I stumbled on this movie by accident. The poster says Freehold but actually the title is Two Pigeons. I have no clue why you would name a movie with two different titles. I always look up the ratings before watching something so my hopes were not very high after seeing the ratings it got. But a low rating doesn't mean a bad movie, certainly not on IMDb. That's been proven before and it's been proven again with this movie. If you don't read anything about the movie, like I did, then you will be guessing what's going on. It starts slow and mysterious, but quickly evolves in some disgusting and gross scenes. Scenes that were perfect to me as it made me even more curious about the story. The cast was very good and every character added something to this special story. Javier Botet as Orlan is just mindblowing in his role. Due to his disease (Marfan Syndrome) he looks very unhealthy and creepy but his acting was on top. I would have made the end a bit more malevolent but it wasn't bad. Two Pigeons, a movie that made me turn my head and gag a couple of times, not as a slasher or so as there is alsmost no blood, but more because of our own imagination if those things happened to us. A movie that surprised me and that deserves a higher rating.

FREEHOLD is a very cheap, very poor attempt at a "horror" movie set instead a single modern-day flat. The protagonist is an estate agent whose dodgy business practices have resulted in him making an enemy of one of his own tenants - creepy Javier Botet, perhaps best known for playing the antagonist in REC, although he recently showed up in a GAME OF THRONES episode too. The story is reminiscent of the Spanish flick SLEEP TIGHT or alternatively THE MASTER BUILDER, but more disappointing than either: Botet hides out in the apartment and does increasingly gross things. With unpleasant characters performing even more unpleasant acts, this isn't fun at all, and you end up wondering what the point of it all is.

Estate agent Hussein (Mim Shaikh) shares a small London apartment with his girlfriend Mel (Mandeep Dhillon),but, unbeknownst to the young couple, the flat is also home to a strange Spaniard called Orlan (Javier Botet),who conceals himself about the place, emerging whenever the coast is clear to carry out a series of unsavoury acts designed to ruin Hussein's life.

A stranger hiding unnoticed in a home isn't exactly a new idea (for similarly themed films, see Hider In The House, and to some extent, A Crack In The Floor, both of which star Gary Busey). Despite this, the film still manages to hold quite a few surprises, delivering plenty of twisted humour and a keen sense of the absurd. Director Dominic Bridges' slowburn approach is effective, Orlan's activities starting out as relatively innocuous, but, as the film progresses, taken to more and more extreme levels. Shaikh and Dhillon do well as the the clueless victims, but is Botet who is the film's strongest suit, his extremely slight frame and long gangly limbs making him a memorably disturbing character.

Unfortunately, as good as the build up is, the finalé proves frustratingly tame: rather than opt for the truly disturbing ending the film deserves, Bridges delivers a finish that is both rushed and ultimately unsatisfying, Orlan's final punishment for Hussein not nearly as nasty as one might expect.

***EDIT*** Having just finished watching Spanish thriller Sleep Tight (2011),I now realise that Freehold's basic premise is even more derivative than I thought. I'm tempted to deduct a point for lack of originality, but will leave my rating at a 7 for the time being.***