THE INHABITANT (2022): Crazy or Cursed?

Hello movie lovers!

A few days ago, I was scrolling through new movie releases on my download site and I stumbled upon a few potential watches. Having watched their trailers, I settled for 'The Inhabitant' because I'm all about catchy titles, attractive posters and intriguing trailers. This movie seemed to have met my requirements, so I decided to immediately give it a watch and probably write on it for the #spookymonth contest on this community. Well, here I am! 😁

Was this movie worth the watch? Let's find out my thoughts in this review!

ABOUT THE MOVIE:

Directed by Jerren Lauder, 'The Inhabitant' is a horror thriller film that was released in October 7th, 2022. It starrs major actors such as Odessa A'zion (Tara), Leslie Bibb (Emily), Dermot Mulroney (Ben), Jackson Dean Vincent (Caleb), Lizze Broadway (Suzy), Michael Cooper Jr. (Carl), Mary Buss (Aunt Diane) and Hartleigh Buwick (Lizzie Borden).

More like a mix of "slasher" and "psychological", this movie is centered around the life of a teenage girl, Tara who's juggling her mental health and eerie visions. She keeps seeing strange appearances of a black eyed woman dressed in white and carrying an axe. This reoccurring dreams happens to be connected with her family's legendary history and similar experiences were common to women under Lizzie Borden's lineage.

Now who's "Lizzie Borden"? Well, she's one hell of a "creepy maniac" believed to be possessed by some evil spirit after slaughtering her parents with an axe many years ago. And despite her death, Lizzie's ghost has continued lurking around and inhabiting the souls of living bodies to carry on her gruesome murders.

Tara, a descendant of Lizzie Borden used to live happily but her life has now become a hellhole. Following her boyfriend's relocation to Stanford, being bullied at school, sexual harassment and her family's curse, Tara has got a whole lot of angst weighing on her mental health.

The horrific nightmares of Lizzie Borden feeding her mind with sinister thoughts leaves Tara unsettled. One minute she's confident she'd never hurt her family, the next minute she's engulfed in her fear and doubts.

Tara's mom, Emily worries for her and fears she might become like her Aunt (Diane) who once killed her own infant. Emily recommends going to see a therapist but Tara insists that she's not crazy. She confides in her best friend, Suzy but it doesn't seem enough for her. Tara seeks to confront this spirit and unravel the mystery surrounding it.

In this process, there's the occurrence of shocking twists, unwarranted killings, jumpscares and bone-chills in the scenes as they unfold. Will Tara ever find a happy ending, will she be able to put an end to Lizzie Borden's curse? I think it's best you find out yourself because this movie is something you have to experience firsthand. Spoilers will be no fun at all, so I'll save it.

MY THOUGHTS:

Just when I'd concluded that horror films in recent times have taken a rather drastic turn, seeing 'The Inhabitant' has however changed my views. Unlike in 'Conjuring 2' where I slept off midway into the movie 😅, this new release gave me the jump scares and suspense needed to drive me all the way to the end.

The opening of the movie along with the ominous music hints us on the foreboding scenes to come. But truth be told, I didn't brace myself enough to handle those terrifying scenes because I wasn't expecting that much from the movie. I just assumed it'd be like those horror films with unfazed reaction.

At the onset, things were unfolding slowly but towards the end, the gore came on to quickly for me to catch a breath. My body kept calm but my heart kept pounding 😅. I think the movie messed up my head a little with those twists. The ending, I would say is puzzling, unsatisfying and incredibly creepy. It makes me wonder if there's a plan for another sequel. I guess only time will tell.

For the acting, the casts did a great job with their respective characters, I think Odessa A'zion's acting was the most prominent. I love the energy she put into keeping it real and natural. I couldn't help but notice her expressions, emotions and movements. I particularly like her boldness and audacity. With that attitude, I don't think there could've been a better Tara for this film.

The cinematography was not bad, the dark theme was fitting for the movie and even in the daylight scenes, the film still gives off that eerie vibes. Perhaps it's because of the setting which I also liked. It seemed like a quiet small town in the season of Halloween. That explains the decorations on most of the houses.

If there's something I don't like about 'The Inhabitant', then it'd be the fact that they left some scenes unexplained. One of which is the part of Suzy, Tara's best friend. I feel like her chapter ended abruptly when there's still more explanation to do.

In as much as I liked the chemistry between the two friends, I have a strange feeling about Suzy and her intentions. I could sense untold truths and dying silence on her part. Perhaps the producers did it intentionally to leave the viewers with guesses or they just wanted to rush things and wrap up the film.

Anyway, 'The Inhabitant' is a pretty decent and successful film. I'd give it a 7/10 rating though. And I highly recommend it. You could watch the trailer and decide for yourself. However, I believe you won't regret giving this film a watch as long as you can handle horror.

P.S. Lead image was designed by me on Canva.
The film poster was gotten from Source.
And the rest of the photos are screenshots taken from my phone.

THANKS FOR READING! ❤️