eVil Sublet Review: When Your New Flat Has More Ghosts Than Amenities
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The first fifteen minutes of eVil Sublet are packed with horror-themed pop-culture references that should instantly thrill fans of the genre. It begins with an intense prologue scene that serves as an ode to the classic 1960 film Psycho and almost immediately gives viewers blood, deaths, and screams. The movie then switches to introduce the primary protagonists, quickly followed by the entry of an Ed-and-Lorraine Warren-inspired paranormal expert couple (you know, the Warrens from the Conjuring universe) who are wittily named Ned and Lorne.
Written and directed by Allan Piper, eVil Sublet is a horror-comedy indie movie that follows Alex (Jennifer Leigh Houston), a struggling voice-over artist, and her husband Ben (Charlie Tucker) as they move into a haunted Manhattan apartment because the rent is dreamily cheap for the spacious, furnished flat with an eat-in kitchen. Who cares if the last few tenants died gruesome deaths? Soon after they move to the new place, Alex starts to experience creepy supernatural occurrences. She struggles to convince Ben about the ghosts messing with her and must find a way to stop it before they become the next victims.
The apartment in question is hilariously apt for a horror-comedy, filled to the brim with creepy knick-knacks, including weird paintings, wacky posters, and grotesque dolls. Horror readers will love a room that’s got a bookshelf stocked exclusively with books by horror maestro Stephen King. eVil Sublet essentially taps into the old haunted-house trope, giving the NY flat a rich history of morbid deaths dating back to the late 19th century. It has a bit of a Hotel Cecil vibe, evoking the haunted property in Los Angeles infamous for several suicides, violence, and murders.
Charlie Tucker, as the practical, no-nonsense Ben, immediately reminded me of Ed O’Neill’s Jay Pritchett. Jennifer Leigh Houston wavered between entertaining and off-the-mark in her portrayal of Alex, the primary protagonist who bears the brunt of the evil spirits in the new apartment. I was hyped to see Pat Dwyer and Stephen Mosher’s performances as Ned and Lorne, the gay paranormal investigators who decide to help Alex out; however, Stephen Mosher was disappointingly wooden, despite a great theatrical appearance that was a cross between Uncle Fester from The Addams Family/Wednesday and an older Draco Malfoy.
eVil Sublet has plenty of fun elements for a horror-comedy, with often a lot happening on the screen—so much so that you might miss a ghost or two quietly moving behind Alex in some scenes. The spookiness is there—you have swinging doors, things moving on their own, and people dying; however, the second half is dragged out, and the tepid performances don’t help. One of the climactic twists is surprisingly good, where someone who probably deserved to die meets their end, so eVil Sublet ends on a high note.
Watch eVil Sublet if you’re up for a campy low-budget indie horror movie packed with easter eggs.
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