Review of The Resident (2011) by Billy B — 31 Jul 2011

After she moves into a new apartment, Hilary Swank starts to feel like someone is watching her, everyday.

Meh. This film really tries to be hardcore and shocking to the viewer, but it fails because it's so unoriginal and has been done so many times with failure. The whole "stalker/obsessed" theme is always intriguing to me, but when not pulled off successfully it really leaves the viewer bored and unsatisfied with the overall film. There were some scenes that were great to watch (the climx at the end was great, although predictable) it fails to stand-out in the sub-genre. Many repetativness left me bored and wanting the flick to be over already,.

The plot was simple. Tenant becomes obsessed with the person living in the house. It's a simple premise, but there are so many ways the film could've moved forward and been fresh, but it was too much effort in making the viewer being shocked by what was happening rather than extending the thin story. The character development was average, and it could've been alot better to make the viewer like or feel sympathy for the characters.

The acting was good. Hilary Swank's entries into the horror/thriller genre have always been a tad underwhelming, The Reaping was horrible, and this is a step back, but she always has an excellent and realistic performance. She lights up the screen and she always makes you like her instantly, but the under-developed character was neither likeable nor hateable.

Overall The Resident is norm for the stalker/obsessed sub-genre, but it fails to keep you entertained thoroughly because of it's unoriginality and cliche's. My rating is 2/5.