The Vagrant

This was close to being a lost 80's style horror-comedy classic, but just falls short of the mark in the end. The script was just a touch too weak, the comedy a tad too far between, and the horror not strong enough. With a few tweaks, it could have been great, but as is, it's just a average movie at best. Paxton is game, but the rest just doesn't quite add up.

Up and coming Graham Krakowski is a white, middleclass, wannabe yuppie. He buys a fixer upper house near the city center and moves in. However an old tramp also uses the house and Krakowski has to install a fortune of security devices. The tramp continues to get into the house and terrorise Krakowski, even though no one seems to see anything. As people begin to turn up dead, he wonders if it's all in his head and the police suspect him. Is the tramp real and, if so, what is his interest in Krakowski?

I didn't have high hopes for this despite the headline stars – they weren't big names then (this was one of Paxton's first lead roles). I also was put off by it's description as a horror/comedy – executive produced by Mel Brooks of all people! It started blandly enough but managed to have a few moments that fulfilled it's definition. It doesn't have out and out jokes, but some moments are funny – the police reaction to news of urination is the funniest. It also has some exciting moments of tension, but both are rare and scattered.

The story doesn't quite know what it's doing and because of that it's a little weak. However it does well enough to be entertaining, but it feels lost and slightly cheap. Paxton is actually quite good in a changing role, but Ironside doesn't have much to do. Marshall Bell as the vagrant is good despite just jumping out and going boo every 5 minutes – he is scary and unsettlingly unpleasant.

Overall this is OK to watch but isn't great. The comedy adds a strange mood to it and the drama/horror works quite well. Shame it feels a little cheap.

There are good movies and there are bad movies, and then there are movies so delightfully skewed that the terms "good" and "bad" cease to apply. The Vagrant is of this last variety.

Bill Paxton stars as Graham Krakowski, the epitome of young professionalism, who is buying his first home. On his first day in the new house (although "new" is a misnomer; the kitchen looks as if it was last updated around 1966), he walks in on a vagrant (Marshall Bell) hunched over the kitchen sink. Shortly after, he discovers the vagrant living on the vacant lot across the street. What follows is a paranoiac's nightmare; a hilariously twisted game of cat-and-mouse, with the vagrant testing the limits of Krakowski's sanity. The vagrant does such a good job of driving him crazy that nobody believes Krakowski when he insists the vagrant is out to get him. Especially skeptical is Michael Ironside, playing a dense-as-a-cement-block police lieutenant (with the unlikely name of Ralf Barfuss, no less). When Krakowski calls the police after finding the vagrant in his house eating a sandwich, Barfuss asks (with a sort of gleeful maliciousness), "And what kind of sandwich was this alleged man eating?"

When the murders start, nobody listens to Krakowski, who is convinced the vagrant is to blame. Barfuss is dead-set on nailing Krakowski for the murders, and even Graham's best friend questions his sanity.

This is the first horror movie I've watched where I was sure everything I was laughing at was actually intended to be funny. I knew I was having fun about 15 minutes into the movie, when the following exchange took place -

KRAKOWSKI: Quick, I think he(the vagrant)'s getting ready to urinate!

COP 1: Should we call for back-up?

COP 2: There's no time!

The Vagrant moves along at a pretty good clip, and the story, particularly the second half, plays out like one of the more surreal episodes of Tales from the Crypt. The balance between horror and comedy is a bit uneven, bordering on the ridiculously stupid at times, but still enjoyable. Michael Ironside is great in a rare comedic performance (although a larger role would have been nice); Marshall Bell's vagrant is an over-the-top boogyman who jumps out periodically to scare Bill Paxton; and it's just plain FUN watching Paxton degenerate from an uptight, neurotic yuppie to a scruffy, gun-toting trailer-park manager.

B+ if you're a fan of tongue-in-cheek horror-comedy or the main stars;

C- (or less) if you're a cinematic snob.

At times, I was wishing that Bruce Campbell played Bill Paxton's part. But I do like a good dose of the Paxton when I can get it, and I definitely got a different kind of role from him in this movie. Not the greatest thing in the world, but it definitely reminded me of something that would make a great short story or novella. Especially with the degrees of paranoia exhibited by Paxton's character. Also, it felt as if the writer didn't know where to take such a simple premise so it kind of goes all over the place for the second half. The movie starts in one area and ends in another. No real direction. But the back story was nice. For a film of this caliber, I wasn't expecting any reasoning.

It's also good to see Ironside and Bell in something together beyond Total Recall.

well the movie doesn't start as strong as one might think with this all-star line up, but really picks up after the fantasy scene where the Vagrant is humping Bill paxton's wife, this is the turning point of the movie where you don't know who to trust and where to turn for the next exciting scene. Just remember, you never know who the vagrant really is, dood.

This movie is what blew Paxton up to be in movies like Trespass, he puts on a heartfelt performance, even though he sleeps with 400 lbs. trailer park woman, he saves face by doing it while he is handcuffed, so its not really his fault. I gave this movie 9 stars because of the riveting plot and super cast.