The Fifth Floor

"Fifth Floor" was actually better than I had expected. What makes it rise above the other, run of the mill B-movies/television movie of the week is the good performances from lead actress, Diane Hull and the supporting cast including Sharon Farrell and Bo Hopkins as an orderly who abuses his authority and terrorizes the young heroine.

Following a young college co-ed disco dancer who is inexplicably poisoned by strychnine in her drink is determined to be a suicide risk and delegated to the titular "fifth floor" psychiatric ward of a hospital for observation for 72 hours. Of course, a lecherous orderly makes things difficult for Kelly and her stay ends up being prolonged and not even her fiancee believes her cries for help. Diane Hull who played Kelly, manages to convey vulnerability and strength at the same time. The only people she can trust are the fellow patients on the ward who help her with a couple of escape attempts. The supporting cast is a who's who of character actors including a younger Robert Englund a.k.a. "Freddy Krueger" as one of the patients. One stand out performance is Sharon Farrell as Melanie, a truly broken woman who may have been made worse by her stay on the fifth floor and trapped there. Looking like Farrah Fawcett, she definitely conveyed the manic madness and becomes an unlikely ally of Kelly. Bo Hopkins, as the abusive orderly, is chilling and disturbing as the villain. The movie was made in the late 1970s and this is very noticeable with the CHIPS like background music and 3 disco dance numbers. Although a bit contrived at moments and an ending that ends abruptly, the film held it's own on it's B-Movie budget and I would go as far as to say that I liked it better than the similarly themed, "Girl Interrupted" which also was based on a true story. Nothing more is made of the true story that this film was based on or when it happened. I have heard of a similar film about an undercover reporter who poses as a mental patient and this is only known to one psychiatrist who unfortunately dies and every time the reporter attempts to tell the staff they give him more tranquilizers. It seems unlikely that this could happen but at the same time it is plausible under certain extreme circumstances where people are going to assume that you are paranoid. Very scary thought indeed.

A woman (Dianne Hull) is poisoned with strychnine while disco dancing (now THAT might have been an effective way to stop disco). Everyone (including her clueless boyfriend) takes her poisoning to be a suicide attempt and she ends up involuntarily committed to a co-ed mental institution where there is a lot of melodrama, but really little that goes beyond a typical 70's TV movie of the week. Her main antagonist is a corrupt male orderly (Bo Hopkins) who pressures her for sex. Her fellow inmates, meanwhile, include a young Robert England and an (apparently genuinely) pregnant Patti D'Arbanville.

A lot of stuff in this movie seems rather preposterous today, but back in the 70's perhaps not so much. This movie kind of reminded me of the the contemporary theatrical film "Human Experiments" and the TV movie "Nightmare in Badham County". Dianne Hull was one of those very cute 70's actresses who appeared in a few things and then pretty much vanished into oblivion. This is perhaps her most memorable role aside from "Girls on the Road" (where she'd played a hitch-hiking teenager who almost has sex with "Papa Walton"). Her full-frontal nude scenes are about the only thing that separate this from a tame TV movie, but she does give a pretty good performance. And it's always fun to watch Bo Hopkins play a redneck villain even if he's not quite as memorable as he is in "White Lightning" and .

This is probably not a movie that's going to make a deep impression on anybody, but it's entertaining enough I guess.

Really only one reason to see this movie, and that is the performance of Bo Hopkins. He makes almost any role he does come alive, especially a villain. I told him that, when I had the chance to meet him several years ago. He didn't exactly agree with me about his role here, but he remembered this movie, and said the production values were very good. The story is enthralling, and you squirm, because you know it can happen to you. Tension throughout, and you do get sucked in, but you feel about the same way at the end as if you drank cheap malt liquor the night before. Tired, and with a bit of a headache. But if you are a Hopkins fan, it is worth a peek.

The Fifth Floor is a fun little horror/women-behind-bars hybrid with a great cast. The story, about a go-go dancer railroaded into an asylum, is based on a truly horrifying premise: Under certain circumstances, everything you say or do can be interpreted as a sign of madness. This could've been a very dark, lurid nuthouse shocker, but, perhaps in a bid for respectability, the sleaze factor is considerably played down. The result is a lightweight cult creation that, although lacking in ferocity, still comes across thanks to good acting and a real sense of helpless fear in key scenes. Pattie Brooks sings a very catchy number called "Fly Away" in the opening disco scene. Not bad at all.

THE FIFTH FLOOR opens at the Demons Disco Club, where Kelly McIntyre (Dianne Hull) arrives to join in on whatever disco dance craze is taking place at the moment. One must say that she certainly has the moves!

Uh oh!

Something goes horribly awry, causing Kelly to convulse violently on the floor, as if she's being tortured with cattle prods! Is this just her attempt at some daring new dance routine? The next thing she knows, Kelly's trapped in the nuthouse, being examined by Dr. Freddy Krueger! The rest is a nightmare for poor Kelly, who only wants to be free to boogie once more. Nothing can prepare you for the zany "group therapy" session!

If you've been searching for a movie that captures the rigors of disco, combined with the obligatory torment of the Women In Prison sub-genre, that is set in a mental hospital, then search no more! Ms. Hull's lethargic, near-dead performance is perfectly realized, and her fretting is unparalleled.

SPECIAL MENTION: For Bo Hopkins, who plays the sleazy orderly known as Carl with all the Carl-ness that anyone could possibly muster. No one chews gum or smokes cigarettes like Bo! No one!...