There are some unintentional laughs in THE LANDLADY as the plot gets more and more absurd--but it does hold the attention as you keep wondering how this lady's killing spree will end. Talia Shire does a credible job of making the title nutcase a frighteningly obsessed creature as she goes about plotting her next kill.
She plays a landlady obsessed with a hunky man she accidentally bumps into--on the first day of taking over as manager of a seedy looking apartment building. It's love at first sight (on her part) and she quickly decides that he will fill the void left by her husband whom she has efficiently murdered after finding out he cheated on her.
Thus the plot is set into motion as her obsession for her neighbor reaches titanic proportions. Saddest and funniest sequence has her eating popcorn while she stares at her neighbor through a two-way mirror while he disrobes. As the hunky neighbor, Jack Coleman does an excellent job--although it's hard to understand why he didn't fend off her designs on him a bit earlier. After all, her signals were not exactly subtle.
A watchable little film that has some gripping moments as Talia gets more and more over the top in her quest for fulfillment. None of it seems real and some of the lines and situations are laughable--but just try to look away!!
Summing up: a minor thriller with tongue in cheek approach to a serial killer's shenanigans.
