The good landlords are the ones who never pull the surprise pop-in, but are always there when the toilet gets backed up. The bad landlords are always coming around deliberately looking for something to bitch about in order to raise the rent. Good or bad, they both have one terrifying truth in common: they have keys to your house.
For his debut film Slumlord, which had its world premiere at the ongoing Fantasia Festival, writer-director Victor Zarcoff takes the scummiest landlord imaginable, Gerald, and makes him all too eager to use that extra set of house keys on expecting young couple Claire and Ryan. They move into one of Gerald’s rental homes out in the burbs in hopes of rescuing their marriage from the pits of uncertainty. Fresh home, fresh start. Their new surroundings don’t do much to quell Ryan’s cheating heart, however, and it’s not long before he’s screwing his assistant while Claire’s at prenatal yoga.
She’s unconscious of Ryan’s infidelity (what a dick), but they’re both dim to the fact that Gerald is watching their every move. The film opens with the wheezing, unhygienic landlord installing numerous hidden cameras throughout the house. He watches silently while they’re home and lets himself in while they’re away – sniffing panties, licking toothbrushes, and a host of other gross shit. At least he’s nice to their dog, Baron. I’ll give him that.
What is all this peeping and panty-sniffing building up to? Gerald’s motives are never clear. He’s given no backstory or any hints as to what drives him whatsoever. He sweats, stinks, and slobbers down fast food. That’s all we got on the perv. Sometimes these weirdo enigmas make for the best villains. Like a force of pure evil that just comes out of the fog to fuck with the world. That’s Gerald. There are some hints to his human side, particularly during his scenes alone with Claire and his genuine like for their dog. Imposing actor Neville Archambault, knows when to show Gerald’s vulnerable side. You get the impression Gerald had a rough childhood and probably hung out a lot under bridges.
When Ryan’s mistress begins calling in the middle of the night and showing up at their house, Gerald sees his chance to save the marriage. Being that Gerald’s understanding of relationships is a tad off, his marriage counseling services include some absolutely heinous acts that build up into pure rampage. Did I mention your landlord has a key to your house? Don’t bother locking the doors.
Archambault’s performance is astoundingly unsettling and as Claire, Brianne Moncrief is the film’s emotional anchor. The problem is that Slumlord has trouble balancing the relationship drama with the slimy surveillance plot. Watching Gerald involve himself more in their life is anxious and disturbing to watch, but the drama between Claire and Ryan is never really that engaging. Zarcoff does a wonderful job bringing us into Gerald’s putrid world, so much so that I wish we got to spend more time with him. When Gerald’s psyche is tossed over the edge, it’s sincerely shocking. But the marital drama building up to it drags the pace. A few times while enduring their relationship drama, I was wishing for Gerald to get on with the bloodbath already.
A balance between the horror and drama aspects is never finely tuned, but Slumlord is still a suspenseful, distressing film to watch. Like Gerald, I was in desperate need of a shower afterwards.