O Quarto Andar

When the build-up of a movie is as good as it is in "The 4th Floor", the third act will almost inevitably have to be somewhat disappointing. The director, who is a first-timer to boot, does a very good job of creating a sinister, eerie atmosphere and keeping us hooked, always in doubt about who the guilty party is. Then in the last 10 minutes, it all becomes a routine slasher film, complete with half-baked plot "explanations" and a gratuitous "twist ending". Still, for the most part this an excellent little thriller, and definitely worth your time. (***)

What is happening on the 4th floor, halfway in this movie you will not even care. What do we have here, a young girl is going to live in the appartement her late aunt lived in, when she arrives the blood from the fall that killed her aunt is not even removed yet and everybody in the appartement has the looks of an axe murderer; and is trying to act as creepy as possible, welcome home dear. If you can swallow this there is also William Hurt who is acting like he fell asleep at the beginning of this movie and never woke up, and who can blame him. This is the kind of movie that builds up to the grand finale, and everybody who watches it is trying to bite through the cheap plot twists (maggots anyone, and what the hell are they doing in the curtains, flying maggots??) and is trying to stay awake for that great finale, but here is a surprise, there is no climax, at least not one that I could figure out. The only thing that saves this movie (a little !!)is one of the very last scenes, but hell, all the viewers are sleeping by then or are teaching maggots to fly.

About The 4th Floor, first of all Juliette Lewis plays the main character, so that's already a major plus point. I might be a bit biased as I love Juliette Lewis but there you go I just think she's a good attractive actress. She has that little something that makes her a good actress. The rest of the cast did their job as supposed to so no complaints there. As for the story there is definitely a suspenseful atmosphere throughout the whole movie, with a good soundtrack you can already achieve a lot. I would watch it again, just to see Juliette Lewis again.

Effective and original little thriller set on the island of Manhattan about a young woman terrorized in her rent-controlled apartment by unknown forces that want her out.

Juliette Lewis, Jane Ehelin, is at her feisty best as the victim of this horror drama who won't let herself be driven out of her apartment as the terror below her that at first is just annoying begins to turn deadly. The movie "The 4th Floor" has a lot of false leads as to who the person or persons are that are terrorizing the hell out of Jane. If your very attentive you'll notice something almost at the beginning of the movie, that is repeated in the films final sequence, why all of this is happening to her.

After her Aunt Cecile was killed from a fall down the stairs of her building it was found out in Aunt Cecile's lease that she put Jaen on it as co-occupant to her apartment. Jane was all set to move in with her boyfriend Greg Harrison, William Hurt, a local TV weatherman in the house that he just bought in the New York city suburb of Westchester County. Jaen instead canceled her plans in order to move into that empty and very affordable apartment in the city. As soon as Jaen moved in things began to happen all originating from the 4th floor, the apartment just underneath her.

The director and writer of the movie "The 4th Floor" leave a lot of red herrings as well as yellow and orange maggots and white and gray mice to what is behind all this and you almost suspect everyone in the movie that Jaen comes in contact with. The ending is quite a surprise because even when it comes it still may keep you hanging as to what was the reason for tormenting Jaen and driving her almost mad and out of her brownstone apartment. The very last scene in the movie really explains it all.

Besides Juliette Lewis William Hurt is very good in an unusually small but important role so are Shelley Duvall, Martha Stewart, no not the Martha Stewart in the news. There's also Austin Pendleton, Mr. Collins, as Jaen's neighbors and a very good performance by Tobin Bell the locksmith and next-door neighbor of Jean who knew a lot more to what was happening in Jane's building then what he let her on to.

Tension-pack and really creepy movie that will make your skin crawl as Jaen is slowly constricted by the four walls around her as the terror, that's a lot closer to her then she thinks, closes in on her for the movies surprising as well as really weird and shocking conclusion."The 4th Floor" is a lot better then you would, or I did, expect from many of the negative reviews that it got and is well worth seeing.

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.