Pacific Heights (1990)

A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writer:

Daniel Pyne

Stars:

Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine, Michael Keaton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Melanie Griffith	...	Patty Palmer
Matthew Modine	...	Drake Goodman
Michael Keaton	...	Carter Hayes
Mako	...	Toshio Watanabe
Nobu McCarthy	...	Mira Watanabe
Laurie Metcalf	...	Stephanie MacDonald
Carl Lumbly	...	Lou Baker
Dorian Harewood	...	Dennis Reed
Luca Bercovici	...	Greg
Tippi Hedren	...	Florence Peters
Sheila McCarthy	...	Liz Hamilton
Guy Boyd	...	Warning Cop
Jerry Hardin	...	Bennett Fidlow
Dan Hedaya	...	Loan Officer
James Staley	...	District Attorney

Storyline

A yuppie couple buy a large house in an exclusive San Fransisco neighborhood. They renovate it and plan to rent two apartments on the first floor to cover the costs. A prosperous looking man moves in but is not the ideal tenant. He never pays any rent, drives the other tenants away and systematically ruins the lives of his landlords.

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Plot Keywords:

tenant | rent | landlord | apartment | yuppie | 

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Taglines:

The Perfect House. The Perfect Tenant. Perfectly Dangerous.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fremde Schatten

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$29,381,956 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Schlesinger:  man in the hotel elevator.

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Goofs

The policeman quotes an entirely non-factual law to Drake about a tenant having rights just because a tenant physically enters a building, even at the time the movie was made. No tenant has any legal right to remain on the premises of a single-family or multiple-family dwelling in any state without payment, and furthermore, because of Carter Hayes destructive acts (e.g., releasing the cockroaches and physical damage to the unit), Drake had more than enough good cause to have Carter forcibly evicted, either by the City of San Francisco police or the San Francisco County sheriff.

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Quotes

Carter Hayes: [to Drake] You're a brave and stupid man.

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Crazy Credits

Melanie Griffith's character Patty Palmer is credited as Patty Parker in the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Parker Lewis Can't Lose: Rent-A-Kube (1990)

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Soundtracks

"VIVALDI: SUMMER - THE FOUR SEASONS"
Music by Antonio Vivaldi (uncredited)
Performed by Pinchas Zukerman (as Pinchas Zuckerman) and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (as The Israeli Philharmonic)
Courtesy of Deutsche Gramaphon, a division of PolyGram Classics, Inc.

User Reviews

Lows.

Sick little film has the dark and shady Michael Keaton terrorizing Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine after he rents the ground-floor apartment from the young couple. Keaton is truly frightening as the wild psychopath who just will not leave, but he gets no support from the rest of the cast. When Keaton finally decides he has done all he can to make life a living hell he takes off, but Griffith wants her revenge. This is supposedly based on a true story, but in the end a stumbling screenplay and unclear direction by John Schlesinger keeps "Pacific Heights" from reaching as high as it should have reached. 2.5 out of 5 stars.