O Estranho Habitante: The Strange Inhabitant

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 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.

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.

It's got a pretty cool concept going for it even if it's not executed as well as it could've been.

The creature is unique in that it is more like a supernatural force for a majority of the film.

We get some interesting deaths scenes, the invasion of the castle is well orchestrated and full of nods to other classic stories.

It's still not the greatest thing ever but it's a fun time and has a lot of elements that make it worth checking out.

For a low-budget effort, however, it is well made, but i wish it would be better, with more horse fighting scenes and more dark lore to the inhabitant curse. 8/10.

With a cast comprised of screen veterans and relative newcomers, this movie brings sorcery, dark powers and true nobility will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. After a gripping prologue which establishes the legend of the inhabitant, we see our hero travel to dark land in search of the relic that the creature has in his powers killing some turks to get it.

These moments, however, lend a much-needed lightheartedness to a movie that keeps your heart pounding almost nonstop, and the caliber of the acting and directing keep it from going over the edge.

It's not the standard winter movie fare, perhaps, but it's definitely spellbinding.