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Juliet, a beautiful doctor, has found the perfect New York apartment to start a new life after separating from her husband. It's got spacious rooms, a spectacular view, and a handy, handsome landlord. But there are secrets behind every wall and terror in every room as Juliet gets the unnerving feeling that she is not alone. She is being watched. She is being stalked. And no one is safe when she discovers the relentless horror on her doorstep. But how do you stop an evil that you can't see ... until it's too late?
Though it's part of the new crop of releases from the under new ownership Hammer Films, the UK production company made famous by its sexualized gothic horror flicks from back in the day, The Resident unfortunately feels less like Hammer and more like your typical generic Hollywood thriller. Good looking chick moves into a new apartment. Befriends a charming and seemingly perfect dude. Dude turns out to be a sick creepo maniac. Fortunately for this particular take on that tale, the chick in this one is Hilary Swank and the dude is Jeffrey Dean Morgan, two highly competent actors who help elevate this one to a bit of a higher level than a direct to DVD telling of such a story should probably be at. Unfortunately, they can only elevate it so high. Though beautifully shot and incredibly well made and acted, with a few genuinely creepy scenes sprinkled throughout (JDM brushes his teeth with Swank's toothbrush and then jacks off in her bathtub), it's the script that keeps The Resident from ever taking off or becoming anything more than a cookie cutter guy stalks girl flick. Ultimately, it just ends up reeking of wasted potential.
Not to sound like a total pig, but the only thing I really took away from the film is that Hilary Swank has one hell of a body, something that the movie never let me forget. And hey, if you're gonna call me a pig, at least i'm an equal opportunity one ... I wanted to hit that even when she cut her hair and called herself Brandon.
Oh and by the way, if you were interested in this one because it's touted as featuring Christopher Lee in his return to Hammer, allow me to curb that excitement for ya. Lee is barely even in the film and it's pretty obvious that they just flew him in for a quick couple scenes so they could slap his name on the cover. His character is entirely unimportant to the plot, which is a damn shame and a total waste of his talents.
2 comments:
Well, I kind of liked the movie. Tha actors did a good job, and even though the story has been used a hundred times before, I actually had a good time watching It.
One reason might be because I'm a big Hammer Horror fan, and I think its great that they have "risen from the ashes" and started making movies again.
Even though Christopher Lee doenn't have a big role in this movie, it's good to see him in a main role again.
So in my book Hammer+Christopher Lee+Half Naked Hillary Swank = a pretty good movie :-)
When JDM sucked on her finger from under the bed, my eyebrows really furrowed. That's one of the creepiest things I've seen in a long while - I'll give them that, at least. It doesn't matter how old we get, there will never be anything scarier than the psychopath under your bed.
The thing that stuck with me majorly though is Hilary Swank, and however much of her was not a body double. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that sheer panty shot, as well as the post-shower nipple pokies, etc. I was curious about why she did all that, and then just didn't have a legitimate nude scene (despite how many baths she took). It's obvious she was trying to prove something about her beautiful body here - in that, she succeeded. But why not go all the way? She won't have a ton more opportunities to look this good.
Honestly, that was all I was left to think about; how sexy she was - because there certainly wasn't a plot to bend my brain over.
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