THE HAUNTED SEASON | ©2025 Shudder
Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Don McKellar, Ben Petrie, Delphine Roussel
Writer: Kier-La Janisse based on the story by Algernon Blackwood
Director: Kier-La Janisse
Network: Shudder
Airdate: December 1, 2025 (Shudder)
“The Occupant of the Room” is the second episode of the first season of Shudder’s anthology series THE HAUNTED SEASON. Producer/director/screenwriter Kier-La Janisse brings us one episode per year in the tradition of telling scary stories around the Christmas tree.
Based on the Algernon Blackwood story of the same title, the 2025 offering “The Occupant of the Room” is set in the French Alps in 1936. Due to a reservations mix-up, a man (Don McKellar) arrives at his remote snowbound hotel to find they are fully booked.
Since the man is looking at a long, snowy trek back to the village, with no guarantee of shelter there, the innkeeper (Delphine Roussel) offers him an odd compromise. They have a second-floor room that is technically occupied, but the Englishwoman who rented it went mountaineering two days ago and hasn’t been seen since. If she returns, the man will have to relinquish the room, but the deal seems better than the alternative.
But then the man is beset by strange visions and unconscious actions of his own.
Janisse, who scripted and directed the episode, establishes a mood at the outset with heavy violins and vistas that look like dark paintings for Christmas card covers.
When the man begins to hallucinate, the images often appear on cracked, punctured paper for a singularly disconcerting effect.
McKellar is expressively distressed and Ben Petrie manages to seem both annoyingly officious and eager to serve as the hotel porter.
The music score sometimes overwhelms the dialogue and, even at thirty minutes, “The Occupant of the Room” has some slow patches. Still, it has an original style and is overall satisfyingly eerie, as a good holiday horror story should be.
Related: Movie Review: WICKED: FOR GOOD
Related: Movie Review: HAMNET
Related: Movie Review: THE RUNNING MAN
Related: Movie Review: LAST DAYS
Related: Movie Review: CHAIN REACTIONS
Related: Movie Review: PETER HUJAR’S DAY
Related: Movie Review: DIE MY LOVE
Related: Movie Review: YOUR HOST
Related: Movie Review: SHELBY OAKS
Related: Movie Review: QUEENS OF THE DEAD
Related: Movie Review: SCURRY
Related: Movie Review: BEAST OF WAR
Related: Movie Review: SOLVENT
Related: Movie Review: BLACK PHONE 2
Related: Movie Review: GOOD FORTUNE
Related: Movie Review: ROOFMAN
Related: Movie Review: AFTER THE HUNT
Related: Movie Review: THE DROWNED
Related: Movie Review: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
Related: Movie Review: SHELL
Related: Movie Review: GOOD BOY
Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X
Article Source: Assignment X
Article: TV Review: THE HAUNTED SEASON – Season 1 – “The Occupant of the Room”
Related Posts:
Loading ...
