28 years in the past, Jack (Bill Cobbs) is showing up to the same house to deliver a mystery package to a Dr. Walter Newman (Randy Molnar) at a mental institution. When they go to take it inside and Jack finds out that it contains three human heads, Jack tells the doctor that he's not going to deliver any more packages like that, that he is messing with things that he shouldn't! The doctor is working on human DNA and genetic mutation experiments. His wife, Olivia (Georgia Chris), who is also a nurse there, is very unhappy with the work he is still doing. He wants to be able to cure people of birth defects before they're even born. His wife tells him that he needs to stop spending money on the genetic experiments because she is pregnant and they need the money for the baby and he needs to be taking better care of the patients in the asylum. He, of course, refuses to stop and so she tells him that she is going to take their children and leave him if he doesn't, as she is pregnant with twins.
A patient named Arthur Delman (Michael Berryman) bites him when he is doing a spinal tap on him. Delman is a violent cannibal. Walter wants to use a serum derived from his spinal fluid, but has no one to test it on. Unfortunately for Walter and Olivia, there is a nurse there, Ms. Tinsley (Sylvia Boykin), who is obviously in love with Walter and will do anything to make him succeed. She slips the spinal fluid serum is an injection that is being given to Walter's pregnant wife. She injects it directly into Olivia's belly and presumably into one of the twins. As soon as this happens, Olivia's belly starts moving in strange ways and she starts having complications. As soon as Walter sees the sonogram, he knows Ms. Tinsley has done something so she admits to the crime, and knows that nothing will happen to her. The first one born is a perfect baby girl, who is healthy with no problems. The second, however, is a monster whose birth kills Olivia. Walter tries to kill the baby in the crib, but it doesn't work.
All of that is just to set up the horror of the movie. Now we're back in present day with no clue what has happened to the doctor, Ms. Tinsley, or either of the twins. A van full of teens breaks down in front of the abandoned asylum. None of their phones have a signal to call for help and it is pouring rain. The driver Jeff (J. LaRose) is a total ass complaining about everything. He's also an ex-con. He breaks into the asylum for them, so that they have somewhere to wait out of the rain. The teens that are in the group are deaf, so only the counselors, Rob (Justin Smith), Liz (Aerica D'Amaro), and Loni (Ashley Totin), and the driver Jeff can hear what's coming, which is quite bad when you're in a horror movie! At first, they don't really know there's a problem, at least not until two of the girls have to go to the bathroom and disappear while inside it. They all split up and search for the girls, which is never a good thing. The creature, Adam (John Kyle), is very powerful, able to rip the top of a human skull right off of the head. Can any of them survive this horror? There are some secrets that are going to come out though, and things aren't always what they seem.
There are quite a few special features available as well. There are 13 minutes of behind the scenes with the writer and director Ric La Monte. It's not the most interesting behind the scenes that I've seen, but it's worth watching through. There are also 3 deleted scenes that I can see why they were removed. It would have changed some things with the picture if they had been left in. Last, but not least, is a Blooper Reel. These extra features give you about 30 more minutes of additional content. The Tenant is a pretty darn good horror movie. There is enough blood and violence to keep you entertained, but there's actually a strong story with plot twists behind the gore. Granted, it is not the most original base concept ever, but I liked the way they added the twists so that it's not just another "mutant human terrorizes trapped group" story. If you like horror, you should definitely check out The Tenant today.
