13 Cameras (2015)
5/10
"Creepy people in creepy situation" is disturbing at best.
17 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
In order to immersive audience in stalker / home invasion horror, the movie needs to have a sympathetic protagonist, invitingly bad antagonist and a condition to set up the ordeal. "Slumlord" only presents half of that as none of the characters are appealing. The wife is constantly complaining and babbling, the husband is a pathological liar and the villain doesn't have much personality aside from a few sentences and a lot of grumblings.

Story revolves around the couple and their Quasimodo-like stalker. This antagonist is lacking on backstory or motivation, it's actually amazing that he becomes a handyman with his verbal barrier. The movie portrays him as personification of a freak, and this can get a bit frustrating as it spends hefty amount on his close up, grunting and mumbling. The supposedly protagonist couple is also appalling, bickering for nearly the entire movie.

It's understandable that the movie wants to have problematic couple for more identifiable character, but they come off as whiny and deceptive. The least unsavory character is the supporting role and he's only there for a few scenes. There's also a mix of found footage in the stalker gig, but it doesn't provide much aside from a couple of decent angles and this also plays out one or two times too many.

There's not much horror to be found here, any sense of dread is merely disturbing instances, which is not entirely bad. it knows how to play on this premise. There's a particular eerie ambiance that a person can just enter one's home. However, it might repeat itself too much and the use of blaring sound effect feels forced.

The thriller moves with a dreadful setting, it may not be terrorizing, yet it's eerily repulsive enough for a few moments.
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