The Landlord is Micro-Budget Hell

The Landlord has a goofy story (but kind of fun), silly monsters, a slutty female cop and – gasp – Karaoke!

Written by The Horror Czar
May 28, 2009


Release: TBD
Written and Directed by: Emil Hyde

Starring:
Tyler Czarnecki as Derek Dziak
Rom Barkhordar as Rabisu
Michelle Courvais as Amy
Joan McGrath as Ms. Lipinsky
Rob McLean as Warren
Erin Myers as Donna
Lori Myers as Lamashtu

The young couple just cannot believe that the lovely apartment that they are touring is so inexpensive! The location is perfect, the neighbors are quiet and the open floor plan is wrought with possibilities. “We’ll take it!” they gleefully proclaim. The landlord Tyler (Derek Dziak) is more than happy to turn over the keys and collect his rent… in advance, please.

You see, Tyler has a secret. The new tenants get an inkling of the evil that lurks in their dream apartment when the husband becomes possessed by evil spirits, violently murders his wife and then takes his own life. The spirits then appear, feast on the flesh of the dead tenants and leave Tyler to paint over the blood on the walls and dispose of the picked-clean bones. The “for rent” sign will be in the yard in the morning – these evil spirits are constantly hungry and Tyler is responsible for providing them fresh meat.

What is Tyler to do when a female tenant comes along that he has the hots for? Will the snarky cop investigating the series of disappearance of those who rent this apartment find the evidence he needs to convict Tyler? Will the new tenant die from exhaustion after her energetic dancing on the Karaoke stage?

The Landlord is a horror comedy made for about a buck fifty. The story is fun with all of the twists and turns and sub-plots, but simultaneously goofy as hell. The evil spirits are adorned with make-up that makes the zombies from Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things look like Zsa Zsa Gabor on a good day. Don’t ask me where that reference came from… I have no excuse. But you get the idea.

The highlight for me was the energetic Karaoke singing by Tyler’s new crush. I actually groaned out loud and screamed expletives. And now… a confession…

At the conclusion of the Karaoke monstrosity and after a few lines afterward when the cops found some Satanic markings on the basement floor and met the demons face to face, the DVD ended. Not broken, just not fully duplicated on my copy. No more story, no ability to see what happened next, nothing. So, I don’t know how things turned out, nor do I have any idea whether The Landlord recovered from the tragic status of the first half. I was a little sad that I didn’t get to see how everything was wrapped up but quickly got over it. So, to be fair, this review is incomplete. Still, I’m kind of glad that it worked out this way.