Do you have a landlord? An apartment manager? Someone in charge of your building? They have the keys to your home. You know that, right? Of course you do. I’m sure you trust them to only come in when invited and to give you 24-hour notice before they do.  They would never ever betray that trust by creeping into your place while you’re at work, going through your drawers or closets, or installing mini cameras in every room.

Right?

Victor Zarcoff’s new film, 13 Cameras, takes this creepy scenario, and then ramps up the tension and amps up the crazy until it explodes in a violent climax of obsession. PJ McCabe and Brianne Moncrief are Ryan and Claire, a couple expecting their first baby, who move into a new home. They are shown around the place by Gerald, the hulking landlord, a slow ungainly brute of a man with a slack jaw and a vacant expression.  He’s weird, and he smells, but he seems harmless enough.

Heh.

Ryan and Claire have their own problems as a couple: Ryan is having a secret affair with his assistant, they’re both sniping and fighting with each other all the time, and Gerald is spying on them via the many minicams he has hidden throughout the house.

Neville Archambault does an amazing job as Gerald. There’s a way that he carries himself throughout the movie that puts you ill-at-ease. He looks like a lost simpleton, not really capable of anything more than the tech-voyeurism we see at first. But, oh my word, we are so very wrong. Dead wrong. There’s an emotional as well as physical transformation that Archimbault pulls off midway through that took me by surprise and turns Gerald into a true monster.  I really don’t want to give too much away, but duct tape and chains and kidnappings and soundproof walls (and much more) are all in store for our poor characters.

Zarcoff’s sure hand guides the movie like a train with no brakes. It goes slowly at first and creeps along a little too safely, but when it crests the rise and starts its downhill run, this juggernaut picks up some major steam and is hell-bent for leather, taking on all comers (if you’ll excuse the mixed metaphor). I’m surprised this is his first film. There’s a lot of talent behind the camera, and Zarcoff knows how to wring every drop of suspense from each security cam POV he shows.  I frankly can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Not everything works perfectly. We can see some of the plot points early on, but (thankfully) we really can’t see how far Gerald will take his obsession or where the film eventually ends up. There are a few implausibilities (the guy installs four cameras in one shower??),  but the film as a whole definitely kept my attention until the very end. A worthy addition to the genre, and Uncle Mike sez check it out!

I’ll be watching to see if you do.