RATING: B+

A Popcorn Movie Productions/Fountain Films production, Written, produced, and directed by Dennyann Giambrone. Cinematography by Patrick Greene. Edited by Antoine Fountain. 

Stars Mellisa Brooka, Dennyanne Giambrone, Nick Kersey, David Polite, Charishmas Gopi, and Penny Richardson. 

A young woman’s new roommates bring her into the fold in the latest film from indie filmmaker Dennyann Giambrone.

Rachel is a young woman looking for a room for rent. She finds one at a house where Cindy, Joey, and Chryme live. The trio are stoners, and Rachel is eventually welcomed into the fold as they spend the day toking and talking. While Chryme is asleep, the others decide to mess with a Ouija board. It will be a decision they will soon learn to regret. 

This short film, running at just 41 minutes, is actually quite fun with indie filmmaker Dennyann Giambrone doing a good job at making what she calls a “stoner horror-comedy”. The horror element doesn’t come in for a good while and that’s okay. Instead of a slow burn, the chemistry between Giambrone (who plays the rough and tough Cindy), Melissa Brooks’ Rachel (the newcomer of the group, and Nick Kearsy’s Joey looks so natural in the vein of an earlier Giambrone vehicle, Reunion. 

Giving the cast a chance to be themselves in a film works and we get that here. The film, until the horror twist kicks in, feels like Reunion meets Dazed and Confused. There are some funny moments involving well, a blue colored object and when a prospective renter comes in and realizes the room is too small, well, there is some flatulent humor mixed in. When the Ouija board scene happens, it leads to something insane to watch and it only lasts a few minutes, but it’s definitely an unexpected left turn and it quite adds something fresh to the film. 

There is a post-credit scene that’s pretty funny in a natural kind of way. You might also notice a few fourth wall breaks that come, especially from Giambrone, and with good reason. It’s quite an insane story when it comes to making the film.

Room 4 Rent is a pretty fun Reunion meets Dazed and Confused with a little dash of Witchboard mixed in. The film just has this natural feel to things, the kind of thing that happens when you have a cast full of natural chemistry. It’s a good one here!

Thanks to Dennyann Giambrone for allowing me to see the film.