El habitante incierto (2004) Reviews

• Lurking out for number 1

  doctor132007-03-03

  Okay, this is what I think happened (SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!!): Felix and Vera have broken up, and he is lonely. His neighbor, Martin, who is constantly trying to find things to do to avoid his wife Claudia since the accident which has left her paralyzed, discovers the tunnel in his basement and tries to figure out where it goes. This leads him to Felix's house, where after scoping out its street location, Martin decides that the tunnel ends in his neighbor's basement, so he contrives a way to get inside. He pretends to need to make an urgent phone call, and once inside, Martin asks Felix if he has a basement and upon learning that he does, he returns to his own house, where his wife Claudia locks him in their basement. Martin, realizing that he will die of insulin shock if he doesn't get out, uses a pickaxe on the wall of the tunnel hoping to escape into Felix's basement. Felix hears the pounding of the pickaxe on the wall and is being driven crazy by the noises, which Vera believes is a loose bedroom window shutter banging in the breeze. Felix and Vera make love, but Felix later finds her missing from their bed. He goes to the kitchen, where he hears the voice of Claudia talking to Martin about being discovered by Bruno echoing through the tunnel into his house, but he mistakenly thinks that it is Vera talking to the intruder. He enters the kitchan to find her alone. Vera, naturally, has not heard the voices and doesn't know what Felix is talking about, so she gets angry at his accusations and leaves. Felix becomes more paranoid by the thought that the man is still in his house, so after the accidental death of Mrs. Meuller (the dog was just running upstairs and her fall WAS an accident), he acquires a gun and goes home where he sees the shadow of an intruder in his attic. He shoots them sight unseen, then in a fit of vengeance, locks up his house so the stranger will die inside and he'll be rid of him once and for all. Felix destroys his alarm system in the event that the intruder gets a door or window open but is too weak to escape, the police will not be summoned. Felix drives to a spot in the neighborhood to wait while his captive dies, but 2 kids see his drawing of Martin and recognize the man. Felix goes to Martin's house and breaks in, returning the favor, but soon becomes obsessed with Claudia, who (possibly in Felix's mind) resembles Vera. Bruno, a friend of Martin's, is in unrequited love with Claudia, and when they realize someone is in the house, they chase Felix into the basement, where he discovers the tunnel. He follows it and finds Martin, dead, then escapes back into his own house through the hole Martin has started. Wounded in the back by Bruno, Felix has to know who he shot in the attic and he drags himself to the door where he sees through a hole she made trying to escape, Vera lying on the floor, wounded and bleeding to death. She had returned to his house, using her keys to get in, to look for his portrait of her. As Felix watches her, he is shocked to hear her talking to her unborn fetus, which is undoubtedly his child. Does this sound cohesive? Did I miss anything?

• This may help

  david_stephen302007-05-28

  This was an amazing film, it was fresh and original and really does keep you on the edge of you seat. From reading previous comments on here i think the following info my clear up a bit of confusion. ***FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS, DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM*** The kitchen scene where Felix hears his girlfriend talking to someone, saying that they cant hide forever and we have to tell him your inside, this is his girlfriend talking to her unborn child! she had not revealed to him that she was pregnant but was preparing to do so, she of course speaks to the baby again at the end of the film. Hope this helps. People should be forced to buy this film its so good!!

• Such an original thriller...

  rainking_es2006-07-04

  Is it possible to live in somebody's house hiding all the time and avoid that the inhabitants there detect your presence? Well, that's the question this original story deals with. "El habitante incierto" keeps the audience on the alert, 'cause you don't really know what's going on. That plot remind me of Ki-Duk Kim's "Bin Jip" (but that's the only point in common between these two movies). The movie has a good script, though some dialogs are rather affected and there are a couple of characters that are not well defined. Anyway, the film as a whole really thrilling and brilliant, and the actors are quite reliable (specially Mónica López who plays two different roles). In short: a nice choice. *My rate: 7/10

• A disturbing, uncommon thriller about the ghosts of loneliness.

  ana_figueres2005-01-13

  A young, thorough architect separates from his girlfriend and finds himself alone in a huge house. What could happen if an unknown man, after asking for using your phone at night, vanished from your living room while you were politely waiting in the kitchen? This is a rather unclassifiable movie. Between drama and thriller (and even a bit of disturbing comedy), it does look lushly filmed -Variety words-, well paced and definitely different from most first movies shot in Spain. Although the film suffers from a few hesitating moves, and it is not for lazy, easy-going audiences, it's well worth watching and contains some really bright, new ideas. One more turn of the screw around loneliness, voyeurism and affections - but a really interesting one.

• Mystery , terror , intrigue about a couple who has broken up and the mysterious events subsequently happen

  ma-cortes2014-11-26

  The same producers , Mar Targarona and Joaquin Padró , who ulteriorly will make ¨The orphanage¨ ¨The Julia's eyes¨ or ¨Los Ojos De Julia¨ , ¨X3pd¨ , and ¨The Body ¨or ¨El Cuerpo¨ bring us another unsettling film , this ¨El Habitante Incierto ¨ or ¨The uncertain guest¨ . The film contains tension , thriller , drama , mystery , plot twists and shocks , including decent scares with tense terror sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement , near of the end . It deals with an architect called Felix (Andoni Gracia) who has just split up with his fiancéé called Claudia (Monica Lopez) and inhabits a big mansion in the great city of Barcelona . Then a stranger into your house to use your telephone , while he has been patiently waiting in the kitchen , he finds out how many hiding places there really are at his home . But are there enough to hide another individual , a rare parasite of living space ? . The premise is the following : whether Felix being stalked by an strange visitor or is Félix really going nutty ? Open the door to your worst nightmare . This suspenseful movie was produced by the successful Catalan producers Mar Targarona and Joaquin Padró ; it displays relentless thriller , intrigue , Kafkaesque incidents , shocks , hard-edged drama , twisted plot , creepy images and some gore when crimes take place . ¨The uncertain guest¨ is a motion picture that balances precariously over the dark comedy , ¨Psycho¨ Hitchockian intrigue , Michael Haneke's ¨Funny games¨ invasion genre and Michael Powell's ¨Peeping Tom¨ style . Despite its low budget the picture manages to be intelligent , intriguing and thrilling . The good thing about this film is that the directors made it on a shoestring budget only having to do one set , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . This is an interesting flick as well as a superbly written script delving into the human psyche in such extreme situation . The overall result is chilling proof that filmmaker Guillem Morales can take us back into a house while delivering a completely different scare . Although is sometimes slow moving and stagy , however is entertaining for continuous suspense . The cast is frankly well giving fine performances , though little known actors , such as Andoni Gracia as insane Felix and Monica Lopez as wheel-bounded-chair Vera ; including brief performances from Francesc Garrido and director Agusti Villaronga . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere is finely photographed by cameraman Sergio Bartroli , being filmed on location , mostly interiors , in Valldoreix , Esplugues De Llobregat , Sant Cugat del Vallès , Barcelona , Catalonia, Spain . Suspenseful and stirring musical score by Marc Vaillo. Spanish fantastic film has been having an incredible renaissance over the past 15 years. From Álex De la Iglesia to Jaime Balaguero to Alejandro Amenábar to Paco Plaza to Nacho Vigalondo, all range of horror, science fiction and fantasy has been pouring out of the country, to be embraced by cinephiles and cult film enthusiasts , and with ¨The uncertain guest¨ by Guillem Morales , the Spanish terror cinema advances more and more . This motion picture relatively cheap was professional and tautly written and directed by Guillem Morales who subsequently realized another hit titled ¨The Julia's eyes¨ also dealing with violent confrontation among two characters . The movie will appeal to suspense enthusiasts and twisted intrigues buffs . It's well worth watching and contains some really eerie scares and disturbing images . This is without a doubt a thought-provoking and thrilling film to be liked for suspense fans , turning out to be one of the most original Spanish movies of the last years . A new international version of 'The Uninvited Guest' is on its way along with remakes of Guillem Morales' Julia's Eyes The Orphanage' from Ja Bayona" and as well as a remake of Oriol Paulo's The Body.