I’ll say this upfront. “The Super” has one of the creepiest introductory sequences I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t maintain that mood for the rest of the film.

In that creepy intro, a woman caring for her disabled relative is tormented by a mysterious force in her New York apartment. It’s nail-biting, y’all.

When the story continues, we are in the lobby of the apartment building. Our male protagonist, a former cop, is applying to become a superintendent in the building, and he gets the job.

(Once again, I find myself reviewing an example of “apartment horror,” like Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Tenant.”)

The film does its best to hold this initial air of anxiety and occasionally succeeds. Part of what makes it work is that it’s unclear whether the malevolent force is a normal human or something supernatural.

Val Kilmer has a beefy role as the creepy janitor of the building. He affects an oddball but convincing Ukrainian accent. (Contrary to the poster I’ve featured, he is not the star.)

But there are several problems. For one, the lead character is utterly devoid of charisma. And much of the dialogue is terrible, existing only to get plot points across.

There are some effective twists near the end. (One you will recognize from several horror films of the past 30 years, but to name them would give it away.)

A few things don’t add up when I think of the film, including what exactly was going on in that great intro sequence.

Not bad, but not great.