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46 reviews in total

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15 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Truly scary movie, 11 July 2002

Author: Adam Brosnan from Northampton

I was looking last night in my video shop and found this in the really cheap area and thought hmmm the story line looks ok, straight to video so I thought what the hey i'll get it out and see what it's like.

I strongly reccomend watching this film alone with the lights out. The film itself is nothing special no big special effects, but I still found it quite scary. The feeling of being alone and lack of privacy and conspiracy all seem like powerful points to this film. A definite Rosemarys Baby comes through with the strange characters all being possible suspects and the building itself almost feeling alive very shining. (Note the lens on the room 4's door).

The films has it all frights, the bad guy is truly crazy and the twist at the end leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.

If you have seen all the new releases definitly give this a try. I can't promise high budget but can promise you the creeps

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15 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly good!, 17 August 2006

Author: NoName1989 from Belgium

I liked this film a lot. Juliette Lewis and Austin Pendleton did a very good job in this movie. Also William Hurt acted O.K.. Some movies in this genre are predictable, but this one wasn't.

The 4th Floor is Josh Klausner's first movie. I must say he did a very good job. The movie is certainly not a masterpiece, but it is very exciting! Pay attention to the last scene of the movie. Some of the music is very good!

I recommend this movie to everyone!

I learned a new word in this movie: I'm only going to give the first and last letter, because I don't want to spoil. The word is "P..S". People who saw the movie, will know which word it is.

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11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
There's Hell beneath your feet on the 4th Floor, 10 June 2004

Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY

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.

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Great offbeat thriller, Juliette Lewis and William Hurt, 7 April 2006

Author: MarieGabrielle from United States

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

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Straight-to-video heresy, 28 July 2002

Author: Bradley Carr (bradley.carr@bigpond.com) from Australia

In the late 90s there was sudden gush of these types of films. Slickly made, Non-US countries co-produced thrillers. All without any fanfare. And pretty much all of them went straight to video. Think 'The 13th Floor', 'Eye Of The Beholder' or 'Dark City' (which also featured William Hurt). It's a real shame, because most of them are good, including this one, and if they got a decent studio backing to have the decent theatrical release they deserved, they could have appealed to a much larger audience. However, these types of films remain obscure, turn up periodically on late night TV or in the weekly section of your local video store until you decide to give it a try, and then you go and kick yourself for not seeing it sooner. The rule of thumb seems to be that the first 2 or 3 movies a future star gets roped into doing is cheap horror/exploitation/genre pictures, and then about 10 years after your star has faded, you begin treading the same paths once again. Except maybe with a slightly bigger budget. The first thing that catches your eye is the lineup. Juliette Lewis had a long string of luck in the early and mid 90s, picking good scripts to become somewhat of a genre posterchild. Cape Fear, Kalifornia, Natural Born Killers, From Dusk Till Dawn, Strange Days. You could certainly do a lot worse. Then there's William Hurt. Oscar win aside, I consider him one of the worst actors to ever receive a pay check. Realistically speaking, he would starved to death in any other country. The second thing that grabs you is the high-grade cinematography and lighting, it's absolute top notch. Both of these are very important factors when making a horro.. sorry, Psychological Thriller. That and the choice of music. Modern, big budget studio versions of this ilk have a tendency to over-edit the guts out of every scene whilst punishing our ears to the latest Rap Metal fusion band to do a soundtrack, successfully destroying any semblance at suspense or intrigue. I hate you Tony Scott. Thankfully this little gem refrains from such tomfollery, choosing instead to let its loooong panning shots and sloooow tracking shots linger over the interior of the apartment, and the crisp use of autumn colours and lighting. Truly excellent. It's a very strange choice for the first time writer/director, who's most notable accomplishment was 2nd-unit director for practically every Farrelly Brothers movie. Lewis is fine as always, Hurt is wooden as always, and it's funny to see Shelley Duvall approaching the normal wieght for a human being. The ending is a bit of a let down, but otherwise, it's a moderate but dead-on bullseye.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Not perfect, but worth the time, 10 November 2005

Author: dead_doll00 from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This movie is a far cry from perfect. But then, few movies are nowadays and one has to learn not to be picky. If you're looking for some entertainment on a boring Saturday night, then this is a good way to go.

Despite the whining of her weatherman boyfriend, Jane becomes the newest tenant of a rather creepy looking apartment building, having inherited the place from a dead aunt. Over time, Jane comes to meet the various people that make up the rest of the tenants. They include a snoopy, loopy old lady, a slightly unhinged superintendent, a mysterious but kind old man, a blind and deaf old couple, and a rather mean-spirited old woman. Not to mention the man across the way from her may be a murderer, but, hey, can't win 'em all, right? Amidst all this, Jane finds herself being attacked by the woman living one floor below, obsessing over the "oral disturbances" that Jane just can't seem to cut out.

So yeah, rather a predictable, old plot, but still unique in a strange way. I own the movie and have watched it a few times already. Perhaps its the atmosphere and quirky, in some cases almost stereotyped characters that keep me coming back. Perhaps its the smooth, creepy music or use of scenery. Then again, it's probably Tobin Bell in his role as the Locksmith. Yeah, that could be it too...

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
apartment hell, 27 March 2012

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

"The 4th Floor" has a neat premise, but it seems as though the whole thing peters out early on. Maybe it's just that there have been so many movies about mysterious neighbors that this one came across as a rehash. It wants to be an homage to "Rear Window"; instead, it ends up being more of a joke. Juliette Lewis, William Hurt, Austin Pendleton, Shelley Duvall (with bleached hair!) and Tobin Bell (Jigsaw in the "Saw" movies) are wasted. As it turns out, the movie got released theatrically in Germany, but went straight to video in the US. Truth is, either they should have written a better script or not made the movie at all. Really, truly saddening.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Very Good Thriller, 10 August 2009

Author: poefan from United States

"The 4th Floor" is about a young woman (Juliette Lewis) who moves into her late aunt's apartment much to her boyfriend's (William Hurt) disapproval. The other tenants in the building are very strange, Jerry (Artie Lange), Martha (Shelley Duvall), and the woman on the floor below her are very shady as well as the man across the street (Tobin Bell). Mr. Collins (Austin Pendleton) seems to be the only normal person in the building. However, odd and eerie things begin happening in the apartment below her, and Juliette Lewis suspects that things are not what they seem. This was much better than I had expected, with an all-star cast and a good script, this movie went a long way. Suspense and mystery made this a win-win movie, with barely a boring moment. Beware of the many red herrings in this movie, almost every character could be a murderer. I strongly recommend this eerie thriller!

Rated: R for Violence, Brief Nudity, and Profanity.

Grade: C

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
You got to love Juliette Lewis, 3 March 2009

Author: tadeusz-luksusowyjacht from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Well, I saw this movie last night. I got to say, it is pretty decent thriller with elements of psychedelic.

Young woman gets apartment from her died aunt and starts accommodating when strange things start to happen. Some are believable, some ...somehow not. I really liked the atmosphere of danger and a little weirdness. The whole world in this movie seems to be a little odd, kinda 3 inches to the left. You got a feeling that not everything is as it should be.

Unfortunattely I could pretty easy predict who is the main "bad guy".

I liked Tobin "The Saw" Bell small part, also Artie Lange was not bad in part kinda not his styla.

Now , minor or major, spoiler, so beware.

In 1976 Roman Polański made The Tenant (Le Locataire) based on great novel by late Roland Topor. If you saw that movie, The 4th Floor will be VERY familiar. Unfortunately, what worked in France is not that great in Da City.

Also, you got to love Juliette Lewis, she is not shy in front of the camera :) If you got nothing better to do - see this movie, but if you have to go to the Blockbuster - get The Tenant. Bye.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Gave it a 3, for technical competence only., 29 April 2000

Author: Craig Duncan (craig.duncan@kp.org) from Silver Spring, MD

My wife invited my son and I to watch this on cable TV on a lazy Saturday evening, thinking that it might show an unusual role for Juliette Lewis. On this promise, at least, the movie delivers: her character is ineffectual, adhering to nearly every slasher-type horror movie cliche. As does the movie. A cataloguing of its studied adherence to them would be an exercise in recall of something I hope to quickly forget, so I won't make one. Basically, this is a whodunnit, heavy on the red herrings: everybody appears guilty, rather than just the two one suspects from the beginning. The "rule out the logical and obvious, and what's left is it" rule of bad horror movies works well on this one. The only surprise to have any impact on me was its final snagging of the indeterminate ending cliche: will Jane keep her appointment with her attempted rescuer, who will tell her the (obvious to the audience) identity of the 2nd conspirator, propelling her into another round of hysterical victim-play. Mercifully, I will never know.

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