Written and directed by Emil Hyde, The Landlord stars Derek Dziak as Tyler, a loser whose job is to find tenants and collect rent at the apartment building owned by his feisty policewoman sister Amy (Michelle Courvais). However, what seems like a rather cushy life for Tyler is actually much more demanding than it at first appears: the building is also home to two flesh-eating demons who feed on his tenants, something that arouses the suspicions of a pair of tough cops.
Meanwhile, Amy is having trouble of her own, juggling an adulterous relationship with her police partner, organising shady deals with a gang of local vampires, and keeping her brother from losing the plot.
Problems finally come to a head after Amy upsets her bloodsucking pals and Tyler attempts to prevent his latest tenant Donna (Erin Myers), an attractive, pregnant runaway wife, from becoming demon fodder.
One of the things I love most about horror is that it has a healthy independent scene made up of enthusiastic film-makers with almost non-existent budgets, but armed with a love of the genre and a strong enough resolve to bring their projects to life. You have to admire their spirit, even if you don't always enjoy the finished films.
Thankfully, the team behind comedy/horror The Landlord not only have the drive and determination, but also seem to have a pretty good grasp on what makes for a fun slice of entertainment: they deliver a well constructed, multi-layered story that effectively blends ghoulishness with laughs, a few reasonable visual effects, and some rather unrealistic but satisfyingly bloody gore.
The film also offers decent performances from its cast of unknowns: Dziak makes a likable protagonist, Courvais gives a particularly spirited and memorable performance, but it is Rom Barkhordar as green demon Rabisu who steals the show, hamming it up to just the right degree as he orders jerky machines and tacky statues from a shopping channel, spoons brains straight from his victim's head, and plays charades to spell out a magic phrase that he is forbidden to say.
Overall, this is a consistently engaging piece of macabre cinema that probably won't blow your socks off, but will still manage to pass the time very nicely, thank you. So if you're not too fussed about the unavoidable inadequacies inherent in today's zero-budget horror (poor sound quality, digital video picture quality etc.), I say give The Landlord a whirl.
Meanwhile, Amy is having trouble of her own, juggling an adulterous relationship with her police partner, organising shady deals with a gang of local vampires, and keeping her brother from losing the plot.
Problems finally come to a head after Amy upsets her bloodsucking pals and Tyler attempts to prevent his latest tenant Donna (Erin Myers), an attractive, pregnant runaway wife, from becoming demon fodder.
One of the things I love most about horror is that it has a healthy independent scene made up of enthusiastic film-makers with almost non-existent budgets, but armed with a love of the genre and a strong enough resolve to bring their projects to life. You have to admire their spirit, even if you don't always enjoy the finished films.
Thankfully, the team behind comedy/horror The Landlord not only have the drive and determination, but also seem to have a pretty good grasp on what makes for a fun slice of entertainment: they deliver a well constructed, multi-layered story that effectively blends ghoulishness with laughs, a few reasonable visual effects, and some rather unrealistic but satisfyingly bloody gore.
The film also offers decent performances from its cast of unknowns: Dziak makes a likable protagonist, Courvais gives a particularly spirited and memorable performance, but it is Rom Barkhordar as green demon Rabisu who steals the show, hamming it up to just the right degree as he orders jerky machines and tacky statues from a shopping channel, spoons brains straight from his victim's head, and plays charades to spell out a magic phrase that he is forbidden to say.
Overall, this is a consistently engaging piece of macabre cinema that probably won't blow your socks off, but will still manage to pass the time very nicely, thank you. So if you're not too fussed about the unavoidable inadequacies inherent in today's zero-budget horror (poor sound quality, digital video picture quality etc.), I say give The Landlord a whirl.