The Resident Blu-ray

Hilary Swank stars in The Resident, a voyeuristic thriller set in a spacious old Brooklyn apartment. When Swank’s character first sees the apartment she thinks it is too good to be true. Well, with a creepy old man next door (Christopher Lee), and a psycho landlord, she soon finds out her initial assumption was correct. As the movie progresses, the landlord gets more extreme with his antics, and Swank’s character figures everything out just a little too late, resulting in a series of thrills and scares.

The movie is filmed well, many of the scenes have a dark, tense feeling and the space of the old apartment is maximized for creepy effect. The movie is also acted well. Though only in a handful of scenes, the legendary horror actor Lee plays the part of eerie neighbor perfectly. When things seem to be going great for Juliet, Lee is a constant reminder that this is a horror film. Though not one of Swank’s most challenging roles, she does play Juliet with a strong range of emotion. Jeffery Dean Morgan convincingly portrays the part of psycho landlord. The entire time he seems a bit strange, but he plays the role with a touch of genuine niceness that makes it somewhat believable when Swank’s character temporarily falls for him.

The movie isn’t without problems, though. There are several plot holes and the characters’ motivations aren’t always strong or fully believable. A lot of the scares don’t quite hit their mark, and for the most part, the things done here have been done before. There is little to set The Resident apart from other films of its genre. The Blu-ray also lacks in special features, containing only a trailer of the film. That being said, for anyone seeking a night of well acted thrills, The Resident is a decent choice.