13 Cameras Movie Review – Lots of Hidden Cameras in the World!

Runtime: 87 minutes

Release Date: April 15, 2016

Rating: NR?

Director: Victor Zarcoff

Depending on how and where you watch 13 Cameras, you might also know it as Slumlord or apparently Landlord/The Landlord.

13 Cameras opens with a few notes about the number of hidden cameras out there in the wold today and how many people are recorded daily before introducing us to our main characters. Claire and Ryan are newlyweds who just moved across the country for Ryan's new job. While he goes to work, she stays home to get things ready for their new baby and to spend some time just being pregnant. They rent their new home from Gerald, one of the creepiest men I've ever seen before in my life. He's the type of guy you could probably smell before you saw.

As you might guess from the name of the film, Gerald placed a series of hidden cameras all around the house. No one but him knows that they are there, but even without knowing that, Claire isn't exactly comfortable having him around. Not only does she find him creepy, but she doesn't like how he always seems to know what's going on. To make things worse, when they need help around the house, he only seems to have time in his schedule when Ryan is gone.

And, Ryan is gone quite a bit. Despite having a heavily pregnant wife at home and having just moved to a brand new city, he manages to find a woman with an interest in him. Hannah works in his office and has no problem starting an affair with a man who has a pregnant wife at home. What a keeper! They totally deserve each other. Ryan claims that he needs Hannah because she can fulfill the needs that Claire cannot. He somehow thinks that he can juggle both women and then dump Hannah later without Claire finding out. That becomes less realistic when Hannah starts showing up all the time, making demands, and even threatening to tell his wife. Gerald loves all this because it gives him more chances to masturbate.

I'm not even joking about that last part. He literally uses the CCTV footage as a masturbation aid while chilling at home. As 13 Cameras progresses, Claire grows more paranoid about Ryan spending time with a hot girl, Ryan begins worrying about the future, and Gerald amps up his creeper appeal.

13 Cameras is great because it doesn't give us a lot of information about Gerald. Other films like this might tell us about how he killed women in the past or how his mom beat him/worked as a hooker, but this one leaves us to decide why he would do this and why he would do what he does at the end on our own. The actor really gets into the role and will terrify you way more than someone in a mask would.

And yes, the relationship drama is a little much at times. Ryan is an extremely unlikable character, especially once you learn about his affair and after he explains why he started it. You completely feel for Claire and are on her side, especially when she learns about it and decides to throw him out. That relationship drama really does add to the story though and explains why Gerald finds them all so fascinating. While I may not give it two thumbs up, 13 Cameras was fairly entertaining.