Occupant

This one starts off well, with a young dude moving into his late Gran's sprawling NY apartment, having to stay locked inside and hide from the hungry property moguls for 12 days, after which time his lawyer assures him the apartment will be his outright without further hassle.

That's gotta be one of the longest intro sentences that I've ever written on IMDB, but nonetheless I was intrigued by this weird and whacky premise, as it looked like a chaotically fun story to follow for the dude, who straightaway encounters probs with his unwanted isolation. The apartment 'officer' I guess you'd call him, the very same actor from Bold And The Beautiful who does Ridge, puts forth some mysterious quirk that is humorous. As well, the flingy chick that hooks up with isolated dude is a crackup and should have featured a lot more, but when she just disappears without return the movie slips away badly, even though trapped guy continues his struggles and tries to carry the story forward. A loss of ideas ensues and the movie goes pretty much nowhere and ends with a belly flop from a considerable height. First 40 is good so I enjoyed that section but not the rest after that.

At the start of this movie my hopes were high - an original plot with the scope for scary ghosty stuff. Unfortunately, when you're stuck in an apartment which you 'can't' leave it doesn't take long for the boredom to set in. There was an opportunity for chills and thrills but for some reason the execution is dull and listless. For some reason I started getting a hankering for The Shining - the definitive descent into madness. If you watch The Apartment then you'll get similar pangs after about 20 minutes.

If you delve into Korean horror then you can discover interesting themes fully realised and not just imagined by the director.

Nili has put together a classy list - http://www.imdb.com/list/8txFAcBLcUo/

I had no idea that this film would be in a style similar to one of my all-time favorite thriller film makers. At the same time, it is extremely current and cast with a fantastic lead whom I had never heard of, Van Hansis. He seems like an actor who could have a real future - his transformation from unassuming hipster to something QUITE different was a real accomplishment. The twists and turns of the story line kept we wondering and guessing throughout the movie which flew by after the first scary moment. The look of the film morphed in a very satisfying way, which combined with subtle and effective special effects made the movie very special. I loved that the apartment/ apartment building became a central character (and a very scary one) in the movie. I was truly gripping my seat tighter and tighter as the film progressed and felt crazy scared and surprised by the end. I have not seen a thriller like this in a long time - but I wish there were more out there in this genre.

Well, I was really anticipating this film. Van Hanis did a good job but the point is this may be on the line of a Polanski-but it left me not horrified, or feeling the ending was a total twist of the mind. With the exception of a few things such as the building looking like the Dakota-the elevator operator and Van Hansis change in appearance it was a far cry from anything that Polanski ever did. However I did enjoy the Doorman, Joe-two thumbs up Thorsten Kaye-I'm biased.

Will I view it again in the 24 hours that VOD gives you? Maybe so it can grow on me. Maybe not.

This was definitely not what I had myself hyped up for.

"Occupant" isn't the smartest effort of recent memory, nor is it the scariest, but it's certainly unique enough to be worth mentioning. The plot here isn't especially innovative, borrowing heavily from movies like "1408" and Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," but much like said inspiration, the execution is what differentiates this film from the slew of other cheap imitations. The movie is actually pretty sleek- looking for a lower-budget offering, and it makes effective use of its small, fairly-unknown cast, especially leading man Van Hansis, whose portrayal of a man grappling with his sanity is so convincing its unsettling. The atmosphere is dark, disturbing, and suspenseful, akin to an under-your-skin David Lynch head trip; it's that special blend of intentionally-ambiguous psychological thriller and supernatural horror that makes this a very carrot-on-a-stick experience, never allowing the viewer to turn away once the action begins its slow-burning buildup.

For the rest of my review, please check out my movie review blog: http://filmsallthetime.blogspot.com