‘Landlord’ Gives Vampire Lore a Sinister Property-Ownership Twist
Black Mandala has unveiled Landlord, a new vampire horror thriller from writer-director Remington Smith that reworks one of the genre’s oldest rules: a vampire must be invited into a home — unless the vampire owns the property.
Set during the summer in Louisville, Kentucky, Landlord follows a nameless Black bounty hunter who arrives at a deteriorating apartment complex while searching for a stolen briefcase. What initially appears to be a routine assignment changes when he discovers that the building’s white landlord is a vampire.
Ownership of the property provides the film’s central supernatural twist. Rather than requiring an invitation from his tenants, the landlord is able to enter their homes freely, turning the traditional vampire rule into a threat tied directly to the relationship between property owner and renter.
After the landlord kills the mother of a young tenant named Alex, the bounty hunter reluctantly becomes the boy’s protector. The two are forced to work together as they attempt to survive a community in which the authority associated with owning a home carries supernatural consequences.
Smith wrote and directed the film, which combines elements of vampire horror with neo-Western and American independent cinema influences.
Shot on location in Louisville, Landlord uses the city and its residential spaces as the setting for its supernatural story. The production incorporates practical gore effects, while its score draws inspiration from the work of filmmaker and composer John Carpenter.
The premise also allows Smith to incorporate issues surrounding housing, money and ownership into the film’s vampire mythology. The ability of the landlord to enter a tenant’s home without permission transforms a familiar piece of vampire lore into a literal extension of the power imbalance between the building’s owner and its residents.
Landlord stars Adama Abramson, Cohen Cooper, William McKinney, Lance Gerard, J. Barrett Cooper, Patrick Mitchell, Melissa Combs and Meredith Frankie Crutcher.
The film made its world premiere at Grimmfest and was also selected for the Frontières Buyers Showcase at the Marché du Film in Cannes, where genre projects are presented to potential buyers and industry partners.
Black Mandala is representing Landlord internationally.
A wider release date for Landlord has not yet been announced.
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