Tenants review: A funny, clever new horror anthology

Apartment buildings can be a great place to live, but they also frequently pop up in the horror and thriller genres because of the oddities that can occur behind closed doors. If you live in a typical suburban neighborhood, you have a house that is distinct and separate from your neighbors, but people in an apartment building all technically live within the same domicile. There's some overlap that can lead to a lack of privacy and strange phenomena. That's the idea played with in the new film Tenants, from Cranked Up Films.

Tenants features multiple segments along with one "wraparound" that fills in the gaps between the stories. The primary storyline here is that a woman, Joni (Mary O'Neil), is desperately searching for her lost sister in a strange apartment complex. But she's unaware that she's being trailed by an ominous figure stalking her from floor to floor. As Joni traverses through the various hallways and rooms, we see other horror stories unfold among the various tenants she encounters.

As is often the case with anthology films, some segments are better than others, but overall Tenant presents a solid and horrifying collection of stories, each of which seems to take on its own subgenre to give audiences a taste of different types of horror. Some lean into body horror while others are definitely more comedic in tone.

One of the best segments involves two roommates who just can't seem to get along and things escalate to hilarious and disturbing consequences. Another one I liked was the "Acting Rash" segment and the overall wraparound story featuring Joni is solid too, as it slowly builds to an exciting climax in the film's final act.

In short, if you're a fan of horror anthologies in general, or shows like Creepshow, The Outer Limits, Tales from the Crypt, with a dash of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, then Tenants is a great choice for a late night movie watch...especially if you happen to live in an apartment yourself.

Tenants is now available to rent or buy from digital retailers like Apple TV and Amazon Video.