The Perfect Tenant (2000)

Your lease is about to expire

Actress Linda Purl was associate producer of this film directed by Doug Campbell, which may explain her walking in slow motion for the first time she is seen by Maxwell Caulfield, who rents her guest house because of a hidden agenda. Campbell also provides a long take of Purl in closeup for a memory she has while in a car (thankfully not driving), where she looks very lovely but also a little like Caulfield's wife Juliet Mills. The teleplay by M. Todd Bonin, Jim Vines and the director is a serial killer thriller, with touches of incest, pedophilia, mental illness, and an odd romance, where one victim awkwardly embraces another, and an obscure line in "It's not easy to turn pages in a straitjacket". However within the potboiler limitations of this kind of material, Campbell paces events nicely, and though the musical score by Richard Bowers is generic and the freezeframes unnecessary, he sets up a number of expectations then gives them unexpected payoffs. The biggest flaw in the narrative is the presence of Caulfied's sister, since it telegraphs the result of the climactic confrontation, and also undermines Caulfield's motivation. I could have done without a hand falling out of a makeshift coffin, specifically occuring to be witnessed, a back and forth chase in a forest clumsily handled, and the silly conclusion, but Campbell does better with the actors. I liked Tracy Nelson the best as a neurotic girlfriend of Caulfield, and it's nice to have Earl Holliman as Purl's father, underplaying his big scene. Purl has a strong believable persona and also technique to put a spin on her lines, and Caulfield isn't the embarassment expected. Approaching 40 at the time of this film and still a handsome man, no longer being a heartthrob means Caulfiend needs to be lit carefully (his profile shots are particularly exposing), though it appears any loss of beauty is certainly made up for in increased acting ability. July 6, 2001

He's the perfect tenant!

Really good performances by actors Maxwell Caulfield, Linda Purl, and Early Holliman in this taut, above par thriller. Technical aspects are also better than most films of this particular ilk. Turn off the lights, grab a bag of popcorn (and a loved one) and enjoy! August 15, 2000

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