The Dark Satire Of EVil Sublet 23/01/2025

Introduction

eVil Sublet emerges as a thought-provoking and entertaining addition, brilliantly blending dark satire with genuine emotional depth. Directed by Allan Parker and featuring a diverse cast led by Jennifer Leigh Houston, this film explores the chilling realities of the American housing crisis through a uniquely paranormal lens. Set against the backdrop of a haunted apartment, the story intertwines humor, fear, and social commentary, showcasing the creators’ personal experiences during the tumultuous times of lockdown.

With its fresh take on familiar horror tropes and a celebration of queer representation, “eVil Sublet” not only promises to terrify but also to resonate with a spectrum of audiences. Dive into this captivating film that deftly navigates the intersection of societal issues, supernatural frights, and heartfelt connections.

eVil Sublet Review

In their crowdfunding summary of the film they still needed to finish postproduction on, the creators of eVil Sublet describe it as “a dark satire about the lengths Americans go to for affordable housing. It’s funny, scary, gory, & a bit sexy, with ghosts, creepy dolls, & freak shows.” Supposedly based on their own experiences with the haunted apartment they filmed in, knowing that they really did weigh up creepy happenings indoors against the true horror of apartment hunting lends an additional charm to the production story. Director Allan Parker (known previously for his documentary work) and his wife and star Jennifer Leigh Houston shot through lockdown, often crafting effects and shooting days completely alone to adhere to regulations. (https://seedandspark.com/fund/evil-sublet)

And there is so much to be charmed by onscreen too. So many fresh characters and threads of world building are casually weaved in that even this most well worn of horror stories feels fresh. The lead character, Alex, is a bisexual middle aged voice actress whose best friend is her ex-wife (Sally Struthers). As the filmmakers promise, “It defies gender, sex, and age stereotypes”. The ghostbusters helping them are “like the couple in the Conjuring. But gay!” and absolutely delightful.

It really helps to modernise and transform the story. Alex’s husband Ben (Charley Tucker) is a modern chilled out New York man, but the minute his wife tells him things he doesn’t understand, he sends her to a therapist instead of taking her seriously. They both are and aren’t exactly like every haunted house couple that preceded them.

The comedy often brought a killer joke, (the recorded shopping list really got me) but the film is strongest when it allows itself the sincerity to get frightening or emotional. Occasionally a quip undercuts scenes of real tension, in ways that similar great horror comedies avoid. (The continued gag about not going in the basement is verbally repeated the multiple times Alex is forced to do it; in the iconic Scream chase sequence, Sidney just runs up the stairs even though she’d made fun of anyone who would only moments before.

She might not appreciate the irony, but we are smart enough to without being led to it.) There is a sleep paralysis scene which genuinely got the terror of that more viscerally than almost anything I’ve seen before, and the real moments of intimacy between Alex and her past and present spouses are genuinely touching. 

There didn’t feel like a clear reason for the design of the main monster/ghost. It’s fun seeing the different ways the ghosts appear, and they genuinely make for a frightening image at the end, but there sometimes seems to be an impulse to lean into the striking over sense. There are a lot of really great possessed dolls, manikins and creatures around the home, but it never felt a weird enough film to allow them all to go by so unremarked.

Only a few are ever given backstory: it might have been fun to have a more Ghostwatch or even Blair Witch level explanation going on. It makes everything feel a little less focused, though successfully eerie. What I definitely could have enjoyed more of was the surrealist piece of musical that arrives in the second half. It’s nice to have more strange if not more answers.

The set dressing does a lot of the leg work to sell the apartment as a real place, with every room a convincing treasure trove of haunted leftovers. The film feels like a real return to a sleazy and almost Henenlotter-esque New York without trying to base the plot in anywhere but the current cultural moment.

And the film never lets us forget the stakes of said moment. They take the sublet, grisly history and all, because of the rent crisis. Alex yells at the bank over the cost of the financial crash on ordinary people. The subletter is revealed to be the worst kind of evil: a tired old bigot exploiting people for her own gain. All these political points are welcome but sometimes feel a little overly lingered on.

It’s an east coast feature length version of that one episode turned running subplot of Angel where Cordelia moves into a haunted apartment, but since most horror films are longer versions of horror-adjacent procedurals when you really think about it, this doesn’t bother me. (Also, that was one of the stronger early Angel episodes.) The characters feel real, and the actors have great chemistry. There are moments where the script and directing fails to line up something authentic – the scene where our lead is glued to the screen as it plays cartoons feels like the hardest to believe scene in the film – but these are very few.

Conclusion

Most charming of all is that the film looks great. The lighting is colourful, visually matching the kind of new queer horror appearance showcased best in recent works by Alice Maio Mackay and Jane Schroenbrun. I can definitely see myself rewatching and I’m excited to see what the filmmakers do next. 

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