Occupant (2011)

Sorry, this movie sucks

So much average

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This film was right up my street! I've got no idea why it has such a low score on here, I'm truly baffled! This is a film about a man who is clearly suffering from a mental illness (schizophrenia/DID?) who finds himself in a situation that exacerbates his condition! I don't think being in the apartment drove a normal, balanced person insane, it just unhinged an already unhinged individual! Obviously it was him who killed the blogger/exterminator/cat, I'm not sure how people don't get this...maybe he even killed his grandma somehow? Anyway, for me this was a solid psychological thriller with solid acting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The cinematography is excellent and the production overall is good, but the story just doesn't go anywhere. So many leading clues that just don't connect with anything. Random plot points that never solidify into anything. Great going through until you reach the end and realize there is no payoff. Disappointing. I was captivated all the way through because I've never seen a film with such great lighting and angles and overall greatness just fart itself into oblivion so meaninglessly. Why on earth didn't the creators do something with all the material they had? The potential is there, and if you were to miss the last few minutes you may just think it is a great film. It is only in the realization that the film goes nowhere do you realize the fatal flaw of this film.

Young man's (25 year old Danny Hill) grandmother dies; he comes by to identify the body. She was in a rent controlled apartment. The doorman's shyster relative convinces him to move in and stay for twelve days until he can get a court order completed. This should protect him against moves by the landlord to oust him. The apartment has 3500 square feet, and the rent controlled rate was 675/month, which is cheap for NYC.Cody drops by and stays the night. She had inquired at his work to find out where he was. She's gone the next day without explanation. Eventually he finds her camera and tries to reconstruct what she recorded.The landlord tries a number of ploys (cable guy, pizza guy, the painter, exterminator) to get him to come out and get locked out.The mirror scene is where the film jumped the shark for me: the mirror image keeps looking back and talking; the primary image goes quiet and turns away. Hm. The moving shoes was an ongoing joke I could have done without.The exterminator kills the cat. Gratuitous. Someone kills the exterminator. Whoever could that be? Also, who is the old guy who keeps showing up at the elevator?By day nine I had given up on the film. Danny had left the exterminator in the stairwell. The doorman explains how the exterminator has a bottle of heart medicine in his pocket. Amazing how that works. Later that day he re-finds evidence that the cat is dead.He gets into altercations with the neighbors when he starts hacking down walls in the middle of the night.Danny's descent continues after the landlord cuts his power. The doorman seems willing to enable anything Danny wants. He starts building with the materials the doorman brings.Eventually, though, they change the doorman. When the lights go back on, he loses it for a while, again, in the middle of the night. He gets to talk to the police. Perhaps that should have been a major clue. Then he finds the cat for sure.Day twelve. Danny's circling the bowl. He can't get in touch with the lawyer. He still has a dial tone. He loses it once again. He catches himself in one of his own traps.After Danny's dead, the lawyer shows up with the court order. Now Danny can leave the apartment safely.Joe, the old doorman, returns; someone else moves in. Someone who pays full price, I expect. The child of the renter views the full clip of Cody's video recording, including Danny dragging her dead body away.------Scores-----Cinematography: 6/10 The camera work uses some odd filters in several places. There are periods where camera shake is just too irritating.Sound: 9/10 The incidental music is about ten times creepier than the screenplay.Acting: 2/10 Van Hansis does not have the chops to play the lead. Unfortunately all the other roles are more or less unimportant and of little note.Screenplay: 4/10 Somewhat mysterious, but not engaging.

OK, I'm gonna write this short: This movie has some really nice shots, in the beginning it creates an interesting, little weird story, the acting is pretty nice ... BUT there are so many plot holes, so many stuff that happens without any reason, just for the effect and there's no horror at all. This movie is just a concept ... looks like they ran out of money and had to end it somehow. This is sad, because it really had a decent start and could have been a remarkable film. This way there is no comparison to any Polanski movie.Usually it's nice to watch a movie and in the end be left with a few questions to talk about and to discuss ... but here it's just too much. Why all this?