hyped garbage

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Tense film about murders with thrills, chills , suspense and an amazing final . This intriguing and exciting story is based on a successful novel and it deal with a serial killer in L . A . executing his crimes like Jack the Ripper . An enigmatic lodger ( Simon Baker ) living in a Guesthouse whose owners are a grumpy security guard ( Donald Logue ) and his wife ( Hope Davis ), booth of them involved an uneasy relationship . Meanwhile two detectives are investigating a series of grisly neighborhood murders , a veteran Detective ( Alfred Molina ) and a rookie (Shane West).This is a thrilling story about astonishing murders in West Hollywood whose elusive killer is imitating to Jack the Ripper , it has two converging plot lines with various suspects and red herrings . Story's core is interesting and script is dense with information and drama . Good performance by Hope Davis as the psychologically unstable landlady . Excellent Alfred Molina as troubled Inspector engaged in a cat-and-mouse game and fine Simon Baker as suspect lodger who may or may not be guilty of a series of gruesome killings. The picture is packed with an adequate musical score by John Frizzel and colorful cinematography by David Armstrong . The motion picture is professionally directed by David Ondaatje . The Jack the Ripper character has been adapted on several occasions for cinema from the silent as ¨Pandora's box (1929) ¨ , multiple versions of ¨Lulu ¨ a prostitute killed by Jack , ¨ From hell (2001) ¨ played by Ian Holm and for TV in which appears as character in numerous series as ¨Jack the Ripper (1988)¨ played by Ray McNally and recently in ¨Sanctuary ¨ played by Christopher Heyerdahl .

A little background first.In 1888, In London Englamd Jack The Ripper savagely killed 6 ladies of the evening. Even though there were many suspects, & many theories, we never found out who he was or why this happened.In about 1925 Maria Belloc Loundes wrote the novel THE LODGER. It was a success, In 1926/7 Alfred Hitchcock who was starting to create a name for himself in Movies, made the silent version of the novel. We know what happened to Mr Hitchcock & his career,In 1944, the next version of The Lodger was made, starring Laird Cregar.Mr.Cregar was a huge man, only in his 20's very tall & very heavy. His very presence in any scene in any of the few films he made (he was only 28 when he passed on)commanded attention from the audience. This version was directed by John Brahm who was(at the time) made suspenseful movies 'ala' Hitchcock. It was a big hit and considered one of the better films of that year.Now we come to the current version. First, what was good in the film,the settings & costumes were very good,The killing were not seen in total, You hear victims scream & limbs moving.(this is the way they did it in both earlier versions). The acting was good by a talented cast; headed by Alfred Molina and Shane West as the 2 detectives assigned to the case. Hope Davis & Donal Logue as the couple who rent the guest house to Simon Baker, Philip Baker Hall as an FBI agent.Rachel Leigh Cook & the ever reliable, Rebecca Pidgeon also have major roles.We do not learn who the killer is until almost the end of movie, It is a slight but not unexpected surprise.Now for what I did not like. They changed the location from a slimy section of London Eng. in 1888 to modern Los Angeles, West Hollywood. The area is far from slimy,some parts are rundown but not like in the movie. I KNOW because I call the West Hollywood area my home.They have a few scenes in pouring rain, we rarely ever have such rain as depicted.This version was written & directer by David Ondaatje.Maybe because I may have seen too many films of this nature, I was not impressed. It had a very brief run in Jan.2009 & released to DVD in March 2009,.There are some nice extras on the DVD<Ratings: **1/2 out of 4..73 points out of 100.. IMDb 6.. out of 10

I have an undying love of true crime movies. There is something automatically fascinating about a disturbing story of true crime when there is the added effect that it is at least loosely based on real events. It's one of the most important things that makes me love movies like Zodiac or In Cold Blood or Dog Day Afternoon or even Silence of the Lambs, even though the real life element of that one is, ah, a little less specific. The Lodger, as you know, was Alfred Hitchcock's first major film, made in 1927, well before sound. The new Lodger has a tough time justifying itself, but it is not entirely without effect.The movie tells the story of a mysterious recurrence of Jack-the-Ripper-style murders, although it takes the crimes out of the London fog and replaces it on the wet streets of Los Angeles. A series of brutal prostitute murders have been determined to be exact replicas of very specific Ripper murders, even positioning the bodies the same places and making similar efforts in geography. Complicating matters is the fact that a man has already been jailed and executed for the murders, which unfortunately start happening again. Meanwhile, an unhappy housewife across town is routinely abandoned by her deadbeat husband, who repeatedly tells her basically to take her medication and leave him alone, and by the way, why can't she make herself useful and find a lodger for that old shed in the backyard. Money doesn't grow on trees, woman.She does find a lodger, one who acts sufficiently mysterious and suspicious, and for a while the movie turns into your standard murder mystery thriller, although I was glad to see the addition in the third act of the clouding issue of an unstable mind. It's a story-telling technique that is very easy to screw up, but when it's used right it can add a whole different experience to an otherwise straight-forward and uninteresting story. It is not used here as well as I've seen it used before (at least in originality), but it's true that it adds a much-needed extra layer to an otherwise insufficient story. Unfortunately, because the rest of the movie is a murder mystery the style of which is far too familiar by now, the instability idea seems like an effort to add something to an otherwise weak movie, and it's just not enough to make the movie at all memorable. In fact, some moviegoers will find it outwardly laughable.Alfred Molina plays a detective who is striving to solve the case, although I would expect an actor of his caliber to be spending his time on better movies than this. Unfortunately, despite his performance and a number of other mildly impressive roles, the movie is also peppered with horrible acting and ridiculously badly written characters.The lodger himself, first of all, is of the variety that acts extremely suspicious in ways that could only possibly happen if he were really the killer. When the wife accidentally discovers him burning clothing in the barbecue, he calmly explains that he was just trying to dry them. In a good mystery, perfectly normal behavior is made to be suspicious by the context of other actions, the music, the performances, etc. Who the hell dries pants on a barbecue?There is also the issue of a psychologist who analyzes the police's evidence about the mysterious killer, and offers an explanation that is little more than a lot of wordy nonsense that sounds like it was thrown together by a Psychology undergrad at UCLA with no other purpose than to sound impressive. Sadly, it doesn't. The ex-wife of Molina's character is also a mental case herself who, for reasons that I won't reveal, is unable to stand the sight of her husband. When she does at one point in the film, she descends into a hysterical fit of screaming which, had it gone on for about another three seconds, would have been enough for me to give up and fling the DVD out the window.But the movie's biggest problem is that it comes off as a standard mystery, the first half of which is designed to show why everyone is a suspect and the second half designed to deliver a thrilling finale that, when it comes, just isn't all that thrilling. The murder investigation is full of movie-miracles (like a footprint which is leaked to the press and printed "actual size" on the front page of the newspaper) but the real letdown doesn't come until the final scene, lifted directly out of Psycho and full of psychobabble nonsense. And the psychologist's analysis, believe it or not, takes place before the actual arrest. Fastest mental analysis ever!! But it's not so much that the psychological explanation doesn't make sense as much as the fact that the reasons given may send your palm(s) flying rapidly to your forehead. So be advised

"The Lodger," now on DVD develops a storyline involving a tenant living with a lonely landlady and serial killings in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles. The film seems to involve two separate stories, with different characters who meet in the final climactic finish; however, no closure is given to the story as the killer within "The Lodger," escapes capture. Alfred Molina, the lead in the film begins the story at the scene of a grisly murder and the picture revolves mostly around this character's attempts at tracking down an anonymous serial killer. The settings are primarily shot in the downtown Los Angeles area with several scenes from an urban neighbourhood contrasting the busyness of the city. The characters and lives of Detective Manning (Molina) are given an early initial reveal while the back stories of the landlady and the lodger are not given even a partial reveal until midway into the film. Near the end of the film the life of the lodger is given a partial reveal, which seems slightly disappointing.The original musical score that haunts the picture throughout really adds an entire dimension to the film that enhances the movie watching experience. The soundtrack begins early in the film, subtly and hovers in the background during many of the scenes. Composer John Frizzell produces an excellent composition that adds to the overall intensity of the film while highlighting certain climactic scenes. The musical score, while not taking center stage in the film makes "The Lodger," a more fulfilling visceral experience.Lighting, acting, and story development are each well done, but director David Ondaatje's use of Los Angeles city streets, in fast forward mode seems overly mysterious in tone. The movie begins with a CGI image of blood, in veins that transforms into the city streets of Los Angeles, and during the film several shots of traffic moving exceptionally fast break up the pacing within "The Lodger." Possibly symbolic of the transitory nature of the killer the streets of Los Angeles are shown throughout the movie to ease the pacing at certain key points in the film. As well, overhead shots of the sky, with clouds are meant to show the transition of time, but their symbolic interpretation seems ambiguous. On the acting side the portrayal of Rachel Leigh Cook as a somewhat distraught, lonely housewife is done with subtly and a flair for the under dramatic, that keeps the viewer's attention on the believability of the story. Other actors including; Alfred Molina as an over-worked detective, and Donal Logue as a potential suspect are especially well done and deliver realism to the story. In addition, the lighting, which takes place primarily in natural daylight, gives "The Lodger," an eerie feel as shots of alleyways and streets are shot in partial darkness.Director David Ondaatje, nephew of writer Michael Ondaatje delivers a strong film, surprisingly after only directing two previous feature films. Ondaatje switches often between the use of stead-cams and a hand held 35mm to display various shots of the Los Angeles landscapes and characters within the film. Often using medium shots at the beginning of a scene and then slowly rotating left or right as the director moves in for a close-up, Ondaatje's manages to keep the visuals interesting while keeping character interactions short. Many of the dialogue scenes between the landlady and tenant are kept to less than a minute, and often to less than thirty seconds. The quick changes between scenes and characters can be somewhat distracting, but Ondaatje is quickly moving the story along as the killer's vile habits are slowly given a reveal. Focusing on the killer's view or a knife blade the killer utilizes a mysterious quality, which while frustrating at times does manage to make the film slightly more intense. Another directing quirk from Ondaatje seems to be his love for filming feet as several frames are shot exclusively of women's feet and rarely of the killer's.The sets, actors, and filming techniques each do their part in delivering an excellent psychological thriller, that while overly sparse on the action scenes manages to hold the viewer's full attention throughout. The light musical compositions along with experienced actors are a bonus and both elements are able to develop a very intriguing story that delves into the motivations of a serial killer. "The Lodger," from relatively new director David Ondaatje does not give closure to the story, but the film, overall is very entertaining to watch.7 Creepy Skulls out of 10.