The Landlord (2009/I)

Director:

Emil Hyde

Writer:

Emil Hyde (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

He's stuck with the tenants from Hell.

Plot:

The Landlord is the story of Tyler, the unfortunate young proprietor of a demon-haunted apartment building...

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Demonic Cult | Oral Sex | Human Sacrifice | Abortion

Cast

Brian Amidei	...	Gary
Rom Barkhordar	...	Rabisu
Brion Bliss	...	Reggie
Ezekiel Brown	...	Det. Rosen
John Brown	...	Marty
Amanda Cohen	...	Baba
Michelle Courvais	...	Amy
Derek Dziak	...	Tyler
Kurt Ehrmann	...	Det. Lopez
Leah Graham	...	Girl Ghoul
Matt Griffo	...	Derelict
Jessica Hardy	...	Hooker
Emil Hyde	...	Motel clerk
Dan Kiggins	...	Insurance agent
Mike Madgiak	...	Tall Ghoul
Joan McGrath	...	Ms. Lipinsky
Rob McLean	...	Warren
Refugio Molina	...	Big Ghoul
Eileen Montelione	...	Teen Mother
Erin Myers	...	Donna
Lori Myers	...	Lamashtu
Phil O'Neil	...	Announcer
Mike Ryan	...	John
Paula C. Stevens	...	Counselor
Coye Vega	...	Cultist

Directed by
Emil Hyde

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Emil Hyde		written by

Produced by
Emil Hyde	....	producer
Dan Kiggins	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Karen Sandvoss

Cinematography by
Phil O'Neil		(director of photography)

Makeup Department
Samantha Daley	....	assistant makeup artist
Kristin LeClair	....	special makeup effects artist
Crystal Portillo	....	special makeup effects artist

Sound Department
Brandon Schabell	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Jennifer Hiltwein	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Phil Johnson	....	visual effects
Michael Lemke	....	rotoscope artist
Daniel J. Maher	....	rotoscope artist
Tyler Petrick	....	rotoscope artist
Charles Youssi	....	rotoscope artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Tim Abel	....	lighting supervisor

Other crew
Jennifer Hiltwein	....	assistant armorer

Production Companies

• Massive Ego Productions

Distributors

• Tempe Video (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Eagle One Media Distributor (2010) (UK) (DVD)
• Massive Ego Productions (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

USA:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Massive Ego Productions

Trivia:

Co-producer Dan Kiggins appears in a small role as an insurance agent.

Movie Connections:

References The Mummy (1932)

Soundtrack:

Look Out Below

A thoroughly endearing and often amusing slice of quirky independent horror comedy fun

Independent horror cinema can be quite a sketchy realm even for those who have a taste for it, and the same certainly goes for horror comedy, a good deal of which is neither adequately horrific or amusing. All the more satisfying therefore that The Landlord is a success in its efforts, with an interesting plot, likeably quirky characterisations and some laugh out loud moments, bolstered by a few doses of cheap but gutsy grue. The plot centres upon Tyler, landlord to an attractive townhouse where guests unfortunately tend not to stay very long. The place is home to two demons, to whom Tyler is servant and provider, and their taste for flesh leads to plenty of missing persons and stress for him. Meanwhile his corrupt cop sister Amy gets into more than she can handle with city vampires, and things come to a head for both as a pregnant young lady moves into an apartment. Writer/director Emil Hyde crafts a loosely plotted but always engaging tale, with a flair for both shocks and laughs and a good spread of offbeat and imaginative touches, there are a few surprisingly fierce moments and humour including a hilariously ghastly anti abortion propaganda video. The main performances work nicely, Derek Dziak is wholly sympathetic as the often exasperated everyman Tyler dealing with a bizarre situation, whilst Michelle Courvais is smart, sassy and compellingly authoritarian as the crooked Amy. Rom Barkhordar provides plenty of laughs as the goofy, shopping channel loving green faced Rabisu, whilst Lori Myers gives a sharp turn as the dog faced demon queen Lamashtu. As the young and pregnant Donna Erin Myers is sweetly ordinary yet determined, bringing an effectively contrasting touch of the ordinary to affairs. The kooky scoring of Karen Sandvoss is at turns light and potent, while Phil Johnson leads the visual effects, which are often colorful and towards the end head swimmingly so, with an always charming flair. There are a few little flaws, minor sound issues, the vampire subplot isn't much developed, the same goes for some of the side characters. But on the whole I found this a richly entertaining and pleasingly unconventional film, heartfelt and amply dosed with delightful moments. A fine achievement then, though at the same time it is the sort of thing one needs to have a yen for indie horror cinema to really dig.