Occupant (film)

Last updated
Occupant
Directed byHenry S. Miller
Written byJonathan Brett
Produced byBlair Rosenfeld
Susan Dickey
Michelle Kalsi
Starring Van Hansis
Cody Horn
Thorsten Kaye
Release date
  • October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)
Running time
86 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Occupant is a 2011 American thriller film featuring Van Hansis as Danny, a young New Yorker about to inherit an old apartment. It was written by Jonathan Brett and directed by Henry S. Miller and shot in New York City, USA. It also stars Cody Horn and Thorsten Kaye.

Contents

The film premiered on the opening night of the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest on October 14, 2011 in New York City. On October 18, 2011, the film was released on-demand in many cable systems and on most digital platforms (i.e., iTunes, Amazon, Blockbuster, PlayStation) in the U.S. and Canada. A full list of providers, as well as trailers, interviews and other information can be viewed at the movie's website. The DVD will be released in November 2011.

Synopsis

Occupant is a psychological thriller about the value of patience and importance of human contact.

The film opens as an old woman dies in her bed. The following day her estranged grandson, Danny, comes to the rent controlled apartment to ID the body, and the building's strange doorman encourages him to squat in the apartment until a lawyer friend of the doorman can transfer the lease to Danny permanently.

Danny is instructed to not leave the apartment for 12 days by the Lawyer and then by the doorman Joe. Joe becomes his only contact to the outside world and brings him groceries, since if Danny leaves the apartment himself, the landlord could lock him out. After about three or four days he starts switching from the kid who had to be convinced to stay by the doorman, to the kid who feels that the apartment was for him, and only him. As the days progress further, Danny begins to suffer from cabin fever leading to delusions and hallucinations. Also during this time strange things begin to happen and other people that enter the apartment go missing.

By the 9th day his cabin fever has progressed to the extreme. On this day Danny’s cat Ziggy goes missing, Danny finds a bloody claw then goes crazy smashing through walls, thinking Ziggy is hidden behind it. The doorbell buzzes and neighbor tells him to keep down the racket. Then the power goes out.

On day 10 Danny requests razor wire and cutters from the doorman. Danny explains that he thinks the landlord stole his cat and cut his power. He turns on a light and the power is back on, but claims they are just messing with his head. He then sets up razor wire in his apartment as booby traps. When he calls for Joe the doorman, a new doorman shows up, claiming that Joe is sick and Danny must leave the apartment.

Danny now, set off by the loss of his cat and the doorman he knows, begins making crude weapons from things around the house.

Day 11 opens with him on the couch surrounded with razor wire, holding a crude weapon made from a tennis racket. The power is off again. When the power comes back on he starts smashing a chair, making too much noise. Another buzz of the doorbell brings the police, telling him to keep down the racket. The police officer also asks what the smell in the apartment is. Danny answers that it is dinner. Danny re-enters the apartment and opens a casserole in the oven to find his pet cat, charred.

Day 12 he calls his lawyer and gets no answer. So constructs another crude weapon of nails in a swinging door. He stands in front of the door and flashes back to some better times, then sees his dead grandmother’s face as she died and uses the swinging door weapon on himself. Later in the day, the doorbell buzzes and it’s his lawyer telling him the court order came through and the apartment is finally his.

The movie ends with the son of the new tenants, finding the video blog camera hidden in a piano. The child watches the SD card which reveals that Danny was a sleepwalker, who murdered every person and animal that entered the apartment.

Cast

Reception

HorrorNews described the film as "an interesting character study." [2] In a positive review New York Daily News said, "We like how director Henry Miller shoots the film. On screen, the building seems to hum. More than terrifying, the interiors and exterior, hallways and foyer, kitchens and closets, all seem to have depth, anger and emotion. It's like the building has tentacles sucking the tenant in." [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Apartment</i> 1960 film by Billy Wilder

The Apartment is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Willard Waterman, David White, Hope Holiday and Edie Adams.

<i>The Racket</i> (1928 film) 1928 film

The Racket is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, Louis Wolheim, and George E. Stone. The film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Tom Miranda, and was distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was adapted from Cormack's 1927 Broadway play The Racket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Costello</span> Italian-American mobster

Frank Costello was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by Vincent Gigante. However, the altercation persuaded Costello to relinquish power to Genovese and retire. Costello died on February 18, 1973.

<i>The Crow: City of Angels</i> 1996 film directed by Tim Pope

The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 American superhero film directed by Tim Pope from a screenplay by David S. Goyer, and sequel to the 1994 film The Crow in addition to the second installment in The Crow film series. The film stars Vincent Pérez, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Iggy Pop, Thomas Jane and Thuy Trang.

<i>SilverHawks</i> American TV series or program

SilverHawks is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes were made. It was created as a space-based equivalent of their previous series ThunderCats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buzz Sawyer</span> American professional wrestler

Bruce Alan Woyan was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Buzz Sawyer.

<i>The House on the Edge of the Park</i> 1980 Italian exploitation horror film by Ruggero Deodato

The House on the Edge of the Park is a 1980 English-language Italian exploitation horror film written by Gianfranco Clerici and Vincenzo Mannino, and directed by Ruggero Deodato. It stars David A. Hess and Giovanni Lombardo Radice as two criminals who infiltrate a posh gathering in a villa and violently turn against the partygoers after they mock them. The film is a loose remake of The Last House on the Left (1972), in which Hess also starred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Hansis</span> American actor (born 1981)

Van Hansis is an American actor. Hansis portrayed the rich Luke Snyder on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from December 14, 2005 until the show's final episode September 17, 2010. The son of long running characters on the series, Luke is known for a gay romantic storyline cited as one of the first in American daytime television.

<i>Reign Over Me</i> 2007 US buddy drama film by Mike Binder

Reign Over Me is a 2007 American buddy drama film written and directed by Mike Binder, produced by his brother Jack Binder, and starring Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, Saffron Burrows, and Mike Binder. The film follows the story of former college roommates and old friends Alan and Charlie, the latter of whom is struggling with depression after the death of his wife and daughters in the September 11 attacks. This was also Melinda Dillon's final film acting role before retiring from acting later that same year and her death in 2023.

"Duck and Cover" is the eighth episode of the second season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by George Pelecanos from a story by David Simon & George Pelecanos and was directed by Dan Attias. It originally aired on July 20, 2003.

<i>The Razors Edge</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by Edmund Goulding

The Razor's Edge is a 1946 American drama film based on W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel of the same name. It stars Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, and Herbert Marshall, with a supporting cast including Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore, and Elsa Lanchester. Marshall plays Somerset Maugham. The film was directed by Edmund Goulding.

"Stray Rounds" is the ninth episode of the second season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Tim Van Patten. It originally aired on July 27, 2003.

<i>Greedy</i> (film) 1994 film by Jonathan Lynn

Greedy is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and starring Michael J. Fox, Kirk Douglas, Nancy Travis, Olivia d'Abo, Phil Hartman, Ed Begley Jr., and Colleen Camp. It tells the story of an aging wheelchair-using scrap metal tycoon whose younger relatives compete to get the inheritance when he dies.

<i>Batman: Year One</i> (film) 2011 film directed by Lauren Montgomery, Sam Liu

Batman: Year One is a 2011 American animated superhero film based on the four-issue story arc of the same name printed in 1987. It was directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu. The film premiered at Comic-Con on July 22 and was officially released on October 18, 2011.

<i>Quarantine</i> (2008 film) 2008 found footage horror film by John Erick Dowdle

Quarantine is a 2008 found footage horror film directed and co-written by John Erick Dowdle, produced by Sergio Aguero, Doug Davison, and Roy Lee, and co-written by Drew Dowdle, being a remake of the 2007 Spanish film Rec. The film stars Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Steve Harris, Dania Ramirez, Rade Šerbedžija, and Johnathon Schaech. It follows a reporter and her cameraman assigned to a pair of Los Angeles firemen who follow a distress call to an apartment building where they discover a deadly mutated strain of rabies spreading among the building's occupants; escape becomes impossible once the government descends upon the building to prevent the virus from spreading beyond it, and the pair continue to record the events that unfold inside, of which the film itself is the result. Quarantine features no actual musical score, using only sound effects, and differs in its characters, dialogue, and explanation of the virus from its source material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward McWade</span> American actor

Edward McWade was an American actor, and screenwriter.

<i>Blood and Bone</i> 2009 film by Ben Ramsey

Blood and Bone is a 2009 American direct-to-DVD martial arts film directed by Ben Ramsey and written by Michael Andrews. The film stars Michael Jai White, Eamonn Walker and Julian Sands, and features martial artist Matt Mullins, former professional wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, MMA fighters Bob Sapp, Kimbo Slice, Maurice Smith, and Gina Carano.

<i>One for the Money</i> (film) 2012 film by Julie Anne Robinson

One for the Money is a 2012 American crime comedy film based on Janet Evanovich's 1994 novel of the same name. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson, the screenplay was written by Liz Brixius, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten Smith. It stars Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara, Debbie Reynolds, Daniel Sunjata and Sherri Shepherd. The story revolves around Stephanie Plum, a broke and unemployed woman becoming a bail enforcement agent, going after a former high school crush who both skipped out on his payments and is a murder suspect.

<i>Smashing the Rackets</i> 1938 film by Lew Landers

Smashing the Rackets is a 1938 American drama film directed by Lew Landers, written by Lionel Houser, and starring Chester Morris, Frances Mercer, Rita Johnson, Bruce Cabot and Edward Pawley. It was released on August 19, 1938, by RKO Pictures.

References

  1. ↑ San Vicente, Romeo (2010-09-30). "Van Hansis vacates daytime for 'Occupant'". Between the Lines . p. 24. ProQuest   757201840.
  2. ↑ "Film Review: The Occupant (2011)". Horror News | HNN. 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  3. ↑ "The Closer: Flips and splits of New York's real-estate community". New York Daily News . 2011-10-28. Archived from the original on 2023-11-07. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.