Film Review: The 4th Floor (1999)

12 months ago (Edited)

(source: tmdb.org

Having a place of your own is a dream for so many people, but for some it can turn into nightmare. The protagonist of 4th Floor, 1999 thriller written and directed by Josh Klausner, belongs to the latter category. Jane Emelin (played by Juliette Lewis) is interior decorator who moves into an apartment inherited by an aunt who recently passed away. She does so despite displeasure of her boyfriend, television weatherman Greg Harrison (played by William Hurt). Soon after moving in, she realises that almost all of her new neighbours are eccentric personalities with whom she would better have as little contact as possible. That includes even Mr. Collins (played by Austin Pendleton), elderly gentleman who is the only one to treat her with kindness and respect. The biggest problem appears to be 80-year old woman whom she never saw, but who nevertheless starts to terrorise her with constant noise. When she see menacing-looking man (played by Tobin Bell) leaving her apartment, Jane is convinced that the woman was killed. But this is just the beginning of a bizarre and frightening events that would start to threaten not only her sanity, but also her life. Although Greg begs her to move out, she is nevertheless determined to solve the mystery, although the truth would be more terrifying that she ever imagined.

Juliette Lewis had successful acting career in early to mid 1990s, but drug addiction problems have forced her to spend much of the rest of decade in rehab centres. 4th Floor, low budget thriller that was mostly distributed via cable television, represented her attempt to restore her career. It wasn’t a bad choice, because the film, despite being burdened by horror and thriller cliches, looks like a decent attempt to pay homage to some of the masters of cinema like Roman Polanski and his claustrophobic films like Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant, as well as works of Stanley Kubrick like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Shining. Josh Klausner with clever camera moves creates effective atmosphere of dread which makes this 4th Floor not recommendable to viewers that watch it late at night when they are alone. He is aided by musical score by Bryan Tyler which enhances the atmosphere despite being a little monotonous near the end. The cast is very good, especially character actor Austin Pendleton (best known for the role of Dr. George Griscom, pathologist in Homicide: Life on the Street) as the neighbour whose true agenda remains mystery until the end. Compared to him, even highly respected “Oscar”-winning actor like William Hurt looks rather bland. Lewis tries and, for the most part, succeeds to play character quite different from “white trash” nymphettes she had played earlier in her career. General impression is spoiled by overcooked, unconvincing and confusing ending, but 4th Floor is nevertheless a good thriller that could be recommended even to those who aren’t big fans of Juliette Lewis.

RATING: 5/10 (++)