing. They did a nice job on the design of the mutated being, wasn't too cheesy and actually peaked my interest when we finally got a look at him.

Overall The Tenant wasn't the worst movie I have seen. It had its moments with the mutant but isn't going to make me go out of my way to find another movie directed or written by Ric La Monte. There are far better movies from this genre if you are looking for your inner mutation.

This feels like a three-part story which could have been told in 15 minutes, but was extended to what feels like three hours.

The overall story was good enough and it was easy to follow the story but it was just too long and lacked much of interest. New characters were introduced by they were not expanded, no reason to care about them. Scenarios which came up did not seem very plausible. It seemed like each act was written as a complete movie.

In this day an age, you can make a shorter movie and distribute it digitally or something, no need to draw out a story longer than it needs to be.

Anyhow, about the actual movie... I enjoyed watching it with friends, but not as much as a movie that was "trying to be bad" or not as much as an actual good movie. It was my friends, rather than the movie, that gave me any enjoyment... so if you want something to help you bond, that you don't have to pay much attention to, them maybe this would be okay.

Otherwise, just skip it.

The only reason I'm writing a review is because I'm ticked off an hour of my life was conned out of me.

The premise and the IMDb rating got me interested enough to check it out. I stuck with it for one hour until I realized that is was an hour I will never get back and damned if I would poison my memories of all the great or decent horror movies I saw, with a movie that should have opted to be campy and maybe saved itself.

I have to agree with other reviewers that the 10/10 reviews it has were obviously from vested interests.

At the top of the what is so awful about this I would have to place the blame on 1. The directing: Ric La Monte(the ceaseless melodrama burned me out and made me not care) 2. The writing: also Ric La Monte (Started out with my kind of premise but it soon became clear the writer knew next to nothing about medicine, suspense, mystery or building empathy for characters. 3. The acting (Justin Smith played the only character that I wanted to give a damn about but, lets just say when he took a break from the film the only ones left I could care for were 4 deaf mutes, many of whom signed like they were competing to see who could make the worst shadow puppet.

Unless you enjoy watching painfully bad slashers with lousy effects while on so much mind altering substance(s) that you will not remember that you watched it, do yourself a favor and pass.

Well, yes this was a waste of time. I made it an hour in, I feel like I deserve an a award. I also only watched this due to it's high rating, I should have looked at the reviews, obviously by family of the crew. This film is wholly disappointing. Cliché ridden, poorly acted, atrociously scripted. It is dreadful, and I usually like terrible films. Unfortunately this is bad for all the wrong reasons.

As I need to fill the review out to 10 lines I would just like to say.... DON'T BOTHER! Watch Rosemary's Baby, watch The Hills Have Eyes, dig out some horror classics and enjoy yourself. Just don't watch this film.