Le quatrième étage

portray central characters in this film. Hurt in particular plays a pretentious weatherman, with a bow-tie, and is very amusing. Lewis plays a niece who inherits a rent-controlled apartment in the big city (NY, of course) and along the lines of "Rosemary's Baby", starts to realize there is something strange happening in the building.

Some of the tenants are: Shelley Duvall, Austin Pendleton, and the locksmith Tobin Bell (always excellent, and creepy). There are some scenes reminiscent of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" as Ms. Lewis is observing the goings-on in her neighborhood- be careful of what you may find out! The movie culminates in terror, and if you have ever lived alone in a city with strange neighbors, you will enjoy this movie. Watch it on a rainy night- better than the original "When a Stranger Calls". 9/10

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. (***)

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.

The 4th Floor(1999) Inane suspense about young woman(Juliette Lewis) who moves into her late Aunts walk-up apartment in New York City. Since this is a fairly short movie, it doesn't take very long for Ms. Lewis to find that she has some very bizarre neighbors. She is warned by one (payed by an almost un-recognizable, Shelley Duvall) to stay away from certain tenants and is given a list of rules of the building that would choke a horse. All heck breaks loose from there. The film is very predictable and the stalker of Ms. Lewis should be learned of by mid -film for many viewers. Lewis is an interesting actress and is not hard to look out but the real disappointment is William Hurt who plays Lewis' weatherman boyfriend. Hurt looks bored, has a very bad hair weave and its sad that an actor with his status has been reduced to second rate roles. No fire in him at all. Overall '4ht Floor' is a mediocre flick and cant be over soon enough. rated 2 of 5 stars.

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.