The Inhabitant

Director: Jerren Lauder

Writer: Kevin Bacher

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks;
And when she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one.

Although not entirely accurate, this short poem has ensured Lizzie Borden remains infamous even 130 years after her (alleged) parricide. After being arrested and acquitted of the crime, Borden lived the rest of her life ostracised by the people of her small US town until her death 35 years later.

The Inhabitant posits that Borden’s apparent homicidal tendencies were part of a demonic curse and that it has followed the bloodline down to her direct descendants in present day. A lot of films have used real life killers as characters but these tend to be either biographical, or use someone like the never identified Jack the Ripper as a fictionalised character. Literally demonising a real person from history (who in the eyes of the law was innocent) is perhaps a little disrespectful to both her and her actual descendants, creating an uncomfortable feeling that hangs over the film.

However despite this, The Inhabitant has a lot going for it, playing like an 80s slasher flick where the actual identity of the creeping killer is kept masked until the denouement – although in this case, it would be shocking if you weren’t able to easily identify them well before the reveal. The premise is schlocky and Kevin Bacher’s script contains some truly terrible dialogue, however most of the performances from a strong cast, plus Jerren Lauder’s surprisingly artful direction, raise this way above where it probably deserves to be.

Like many similar modern horror films, the protagonist here is torn between whether she is actually being targeted by an evil entity, or if she has a mental illness causing delusions and blackouts. This trend has almost become a cliché at this point but Odessa A’zion’s central performance as Tara is both charming and disarming as she struggles to understand the impact of her family legacy on both herself and the people around her. A’zion’s performance largely carries this movie and it is easy to see how much the overall film benefits from her casting. As the teenager’s mother, Leslie Bibb delivers a decent performance in an underwritten role, and Dermot Mulroney (most recently seen as POTUS in Marvel’s Secret Invasion) has even less to work with as Tara’s father. However, both provide a bit of star power and their presence adds a sense of legitimacy to the whole project.

There are few other notable characters in the piece but all of them deliver good performances: Lizze Broadway as Tara’s BFF, Michael Copper Jnr as Tara’s boyfriend, Mary Buss as her asylum-dwelling aunt, and Jackson Dean Vincent as younger brother Caleb. Outside of this, the cast are made up of clueless police officers, would-be victims for the killer, and red herrings, but surprisingly there isn’t a bad actor among them which almost seems a requisite in such low budget horror movies.

Lauder’s direction is good. In fact, it’s too good for such a film and some of his artistic setups and nicely framed shots seem completely incongruous when dealing with this relatively unremarkable genre flick. He deserves better material. Gore-hounds will be disappointed with the kills: most are off-screen (accompanied by a splash of blood on the wall) or are edited out of all recognition. It’s here that the low budget is at its most obvious, and although the script offers little in the way of mystery or suspense, Lauder at least manages to create a pervasive sense of dread.

The Inhabitant is not great, nor memorable, However in a world where it seems like three dozen new low budget horror films appear on streaming services every week, it is at least nice to see one that attempts to pull itself up out of the sea of mediocrity. It may be damning it with faint praise, but on that score The Inhabitant tries and just about succeeds.

TheInhabitantwill be available on Digital Download from 14th August and can be pre-orderedhere