eVil Sublet

A couple finds their dream apartment in New York’s East Village (AKA the eVil). Who cares if it’s haunted by a horde of murderous ghosts if the rent is cheap and it’s got an eat-in kitchen, right?

This horror/comedy stars viral video performer Jennifer Leigh Houston and features the legendary Sally Struthers in her full-length horror debut.

eVil Sublet has won awards at multiple festivals, including BEST FEATURE at the Coney Island Film Festival, BEST OF THE FEST at the DC Independent Film Festival, TOP FEATURE at San Francisco's Another Hole in the Head, BEST COMEDY FEATURE at Haunted House FearFest, BEST HORROR COMEDY FEATURE at the New York City Horror Film Festival, and BEST ACTRESS IN A FEATURE at HorrOrigins Film Fest.

  • Allan Piper
    Director
    Married and Counting, Starving Artists
  • Allan Piper
    Writer
    Married and Counting, Starving Artists
  • Beth Ann Mastromarino
    Producer
  • Jennifer Leigh Houston
    Producer
  • Chris Pearson
    Producer
    Dan Vs.
  • Jennifer Leigh Houston
    Key Cast
    "Alex"
    Married and Counting, Crime After Crime
  • Sally Struthers
    Key Cast
    "Reena"
    All In The Family, Gilmore Girls
  • Charley Tucker
    Key Cast
    "Ben"
    Law & Order
  • Pat Dwyer
    Key Cast
    "Ned"
    Married and Counting, Hamlet in the Golden Vale
  • Stephen Mosher
    Key Cast
    "Lorne"
    Married and Counting
  • Leanne Borghesi
    Key Cast
    "Allan Piper"
    Pig Hunt
  • Patrick Wang
    Key Cast
    "Oliver"
    In The Family
  • Helen Hong
    Key Cast
    "Madame Moon"
    Inside Llewyn Davis
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Horror, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 45 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 2, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Coney Island Film Festival
    New York, NY
    United States
    May 6, 2023
    World Premiere
    Best Feature
  • Grossmann Fantastic Film & Wine Festival
    Ormoz
    Slovenia
    June 20, 2023
    International Premiere
  • HorrOrigins Film Fest
    Tucson, AZ
    United States
    October 1, 2023
    Southern U.S. Premiere
    Best Actress Feature Film: Jennifer Leigh Houston
  • Haunted House FearFest
    New York, NY
    United States
    October 6, 2023
    Best Comedy Feature, Best Ensemble, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Comedy Actress: Sally Struthers
  • Another Hole in the Head
    San Francisco, CA
    United States
    December 2, 2023
    West Coast Premiere
    Top Feature Film
  • New York City Horror Film Festival
    New York, NY
    United States
    December 10, 2023
    Best Horror Comedy Feature
  • DC Independent Film Festival
    Washington, DC
    United States
    February 23, 2024
    DC Premiere
    Best of the Fest
Director Biography - Allan Piper

Allan Piper may be best known to some viewers for his live fact-checks of the former president. Allan was NowThis' supervising politics producer throughout the Trump presidency, which was a different kind of horror story.

eVil Sublet is Allan's third feature film. He produced and directed the George-Takei-narrated documentary, Married and Counting, which tells the story of two men in pre-marriage-equality America who celebrated 25 years together by traveling the country to get married in every state that would let them. Huffington Post called it “one of the most relevant, heartfelt, and timely documentaries of the year… a brilliant gem.” Allan’s first feature was the cult comedy, Starving Artists, which the Boston Globe called one of “the best films you’ve probably never seen.”

Having worked as a filmmaker for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Allan is the only person ever to do online video rapid response for multiple presidential nominees. Allan also has produced and/or edited TV shows for networks including ABC, CNN, Bravo, MTV, TLC, Discovery, Food Network, History Channel, Travel Channel, Animal Planet, and PBS.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Strange things happen in the apartment I share with my wife, Jennifer Leigh Houston. Doors open on their own. Objects fly off shelves. Alone at night, Jen's heard crying voices and been grabbed by a cold hand in the dark. But none of this would push us out, because we're lucky to have an affordable New York apartment of a size that almost only exists on sitcoms.

Inspired by these mysterious events (some of which we've captured on video and audio and edited into the movie), we developed this project with our friends Beth Mastromarino and Emmy-nominee Chris Pearson (Dan Vs.).

We funded this picture in part with the offer to turn anyone who gave even $20 into a ghost. Ghostified faces of over 200 contributors are hidden throughout the movie in the dark shadows of the eponymous apartment.

Our team was set to shoot eVil Sublet in March and April, 2020. When covid struck, Jen and I figured out how to film part of the movie in the apartment by ourselves, devising ways to rig special effects and create camera movements even sometimes with no one behind the camera. We shot the rest with a small team in 2021.

eVil Sublet satirically skewers the failures of the modern economy, the affordable housing crisis, the banking industry, political divides, sexual politics, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Our picture celebrates groups historically underrepresented on screen. Four of the five leading roles are LGBTQ+ characters played by LGBTQ+ actors. We proudly join the emerging movement led by movies and shows like Jakob's Wife, Yellowjackets, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, to represent women in their 40s and 50s on up as heroic, sexy powerhouses. The women of eVil Sublet have roughly twice as many lines as the men.

But social commentary aside, eVil Sublet is an R-rated, scary, funny, gory, sexy rollercoaster ride of a movie that will be fun for all mature audiences.