Resident, The (2011) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Horror | Thriller

She thought she was living alone . . .

Juliet (Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby), 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? Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey's Anatomy) and screen legend Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings) costar in this pulse-pounding shocker from famed horror studio Hammer Films (Let Me In).

User Comment: L Byron from United Kingdom, 7 February 2011 • 'The Resident' is a handsome looking thriller, with some really beautiful cinematography in particular (by Hellboy's Guillermo Navarro), & high production values in general. Unfortunately, that's about all that's going for it - there's nothing even remotely new or surprising on display in this film, nothing you won't have seen a hundred times before.

Hilary Swank is a young ER doctor who moves into a new apartment building in Brooklyn, owned by the charming & handsome Max, who we come to find is psychotically obsessed with her..

Yep, like I said, you see where this is going. Swank isn't called on to do anything much more than take her clothes off every once in awhile, which is a pity as she can be a fine actress, given the right role. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance as Max is delicate, erotic & actually quite moving early on, but he is at odds with the film he is appearing in, which simply wants him to be a generic cardboard cut-out psycho. There is no real attempt at explanation for Max's behaviour, & no empathy for him as a human being. His maleness is portrayed as a threat, & creepy simply by definition.

Christopher Lee is, as always, a welcome sight, but is wasted as a spooky 'Norma Bates' style parent with about 4½ minutes of screen time. The only other male in the film is Juliet's "asshole" ex-boyfriend Jack, who has even less screen-time than Lee, & if you've seen any of this genre of film before, you'll have a pretty good idea what he's for, what he does, & where he ends up.

This is a misandric movie because there are no ordinary men in it, only bad, psychotic or inadequate men. The woman, on the other hand, is portrayed as entirely good & a victim to boot. Which makes it no different from countless other films you've seen before, of course. But the point is, there will be countless more, if no-one ever stops to point it out.

I wish there was more to say. There's a couple of good shocks in there towards the end, & some nicely handled suspense but it just seems a pity to have wasted them on something so wholly unoriginal & ugly as this.

Summary: Yep, Men Are Just Plain Bad.

User Comment: jegpad from United Kingdom, 5 February 2011 • I expected Hilary Swank to produce so much better, but this film was merely a vehicle for her to show off her body which is a surprise from an Oscar-winning actress.

The direction and atmosphere was suspenseful, but the lack of depth to the plot and narrative was such a disappointment given such good production. There are unanswered questions and missed opportunities which are hugely frustrating given the quality of filming.

I was glad not to have watched this in a cinema because I would have felt trapped and assaulted to have sat all the way through the chasing and fighting in the last 20 minutes. As it was, with control of the fast forward, I could skip the repetitive hide and seek.

There was no satisfying explanation for this perverted stalking landlord choosing his tenant, and no intelligent reason for wanting to watch until the end, unless you just enjoy gratuitous violence.

Suitable for post-pub group viewing, Resident is fine for mindless scares; but the lack of whodunnit and whydunnit just leaves the viewer wondering why did I watch it.

Summary: Falls far short of expectation, despite good scene-setting, due to poor story and acting.

[CSW] -2- Only the last 10 minutes pulled this up from a -1- (i.e., from "Hated It" to "Didn't Like It"). Not worth watching unless you rent it and skip to the last 20 minutes as all of the preceding character and plot development is not worth watching. If you can't rent then ship it, enough said!
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.

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