DEAD RESIDENCE tells the story of a young couple who move into a fixer-upper. As they renovate it, it becomes increasingly evident that they are actually in mortal danger.
The concept behind this found-footage movie could have yielded a decent horror thriller, but alas, it is implemented so thoughtlessly that the film becomes a total dud. The entire house-hunting and renovation parts of the movie are characterized by a deadly (to the audience's goodwill) trifecta:
1. They are unrealistic: The way the couple goes about renovating the house is not how it would be done in real life. My knowledge of home renovation is extremely limited, but even I know that you don't just paint over mold-infested surfaces. There are several such actions , including the negotiation for the price, for which the only justification would be if the film wanted to tell us that this couple is exceptionally stupid. I don't think that is what the movie wanted to convey, but based on the unrealistic reaction of the guy when they first see the hidden snuff footage, I am not so sure.
2. They are inconsistent: The couple seems extremely enthusiastic about buying the house while the girl repeatedly keeps calling it "nasty". Unless the film wanted to convey to us that she has some kind of dirt fetish, this is inconsistent. It took me right out of the story.
3. They are boring: I mean, seriously, how did the film-makers manage to turn something that for most people is one of the biggest decisions in their life into such a snooze-fest? I think partly it is because the entire sequence was way too long. It positively felt like filler to me. This is reinforced by the fact that we learn little about the character or aspects of the story as the mundane events proceed.
I blame all this on thoughtlessness in execution.
It is quite evident that the dialogue is improvised, plot lines like the potentially racist neighbors go nowhere; and the actual horror starts very late (about 55 minutes into this 68 minute film) and when it starts, it is immediately obvious who the villain is.
To me, the entire lack of thought in making this movie is encapsulated in a scene where the neighbors bring the couple "homemade cookies" in a commercial cookie wrapper, as opposed to, say, on a plate.
This film is just a quick attempt at making a buck, nothing more.
