The Upstairs Neighbour

Polanski should be proud!! This movie, sorta "The Tenant"-meets-"Rosemary's Baby" is a real hoot. Smartly avoiding camp elements, talented director James Merendino guides his cast through what seems to be a movie made for $50 with stylish flair and moments of both real humor and suspense. The main actor is pretty funny at conveying the all-too-real paranoia of being stalked by a Satan-worshipper in Los Angeles. A dream sequence is particularly Polanski-friendly, while an array of hipsters/bohos parade around to torment our hero to great avail. Horror it isn't, but as a mordantly funny black comedy on a shoestring budget -- "The Upstairs Neighbor" succeeds!!

I remember a lot of things about this film, and all the people that worked so hard at it! The unusual thing about this movie is the fascinating cast and crew that have one or two Kevin Bacon separations from quite a bit of new Hollywood history! Sbastian Gutierrez went on to write Gothika and Snakes on a Plane, and take a look at some of the other names! The most amazing thing about this film is that the producer still has the master in his basement in a box! I don't think there are any existing copies of this movie anywhere else, and that's what makes this interesting. I was on that set myself, and I was there when it was "screened" at Sundance, in a rented hotel ballroom with another film called "Cannibal- the Musical". Guess who those guys were. Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Gotta love film making!