The Inhabitant (2022)

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you don't have to be scared of the dark if you're the only one holding the axe. It's all about perspective, I guess. Like breaking and entering into the home of a recently released serial killer, completely oblivious to what awaits you.

"Stuck in here with you? You're all stuck in here with me!"

I really only picked this up as I had watched Odessa A'zion in Hellraiser a few days ago, and she did alright, all told, so why not? It's horror month, after all. Dermot Mulroney was a welcome, if completely surprising, bonus.

If Christopher Lee had 'something of the night' about him, then A'zion certainly exudes more than her fair share of 'helter-skelter', that darting, unpredictable flitting portion of balls-out crazy, waiting to be unleashed for god knows what reason. Decent casting then, for a Borden descendant.

It's a little ponderous and has more than a passing issue with pacing, with perhaps more navel-gazing than is really required for a horror yarn with unavoidable mental health overtones. Is this young woman crazy, or is it all Lizzie's fault? The gore is practically PG rated, and what's more, rarer than the ex-wife admitting she was wrong about something and wearing 'that red see-through thing I like' to make up for it.

The score is very good in an unsettling, itchy kind of way and amplifies the dark foreboding throughout, but this is more moody than sloppy for the most part and the bloodlust is practically absent. The performances from all those you'll recognise are fine to good, with A'zion putting in a great turn in the lead role.

At times, it feels like an homage to hereditary insanity, dressed up as an excuse to go ape-shit bonkers when the mood takes you. At others (and you really have to want it), a not overly creepy story about the family history of a famous lunatic that liked to be the only one holding the axe.