THE OCCUPANTS ** U.S.A. 2014 Dir: Todd Alcott 79 mins
Lucy has a new husband, a new home and a new baby, but old ghosts won’t let her be. She tries to help the tortured souls break free of their torment and move on, but soon finds these ghosts don’t want her help. ‘Can the cycle be broken?‘ is a phrase that comes up alot throughout obviously referring to the work that Lucy does as a counsellor.
It doesn’t only refer to that though it also can be seen as to what is happening in her own life and home. Too many ideas crammed into one film hardly ever works and often leaves the audience feeling annoyed. Ghosts, mysteries and the story of abuse which sadly gets lost even when you get to the final act that makes you question everything you just watched but not in a good way. One of the best things about this film is the performance by Cristin Milioti as Lucy who really gives it her all. When you first meet her she is this optimistic helpful person but when things begin to unravel in her own life she looks tired, beaten and on the edge of a nervous breakdown. While the film does fine trying to find its own little step into the horror/thriller realm it is soon blown away when the spirit father shows up looking alot like Jack Nicholson’s character from THE SHINING Jack Torrance. Thus eroding any memory of what THE OCCUPANTS was aiming to do and leaves you cold to what this could have been. Overall THE OCCUPANTS comes across as a quickly made for t.v. movie that will easily be forgotten.
Review by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins