The 4th Floor (1999)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Josh Klausner

Writer:

Josh Klausner (writer)

Release Date:

10 August 2000 (Germany)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror

Tagline:

People are dying to live in this building.

Plot:

A woman inherits a rent-controlled apartment and is terrorized by a neighbor.

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | Apartment | Voyeur | Fall From Height | Exterminator

Cast

Juliette Lewis	...	Jane Emelin
William Hurt	...	Greg Harrison
Shelley Duvall	...	Martha Stewart
Austin Pendleton	...	Albert Collins
Tobin Bell	...	The Locksmith
Robert Costanzo	...	The Exterminator
Sabrina Grdevich	...	Cheryl
Artie Lange	...	Jerry
Lorna Millican	...	Mrs. Bryant
Todd Green	...	Drag Queen Neighbor
George Pottle	...	Mr. Bryant
Paul Oullette	...	Tango Man
Ardon Bess	...	Hardware Owner
Heidi Jo Markel	...	Ashley
Mark A. Owen	...	TV Delivery Man

MPAA:

Rated R for terror/violence and language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:16 | USA:R (Certificate #36410) | France:U | Germany:16 | UK:15 | Norway:15 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

New Brunswick, Canada

Company:

Millennium Films

Goofs:

Continuity: When Albert is trying to find Jane in her apartment, he looks into the living room where a cigarette is clearly smoking in an ashtray. While running for her life from Albert, she would not have had time nor the inkling to light a cigarette. This was a recycled scene from earlier in the film when Greg was visiting her.

Quotes:

Jane Emelin: KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Movie Connections:

References Rear Window (1954)

Soundtrack:

Belle in love

Unplausible

There are many problems with a movie like this one. First of all, you've seen it all before. A lone woman (or just lone person) moving into a flat in a building filled with psychos is a popular theme. Second of all, the story might work up until the end. Then it usually falls apart more or less completely, the way it does here.

Juliette Lewis and William Hurt are both decent actors and they do a decent job here. The supporting actors have bigger problems with Shelley Duvall and Austin Pendleton both coming off as completely unbelievable characters, playing neighbors in the strange house.

What i think worked well in this movie is first off the house itself. It's got a nice Gothic New York-feel to it, with seedy run-down interiors and huge staircases. Also like i said above Hurt and Lewis do their parts OK, although i feel Hurt almost always has something a bit unnatural about him. I don't know what it is, but his delivery is slow and contemplated, almost theater-like. It's not always fitting.

The negative aspects are mostly the supporting actors, which have a hard time with the script giving them characters that are just too much to believe. The one that stands out especially though is Sabrina Grdevich as Lewis work colleague. She seems to be in a porno-movie or something of the kind, flirting with the camera no matter what she's saying. Also the script has other problems, mostly with plausibility. That is not unexpected though as these kinds of movies usually need a villain capable of extremely intricate measures for a very small potential gain.

In the genre, this is not a disaster. I can't say i recommend it though. 5/10.