When you were a child, surely every time you saw a horror movie about a haunted house, you asked yourself “Why don’t they just move out?”, and chances are, now that you are an adult paying the rent you know the answer… “Because we can’t afford to rent anywhere else”. This sad truth is part of the premise of “Evil Sublet” the new horror-comedy film written and directed by Allan Piper, and that will be released on VOD on October 1st.

Here is the Official Synopsis:

“Alex and Ben find their dream apartment in New York’s East Village (AKA the eVil). Who cares if it’s cursed if the rent is cheap and it’s got an eat-in kitchen, right?

But when the bad roommate situation of living with murderous ghosts becomes too much for them, they must enlist the help of friends to escape the evil of their sublet.”

I really liked this film, A LOT. It has a lot of humor and very nice running gags that made me chuckle and even laugh aloud several times. It managed to stay balanced between comedy and horror, although it does stays a little bit more with the humor than the scares. I am not complaining, because when the movie wants to be scary, IT BECOMES SCARY. This is something we can understand from the very opening scene, that got me hooked, by the way.

Now, let me give an idea of what to expect with “Evil Sublet”.

You know that moment in some comedy films, when a joke does not land and the film drags it for too long or the joke is repeated again and again in the movie, but still is not funny? Well, this film has EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE: It has several good jokes and gags that are very subtle and go by very fast, almost a “blink and you miss it” kinda thing.

This is one of the very few times where I feel I just saw an instant cult classic. I hope it does great, but I’m afraid that a lot of people are not going to catch some of the gags, because while the delivery is great, it might have been done too subtly, and yet, this is one of the charms of the movie.

I loved the chemistry between the two leads. I liked them right away, and the rest of the cast is very likable too. I found very charming the Psychic Couple that later in the film will help Alex and Ben to deal with their supernatural roommates. I would not mind seeing them in another movie dealing with more menaces from beyond.

I will point out that the lore that is explained about this haunted apartment was very good, and I have no doubt that it could be used for some spin offs.

I was very entertained through most of the film, and for a runtime that goes beyond the 100 minutes mark, I thought the pacing was very good. There was a moment where I felt the movie was losing its direction, but after we got a song that does a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, the film not only gets back on track, but it also gets a second wind and prepares to deliver a very solid third act.

There is a lot of other things that I liked about the film, but I will focus on just two things that I think were outstanding for what I thought was a low budget film: Very early in the movie we get a One-Take that last for a considerable amount of time and was very well done. Not only it introduces several characters in a very short period of time, but also provides a lot of information that will be important later in the film.

Another great moment is a scene where a character (not saying who) tries to escape the apartment after receiving a scare, but finds it almost impossible to get out. That scene I’m sure was done with some green screen, but DAMN, was a very cool shot and works flawlessly. I re-watched the scene several times and still I was impressed.

I will mention that there is some female AND male nudity. I am not complaining, just a heads up in case you see this with some family members that object to that kinda thing.

I have tried to think of anything major that could be counted as a negative, but honestly, can’t think of anything. I really liked the film and when possible, I would like to have it in my movie collection. Give this film a chance, it is very worthy of your time.

“Evil Sublet” will be released on VOD on October 1st.

The film was written, directed, shot and cut by Allan Piper. The cast includes the talents of Jennifer Leigh Houston, Charley Tucker, Sally Struthers, Pat Dwyer, Stephen Mosher, Michele Ammon, Leanne Borghesi and Patrick Wang.