The Tenant (1976)

A quiet, timid file clerk (Roman Polanski) moves into a new apartment where the previous tenant had committed suicide. However, after some time passes by, he becomes increasingly paranoid about his neighbors. Are his fears justified? Or is he slowly going insane? Based on the novel by Roland Topor and directed by Roman Polanski (CHINATOWN). Sometimes referred to as the third film in his "apartment trilogy" (REPULSION and ROSEMARY'S BABY are the first two), Polanski has whipped up a humdinger of a psychological horror flick. While I use the term horror, many would classify it as a psychological thriller. Whatever term you use, it's one fascinating if disturbing slice of Kafkaesque paranoia taking hold of an individual and shoving him down the rabbit hole. Polanski never gives us a clue if it's all in the tenant's paranoid mind or is he indeed being driven crazy by his malevolent neighbors. Astonishingly, the film received mediocre reviews when it originally opened! Thankfully, in the ensuing years, its status has grown and it is a genuine cult classic. With Isabelle Adjani, Shelley Winters, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Claude Dauphin and Lila Kedrova.