Official Synopsis
From renowned author and filmmaker Kier-La Janisse (Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror), The Haunted Season is a series of chilling horror tales following the classic tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas. The new film in the horror anthology series, The Occupant of the Room is based on the classic chiller of the same name by Algernon Blackwood about a schoolteacher whose late-night arrival at a hotel in the Alps without a reservation leaves him with no option but to accept the room of a missing hotel guest – leading to a sleepless night full of strange and uncanny occurrences.
Review
Kier-La Janisse writes and directs The Occupant of the Room, a truly chilling adaptation of the short story of the same name by Algernon Blackwood. Devotees of ghost stories are absolutely going to want to watch this film. It captures the finest qualities of classic specter-driven cinematic chillers and boasts a top-notch lead performance by Don McKellar.
Schoolteacher Minturn (McKellar) arrives at a remote hotel on a winter night and finds there has been a reservation problem. After some deliberation, he accepts management’s offer to stay overnight in the room rented by a woman who has been missing since going on a hike. From the moment of Minturn’s arrival, Janisse invests the film with the sense that something is off, and that sense segues into ever-increasing dread.
McKellar is superb in his role, conveying marvelously the heightening unease his character feels. Ben Petrie as the hotel’s porter and Delphine Roussel as the proprietress provide solid support that nicely adds to the enigmatic proceedings.
Janisse builds the tension masterfully, and the crescendo of a dizzying, hypnotic animated sequence by Anna Malina Zemlianski takes the distressing feeling to another level. Production designer Anthony Pace’s set design is stunning, and Cinematographer Karim Hussain captures everything splendidly.
The Occupant of the Room, from Severin Films and currently streaming on Shudder, marks the second film in The Haunted Season anthology. A new episode will premiere each December on Shudder in the tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas. The first film, To Fire You Come At Last (2024), is also currently streaming on Shudder.
