John Hare is on a personal low. He's a drug addict and unemployed. Worse yet, he's lost his girlfriend to another man. So what does he do? He rents room #24 in an aging but seemingly quiet boarding house. John is determined to find a job and regain his health, mostly because he wants to win his girlfriend back. Given his present resolve, what could possibly hold him back? Well, how about a landlord that might not be, well, completely real? Or maybe a television set that flashes images of walking dead people that stare at John during the night? How about the pounding and clawing at this door by what might be an unseen force? Or the fact that reality gets tossed out of the window in this boarding house in exchange for a world of madness and death? Bottom line, regardless what life problems John has, they are merely a walk in the park compared to what room #24 has in store for him.

THE HAUNTING OF #24 is a stylishly crafted horror film by writer/director Sean Hogan. Rather incredibly, this apparently is Hogan's first film. What surprises me about that is how polished this low budget production is in every way. As a director, Hogan does a great job providing vision and a signature to his work here. This is an immensely creepy film that makes the viewer feel every bit as trapped by the weird boarding house as the lead character is. It's the kind of movie that creeps under the viewer's skin, with its mounting tension oftentimes getting so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Yes, there are several jump scares, but it's the unnerving mood of the piece that really tingles the spine. Seriously, folks, there are several moments where the flick is ridiculously scary, which is a dynamic that somehow gets lost in many modern day horror projects these days.

Right from the get-go the imagery is haunting. A big round of applause has to go to Hogan and cinematographer Peter Sinclair. These two guys know darn well that they're doing a horror film and they never once veer away from their purpose, which is to give the audience a bad case of the chills. Hogan and editor Gareth Heal pepper the film with interesting and spooky transitions, sometimes mysteriously drifting the action from scene to scene, while other times bitch-slapping the audience with shocking cuts. There is also solid acting from the entire cast. I'm sure some of the good acting is due to Hogan's direction, but his screenplay also deserves mention. The writing sets up tense situations without diluting the characters. In fact, this is a film where the direction and acting are both truly extensions of the script, which perhaps explains why the project is so impressive.

There are only two slight criticisms I can offer. First, it takes lead character John Hare a little too long to get angry about the unearthly circumstances in the boarding house. True, part of this can easily be explained because of how vulnerable he feels, what with the problems he's facing in his life. And it's not like he doesn't get pissed off here and there when the strange events start to occur. But he does fold up rather quickly once the going gets really tough. Nevertheless, the guy finally does take action. I just would have liked to see a tad more of this kind of aggression and perhaps sooner in the story. Just my two cents. The other thing that kind of bothered me was the ending. I'm not saying that the story doesn't explain itself, because I think it does. It's just that when a movie has this kind of nerve-wrecking build, it's often difficult to adequately pay it off. Hogan does a good job with the film's climax, but somehow (and maybe unavoidably) it feels like a small letdown.

MTI provided a screener copy of the DVD, so I can't tell you what extras will or will not be included on the discs in the stores. However, I can say that I find the picture and sound quality to be extremely presentable. Better yet, the movie itself is a frightfully fun ride. I enthusiastically recommend THE HAUNTING OF #24 to all genre fans.