The Resident

THE RESIDENT (2011) - Apr. 20, 2011
A pretty awful horror film about a woman who moves into a seemingly perfect apartment, only to find that her friendly landlord is actually insane and obsessed with her.  Yes, it's just as cheesy as it sounds; director Antti Jokinen does absolutely nothing to elevate this tired material to something watchable.  One of the main culprits is Jokinen and Robert Orr's downright terrible script, which is full of clunky dialogue, cringeworthy exposition, and characters who act like characters in a horror film instead of real people.  The film could have at least been watchable if it were directed with any kind of finesse, but Jokinen's vaguely competent direction, which is sort of okay (I've seen worse, at least), lacks any real sense of tension or suspense.  The movie bafflingly stars Hillary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who are both a million times too good for this dreck.  I can only assume that they both had dumptrucks full of money back up to their houses, because I otherwise can't see any reason they'd agree to be in this movie.  *1/2