The camera never lies

Director: Antii Jokinen,
Starring: Hilary Swank, Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lee Pace

After separating from her adulterous husband, the beautiful Dr Juliet Devereau (Swank) moves to Brooklyn and settles into a new life in a stunning and spacious loft apartment that seems too good to be true – and so it proves.

There are secrets behind every wall and terror in every room as Juliet gets the unnerving feeling that she is not alone. She is being watched. She is being stalked. And no one is safe when she discovers the relentless horror on her doorstep. But how do you stop an evil that you can’t see ... until it’s too late?

Finnish writer/director Antti Jokinen makes effective use of CCTV security footage captured on motion-sensitive cameras that the suspicious doctor installs. Swank is typically credible as a confident yet vulnerable professional woman and Morgan is subtly convincing as the insinuating Max. Unfortunately, Christopher Lee – in his first Hammer movie for 30-plus years – is wasted as Max’s crotchety grandfather.

This is yet another psychological thriller based on the creepiness of today’s surveillance society and while the second release from the reborn Hammer Films production arm isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff, if you’re looking for Friday night thrills, The Resident should do the job.

Genre: Drama | Horror | Thriller
Age Restriction: R
Runtime: 91 min