Sara’s beginning her freshman year at college and pushing toward a future in fashion design. She’s made some new friends, got her eye on a new guy and got first dibs on her side of the room. When she finally meets her new roommate things seem like they can’t get any better, but unfortunately for Sara, Rebecca is far from the innocent girl next door.
I distinctly remember the buzz around the campfire when this hit theatres and it wasn’t good. In fact, it was downright terrible. Now I wouldn’t go as far as to call this flick terrible, truth be known, it has its moments but it’s certainly not memorable in any way shape or form. My biggest beef here is that this baby was being pushed as a horror movie, thriller maybe but horror it most certainly is not. The tone of the film tries to be chilling but the characters just aren’t feeling it. Sara’s a nice girl and all but she’s totally clueless. Her roommate, Rebecca, is totally nuts and continuously throwing up red flag after red flag but Sara and Stephen (her new guy) just laugh it off and make jokes about it for three quarters of the film until they pass the point of no return. I’d have given that chick the kybosh after her initial freak out over partying late.
The best way to describe this film is by saying it feels a lot like a two hour season finale on THE CW television network. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of THE CW, SMALLVILLE, SUPERNATURAL, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, I watch them all. However, all of the above mentioned shows are far more interesting and even scarier than this supposed horror film. If you happen to be a fan of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES you’ll enjoy seeing Nina Dobrev and Katerina Graham in very small cameos (don’t blink or you’ll miss Graham completely). This flick seems to be aimed at that demographic though as the rest of the cast all hail from shows like GOSSIP GIRL, FRIDAY NIGHT NIGHTS and HELLCATS. If these shows ring your bell you’ll no doubt be pleased with the casting here at the very least.
The other problem I have with this flick is that it’s been done quite a few times before and much better. SWIMFAN is a great example of how this plot works but the best similar film I can think of is THE IN CROWD and let me say this, if you haven’t seen it and have any inkling to watch this movie, I suggest you go rent or buy THE IN CROWD instead. You’ll thank me I promise.
THE ROOMMATE isn’t a total bust, as in it’s not as bad as I thought it would be, and if it wasn’t being labelled a horror film and I hadn’t seen those other flicks I might have enjoyed it more than I did. Like I said, there were moments, specifically Billy Zane as the teacher who bends the rules for hot chicks (I can dig that). I found the sub plot about Sara’s ex-boyfriend to be rather lame and I wasn’t terribly impressed with how that scenario played out either (insert large amount of suspension of disbelief) but at least I can say the overall ending wasn’t bad. It wasn’t sensational but I didn’t throw anything at the TV. I don’t like how watered down this genre is becoming but at the end of the day you could do worse than THE ROOMMATE.
Video: 2.40:1 Widescreen in 1080p HD with AVC codec. The production value here is pretty tight but it still feels like a show on THE CW to me.
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese with the same subtitle options. The score is a mixed bag, consisting of a lot of “jump” scare tactics.
Commentary (1:40:06): Director Christian E. Christiansen (someone’s parents had a sense of humour) rocks an alright commentary but I think throwing the two leading ladies in for kicks would have made it ten times better.
Deleted/Alternate Scenes (6:09): There’s not much here save from the square-off for a used book which should have totally stayed in because it was awesome.
Obsession: The Making of the Roommate (8:46): Like I said in my review, this flick does nothing to push the envelope on obsession. Trust me.
The Roommate: Next Generation of Stars (5:27): This little quickie shines the spotlight on our young heartthrob cast, which I pretty much covered already.
Dressing Dangerously (3:51): This is just another quick look at Sara’s design drawings which are actually pretty stylish…not that she really drew them.
Previews: There are a handful of trailers as well as some BD-LIVE content if you’re streaming live.
