Recently we had the chance to see “The Inhabitants”, the new film directed and written by Michael and Shawn Ramussen, known for his previous work on “Dark Feed” and the script on John Carpenter’s film “The Ward”. The film, that will be released on VOD on October 13, might not be for the audience that expect lots of blood and gore, but nevertheless it brings a very good story that remind us of several thrillers of the 70’s.

In “The Inhabitants” we meet Jessica and Dan, a young couple that just bought an old New England’s house that has been a Bed and Breakfast hotel for decades, with hopes of picking up the business and start a new life away from the big city.

As usually tends to happen with this kind of “Random opportunities”,  just a few days after the young couple moved in, some dark details from the house’s origins come to the light and someone (or something) from the shadows starts to show a sinister interest in Jessica, which makes a severe dark change on her mood and personally. Her husband, refusing to think that these changes are merely due hormones or fatigue, decides to investigate deeper about the lives of the previous owners, discovering that the heart attack that killed one of the older owners might not have been due his old age, that there might be more guests on their house…

I actually liked the film, but I am aware that it might not be for the people that are looking for a fast story with lots of gore, however, the secrets that will be revealed about this little hotel go beyond a simple ghost story, and although I believe that it could have used a faster pacing and cut a couple of scenes, the film has a clear idea of where it wants to go and how to get there.

The story behind the “March Carriage” house was very interesting, and once you know all the details, you can easily see that there is enough material for more stories. The music that we can hear thru the film is very fitting, and there were several scenes that stood out due some sound effects employed, without abusing them or falling in the typical jump scares, even though there are a couple of them.

I liked the acting, and I think the chemistry between the main characters was very good, and at no moment their scenes as a couple felt forced, therefore when we start to see the deterioration in the relationship due the influence of certain presence on the house, we can’t help to worry about them, specially since this problem can not be solved with a simple “Let’s move out and let someone else deal with it”. The special effects, even thought they are very few, and more on the practical and make-up fields, were very good, but I think that we saw too much of the “other residents”, I know that might sound contradictory since I was complaining about the pacing, but since from very early on the film we see this is not a typical case of “The girl has gone mad”, I felt the film could have less time “the others” on camera.

In the end, I do recommend this film, but like I said before, you must be patient, so it can pay you in the end. The movie was directed and written by the Ramussen brothers and it has Elise Couture, Michael Reed, India Pearl, Vasilios Asimakos, Judith Chaffe, Erica Derrickson, Edmund Donovan and Rebecca Whitehurst on the cast.

“The Inhabitants” has an October 13 release date on VOD, and here is the trailer, although I think it contain some spoilers…. Watch it with that in mind.