The Sublet

Well worth a watch, don't let the reviews put you off.

I didn't know anything about this movie prior to sitting down to watch it. I didn't even read the synopsis. All that I needed was knowing that it was a horror movie.

However, it turned out that "The Sublet" was somewhat of an ordeal to sit through. It was a rather slow paced storyline with very little happening throughout the course of the story actually. Director John Ainslie actually did manage to construct a movie that built up a suspense in a good way, but despite the build up of suspense it didn't climax into anything worthwhile.

The acting in the movie was adequate, and people were doing good enough jobs with their roles and characters, despite the limitations imposed by the script and storyline.

"The Sublet" was not a horror movie that was big on special effects or practical effects for that matter. Nah, this type of movie is the kind that makes good with mood and atmosphere. Was that a good thing? Well, yeah sort of, as the build up of suspense and keeping the audience in the dark was good.

This was a less than mediocre foray into the horror genre, and "The Sublet" doesn't really offer anything to the genre that hasn't already been seen before in other horror movies. So don't expect anything overly innovative here.

I must admit that I found my interest and attention span ebbing as the movie progressed and I was actually tempted to just give up and eject the DVD with only 15 minutes left of the movie. I did, however, decide to finish the movie. Which wasn't a particular improvement to the rest of the movie.

There are far better horror movies available. And the few scenes and ideas throughout the movie that actually were nicely constructed was hardly enough to make it up for the rest of the movie. "The Sublet" scores a meager 4 out of 10 stars from me.

Saw 'Tonight She Comes', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.

Giving 'The Sublet' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be a little better than expected, having seen a lot of bad films recently. Won't say that 'The Sublet' is a great film (mediocre actually) because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.

'The Sublet' started off quite well, the first part starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue.

Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected.

The setting is effectively spooky. Initially, there are spooky and suspenseful moments, it isn't dull, and the storytelling initially does intrigue. The acting generally was not bad, Tianna Nori carries the film very well.

However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements enough, some of which go nowhere or serve much point. It also is uneventful too much of the time and the pace drags.

Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air and it all felt abrupt. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense (where there is barely any of either in the latter stages), scares could have been more consistent (again nowhere near enough) and some weren't surprising enough and had no atmosphere, the over-obvious sound not helping. The psychological parts of the story were more odd and undercooked rather than creepy and intriguing

Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a fair bit of cheese and blandness going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making. There is very little menace or urgency to the conflict and the direction is phoned in.

Overall, mediocre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

A young couple with a child try to settle in after moving in their new apartment, but after some time the wife (Joanna) is haunted by paranormal activities. Her husband (Jeff) doesn't believe her and at some point she finds an old journal from a woman that lived in the same apartment before. The journal reveals that the woman's husband was abusive and that she wanted to escape. The movie is really slow and the general premise was really generic. You have Joanna that sees an hears things and you have the overworked Jeff that is annoyed and won't believe her. While reading the journal Joanna starts seeing the same things that the other woman depicted in her writings. In the final act the movie has its climax as expected and picks up some pace but in general there is nothing redeeming about this movie that makes it stand out. It's slow and forgettable and similar things have been done before. [4,1/10]

The film follows a young mother as she stays at home, caring for her infant child. She finds herself unraveling a disturbing mystery, which surrounds her new apartment and begins to test her sanity. I try not to compare films, but this film really has notes of Rosemary's Baby and reminded me a little bit of The Shining. I think it was the claustrophobic feel of the film and the constant wondering what's real and what's in her mind. It probably also helped that the film's decor was very dated, kind of 70s. It's because of this constant wondering and putting the pieces together that reflects good story telling, the mystery unraveled nicely and wasn't spoon fed to the audience. The film is atmospheric with lots of drama (some people might call this 'slow'), but it builds the tension nicely until it breaks you. This was certainly helped by Tianna Nori! I was gripped by her the entire film, it was a very engrossing performance. If you like your psychological horror, I would definitely check this one out!