'The Resident' contains aimless voyeuristic skullduggery

Film: The Resident (A)
Cast: Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee
Director: Antti Jokinen
Rating: *1/2

The Resident sees Juliet Devereau (Swank), an ER surgeon in New York, having trouble finding a nice, affordable place to put up at. Eventually, she chances upon the perfect apartment in a decades-old, but not decrepit, building. Dirt cheap, spacious and commanding an excellent view, the apartment is rented out by the dashing, though shy, owner-cum-handyman Max (Morgan).

The catch? Max is actually a bit of a creep. Well-versed with the ins and outs of the building, his childhood home, Max employs a variety of peepholes and secret passages to spy and commit sexual transgressions upon his unsuspecting tenant.

Though Swank shows focus, her efforts, along with those of the rest of the cast, are overpowered by sheer predictability. Whether he is ecstatically chomping upon a comatose Swank’s fingers, popping her toothbrush in his mouth, or writhing away while secretly pleasuring himself in her bathtub, when Morgan starts perving it up, unintended hilarity kicks in.

Despite Guillermo Navarro’s above average cinematography — one of the few things the film has going for it — the script lacks the adroitness that is crucial to good horror cinema. While the fear of the unknown may be the most potent and primeval emotion, this does not justify the film keeping viewers in the dark about its characters’ antecedents and back story, apart from that vaguely provided by Hammer stalwart Lee (in a paltry role as Max’s eerie grandfather August).

Suspense also is thrown to the winds when an arbitrary and over-long flashback early into the film not only reveals Max’s nocturnal proclivities, but also that it was more than fate that might have brought Juliet and him together.

Equally lacking in thrills and salaciousness, The Resident isn’t worth your while. Let’s hope Hammer gets it right with The Woman in Black, though.