‘She’d kill to find a decent man’
Room for Rent is a 2018 American horror thriller film directed by Tommy Stovall (Aaron’s Blood) from a screenplay written by Stuart Flack. The Pasidg Productions movie stars co-producer Lin Shaye, Oliver Rayon, Valeska Miller and Ryan Ochoa.
Plot:
Lonely widow Joyce (Lin Shaye) rents out a room in her house and becomes dangerously obsessed with Bob (Oliver Rayon), one of her guests…
Reviews:
“The horror aspect only begins to reveal itself near the very ending. It doesn’t help that the male lead isn’t all the intriguing. Yet, if you are a fan of Lin Shaye (and who in the horror community isn’t) then this is worth seeing. She is so good here that it makes you wonder why she isn’t appearing in bigger budget features…” Arrow in the Head
” …it’s not packed with incident, with the opening stronger than the closing. Still, whenever the film runs out of gas, there’s Shaye to focus on, single-handedly working every angle of her character with professional ease, making Joyce’s journey from shrew to slayer clearly defined and always engaging.” Blu-ray.com
” …director Stovall (Aaron’s Blood), although certainly competent, doesn’t infuse the proceedings with the sort of cinematic stylishness that would have elevated Room for Rent above B-movie status. Nonetheless, it’s essential viewing for Lin Shaye fans, and that’s more than enough.” The Hollywood Reporter
“The smart voice-over – actually passages from the romance novels Joyce obsessively reads – ties in to some of the action we see on the screen; it is a quirky and cute idea that pays off in spades […] This is sometimes awkward car crash viewing; you cringe at Joyce’s overtures and appeasements, and dread the path she seems to be choosing; yet it is compelling to watch.” The Movie Waffler
“Room for Rent uses the essence of thrillers like Misery, Single White Female and Fatal Attraction, but manages synthesize them into a new experience that gets under your skin in the most subtle of ways. For those who are willing to endure a film that seems like it could be ripped from the headlines to become a national news sensation in our true crime obsessed media world…” Pop Geeks
“Joyce keeps nearly every scene feeling unsettling throughout and you will be left just wanting to see if she does something over the boundaries or not. The setting within one home helps with the creepiness going on through the film too because it feels like Joyce could just pop up anywhere.” Ready Steady Cut!
” …much care is taken to develop its main character from the slightly clumsy widow into a full-blown psychopath without just falling back on stereotypes or narrative shortcuts – with the deliberately open ending almost guaranteed to freak one out. And of course, Lin Shaye giving a great performance and leading a very solid cast totally helps to make this one extremely worthwhile.” Search My Trash
“The one thing Room for Rent has going for it is Shaye’s performance. She does a good job of going from a sweet old lady to jealous and manipulative. And then homicidal as the layers of her character are revealed. She’s obviously having a great time playing the psycho senior citizen and it is infectious at times. But as good as she is, she can’t save the film.” Voices from the Balcony
“Lin Shaye is brilliant finding the right level of delusion. You feel her failure of an upstart bnb just as much as you feel her lost after the death of her husband and tormented by the local teens. It’s slow and natural with an ending that’s subtle and unfulfilling but in a wham bam world of blunt horror movies I enjoyed this thriller that’s real and different.” Without Your Head
Release:
Room for Rent was released in select theaters on May 3, 2019 and May 7 on digital by Uncork’d Entertainment.
Cast and characters:
- Lin Shaye … Joyce – Grudge; Get Gone; The Midnight Man; Herbert West: Reanimator; The Final Wish; Insidious franchise; Wes Craven’s New Nightmare; et al
- Oliver Rayon … Bob – Super Shark; Blood Scarab
- Valeska Miller … Sarah
- Ryan Ochoa … Wayne
- Linda Cushma … Gladys
- Casey Nicholas-Price … Edward
- Tonya June Moore … Sheila
- Michael Harrelson … Wes
- Jose Rosete … Doctor Singh
- Justin Roberts … Gregory
- Trevor Stovall … Xander
- Jule Johnson … Mailman
- Shondra Jepperson … Waitress
- Michael Lopez … Delivery Man
- Greg Joseph … Minister
Filming locations:
Sedona, Arizona
