Across the Hall (2009)

A thriller about a standoff between a young man, his fiancée and his best friend who comes to his aide.

Director:

Alex Merkin

Writers:

Alex Merkin (story), Jesse Mittelstadt (screenplay),

Stars:

Mike Vogel, Danny Pino, Brittany Murphy

Cast

Cast overview:
Mike Vogel	...	Julian
Danny Pino	...	Terry
Brittany Murphy	...	June
Brad Greenquist	...	The Porter
Arie Verveen	...	Lucas
Natalie Smyka	...	Anna
Guillermo Díaz	...	The Cook
Dov Davidoff	...	The Bellhop
William Stanford Davis	...	Custodian
Erika Ringor	...	Detective
Mark Engelhardt	...	Officer
Chase Kim	...	Police Officer
Erika Seifred	...	Dominatrix

Storyline

The unbalanced Terry calls his best friend Julian that is having a bath telling that his beloved fiancée June is cheating him. Terry has followed her to the decadent Riverview Hotel, where she checked in to meet her lover in room 507. Terry explains to Julian that he brought a revolver to shoot her lover and is waiting for him in room 508, but his friend asks him to be calm that he will meet Terry in the hotel.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | bellhop | betrayal | dominatrix | murder | 

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Taglines:

Revenge is only one door away.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 December 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

A folyosó túloldalán

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Milk & Media, Insomnia Media Group, Godfather Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was a remake/full length version (by the same writer and Director) of the 2005 short Film presented at the 2005 film festival.

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Goofs

Describing the hotel's early history, the porter tells June and Terry that the first guests included the conductor of the Chicago Philharmonic. The Chicago Philharmonic was established in 1989, far later than the hotel's apparent age.

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Connections

References Nightmare Alley (1947)

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Soundtracks

"The Trouble With Mishki"
Written by Aaron Kaplan
Performed by Aaron Kaplan

User Reviews

Slooooooooow

A sort of film noir, Across the Hall is dark, nonlinear, twisty, and above all, slow. Basically, a love triangle gone wrong ends in murder, betrayal, and so forth. It's almost Hitchcockian, as the entire movie takes place in a creepy old hotel, with almost no mention of the outside world or any prior events.

This is definitely not for the impatient, as it seems to stretch a half-hour's worth of events into an hour and a half. The slow pace adds to the ominous, brooding atmosphere they were clearly going for. I can't help thinking I would've enjoyed this more as a short. The dank old hotel, the creepy slow-witted bellhop, and the dark, dreamy Matrix-like photography provided more than enough atmosphere on their own.

The story is told in nonlinear fashion, with scenes appearing out of order, sort of like Pulp Fiction. Only here, the story is intentionally harder to follow, especially in the beginning. You get the hang of it towards the middle somewhere. The filmmakers clearly thought it would be more interesting to show certain results first, before showing the circumstances leading up to them, which seems to me like a terribly easy way to create suspense and the illusion of twists.

The ending is presented in the oft-copied Usual Suspects fashion, which is all too common nowadays, showing up in movies whose twists are not nearly as deserving. While you're sitting through the disjointed climax, which is wrought with slow-motion and typically climactic music, if you're anything like me, you'll start mentally listing plot holes and thinking about how the film is trying to look more ingenious than it actually is.

The movie is well-produced and good looking, Brittany Murphy is beautiful as ever, and all the acting is above par.