Customer Reviews

The 4th Floor

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am reviewing the budget version of this film which is available on the Sterling label. I paid about $6 for this dvd which I thoroughly enjoyed the first time I rented it. This budget version differs from the original A Pix version: There are no commentaries/alternate endings with this Sterling version. If you want those extras, you'll have to buy the other version. No captioning bothered me since I am so used to having that option. But since I listen with headphones, this isn't a problem. Picture quality is very good with some slight grain. Audio is 2ch despite what is printed on the keep case: Dolby Digital Stereo, it isn't. Minor complaints however considering the first-rate cast and excellent performances by all: Juliette Lewis as our victim-who-gets-run-through-the-mill by a creepy neighbor(Austin Pendleton), William Hurt as her 'I warned you' boyfriend, Shelly Duvall as the nosy oddball landlady. There is of course the apartment building with a long history and sinister feel about it, darkly-lit as well. I was reminded a lot of 'Rear Window'. I should also mention Tobin Bell as the beady-eyed handyman who has a secret. A perfect mix of atmospherics, characters, mood, pacing, score and the suprise ending. Quite a lot of six bucks.

Its a thriller, not a horror picture so dont expect gore. I like how the story flows and Juliette makes any role worth watching IMHO. Here, she gets an apartment and all this weird crap starts happening. It all leads up to a great fun ending. Grat movie, lots of fun

Chilling tale about a woman who moves into an old apartment to live alone and finds that one of her new neighbours has a "small" grudge against her and begins tormenting her and eventually tries to kill her. Juliette Lewis does a nice job, and Shelley Duvall steals the show with her over-the-top performance as the apartment house owner, Martha Stewart. Unfortunately, this thriller wasn't as good as I had hoped, although it was quite entertaining and suspenseful. William Hurt's talent goes to waste here, but he does a decent job for what he's given. I liked this alot, but I wouldn't say it's excellent.

I picked this movie off the shelf having never read a review or plot outline. From the very start I was sucked into the mystery of "The 4th Floor". I watch a LOT of movies (1-2 per day)and very few keep me as glued to the screen as this one did. I had no idea what to expect, so I just let it lead me to the edge of my seat. All of the characters in the apartment building were skillfully introduced and given quirks that lead you in all directions to keep you guessing. Not until the end does everything they said and did make sense.(Kinda like the 'Sixth Sense') I loved the fact that I had no idea how it was going to end until the end and then was suprised at the ending's "ending". I thought it was fresh and creative and unpredictable.

I liked it so much I bought a copy the next day! Perhaps the people who don't like it feel there wasn't enough gore to be "good". I was thrilled that a movie could be so enthrawling without all the gore that has creeped into the movie mainstream. I call this a top-notch thriller/mystery!

It does help if you do NOT know how it ends!

Taking into account that this movie was filmed on a small budget by a first time writer/director I think it's not half bad. Yes, it is cliched in some parts but, honestly, how many movies aren't nowadays and why must we immediately discredit a film because it relies on cliches? Yes, the film takes its time, good suspense films often do because they have to give you enough background information to make the plot seem believable. In this film, it takes time for Jane to realize that the person living downstairs is up to no good, it takes time to learn enough about characters to make you suspicious of them. Too many movies just throw a character on screen and immediately wants you to assume that they did it. This film actually has all the suspects have several scenes with Jane so you become suspicious of more than one or all. Frankly, I found this movie spooky...no not particularly original but still it creeped me out. Watching it along late on a Saturday night while housesitting a large creaky house it gave the chills. Not to say you couldn't enjoy it in the comfort of your own home and still get shivers. The long and short of it is, the cast makes it better than a B Movie direct to video waste of time/money. It is filmed VERY well considering it was a small budget and if you are willing to swallow your movie hangups about cliches (which are only resolved by one or two movies a year) this movie will entertain you. And the commetary is insightful. Give it a shot.

I was reminded repeatedly while watching this movie of Hitchcock's "Rear Window". I think both the directing and casting were superb...subtle but effective.

Juliette Lewis is an outstanding actress and deserves much credit for delivering a performance that made you forget that she was acting.

The movie has some great moments and not-so-obvious scenes - although I was able to figure out the ending pretty early on.

In one word, you can describe "The 4th Floor": INTENSE! In this not quite new thriller, Juliette Lewis (Kalifornia, The Other Sister) plays as Jane, a woman who moves into her dead aunt's recently vacated apartment only to find out that she is surrounded by a whole lot of really nosey people. Things really start getting exciting when she starts getting terrorized by the person on the 4th floor. Some people say this movie is a waste of time, well I have to say, that this movie is worth it. Just rent it or buy it. Buy it on DVD for the alternate ending that should've been left in the finished cut.

You will never believe it, but the 4th Floor was the first DVD I've ever owned. In fact, I finally got a DVD player this Christmas (a week ago, in 2006). Yes, when it comes to "getting with the times" you can say I'm pretty slow, but this movie will now go down in history as the first DVD I've ever had, and that alone makes the overall rating jump from a 4 to a 5.

This is the kind of movie that's scary in the Scooby Doo style. No, I don't mean the Scooby Doo movies with Sarah Michelle Gellar (who's totally hot, by the way) I mean the old cartoon series. Remember when you had to guess who the bad guy was? It's like that.

The 4th Floor is about a woman who moves into an apartment building, and to her surprise, the entire building features strange people. In fact, not a single person in that building is normal. Out of all these unusual people, only one of them is responsible for messing with the woman who just moved in. The room below from the woman is how the movie got its name, because that's where the crazy person lives.

Supposedly, this crazy person never comes out of their room. So when the woman in the floor above has to deal with the many irritating problems from the person below (such as constantly beating on the ceiling) this is when the woman decides she wants to know who lives in the room below, and confront them. This is where the suspense comes in.

It's almost like a horror plot, but not quite. It's more along the lines of suspense and mystery.

It's an enjoyable movie, worth watching more than once.

This atmospheric and (at times) stylish film is lots of fun and offers up some genuinely creepy and disturbing moments. It's not the caliber of Polanski's The Tenant, but it is highly entertaining and, for the most part, well done. The only downside is the ending--it simply doesn't live up to the rest of the movie. Had the ending been better (and this movie deserves a far better ending), The 4th Floor would be an absolute knockout. As is, it's good--not great, but worth owning if you love creepy, frightening thrillers.

THIS IS A GREAT THRILLER/HORROR MOVIE THAT WILL KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT AS A SINGLE WOMAN FIGHTS FOR DEAR LIFE .HIGHLY RECOMMENDED .FULL SCREEN VERSION PICTURE AND SOUND QUALITY IS VERY GOOD.