Movie Review: The 4th Floor

[dotinthesky]

There's a particular genre of movies that appeals to me. For a lack of a better term I like to call them From Hell movies. Everyone has seen at least one: notorious examples range from Fatal Attraction (One-night-stand from Hell) to The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Nanny from Hell). I would even say that everyone has their favourite fear transplanted to the big screen: Tenant from Hell (Pacific Heights), Ex-con from Hell (Cape Fear), Son from Hell (The Good Son), Roommate from Hell (Single White Female) and so on.

The genre really found itself in the 80s, hit a peak in the early 90s, then fizzled out when CGI arrived and Hollywood ran out of day-to-day bogeymans (and good scripts). One of the last movies to come out in this genre, and which was completely overlooked (at least I didn't hear about it) was The 4th Floor, with Juliette Lewis and William Hurt.

I saw this movie last night, and later had nightmares with it. I hadn't planned on watching it - I was simply killing time until Battleship Galactica began (I wanted to see what it was like) - but I ended up getting sucked into the story and watched it till its end.

The first thing that attracted me to the movie was Juliette Lewis herself. She's perfect for any kind of spooky thriller. Her body language screams uncertainty and lack of ability to DEAL with anything, her eyes seems to tell the viewer that at any moment someone is going to crack her skull with an axe, or the other way around. Then there was William Hurt, who is also good at playing ambiguous characters and making the viewer think that something ain't right.

The story itself revolves around a young executive (Lewis) who inherits an apartment. When she moves in, the neighbour downstairs begins a hate campaign against her. Trouble is, she can never confront the neighbour because the neighbour is 80 years old and never leaves her apartment. Thus, Little Old Lady Neighbour from Hell!

I actually found myself glued to the tv, running to the bathroom or the kitchen during the ad breaks so I wouldn't miss anything. The things the old granny did were horrible and hit the old fear button which anyone who lives in an apartment building carries: that someone is going to do horrible things to you, or your apartment, and that you will be powerless to fight back because
a) the person is old
and
b) nobody believes someone so old would do bad things to you.

Another reason I think I was attracted to this movie was because a couple of Livejournal friends recently saw Juliette Lewis in London, playing a gig with her band. Apparently, she rocked out. In the movie, she has a manic scene where she blasts punk rock at the old lady and jumps around her apartment. I imagined it must have looked pretty similar to what she does when singing on stage.

The movie isn't some great lost thriller, nor does it have a satisfying ending (a big problem with this genre), but it definetly entertained me, perhaps like a good thriller would do if I were catching a plane. Most of all, I would recommend it if, like myself, you are an appreciator of From Hell type movies.

Final question: Do you have a favourite movie in this genre? I think mine must be Misery. Can't think of a more entertaining Fan from Hell.

Comments

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

I know this is not the context you mean it in but isn't it uncanny how the cover art to "The 4th Floor" actually looks like the cover art to the Hughes Brothers' "From Hell"?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

This one? I think both posters follow some type of Hollywood standard look for thrillers: red colours, the face of the couple (in fear), suggestion of horror (the knife or the slash of blood), and lots of BLACK of course. ;)

[hunterjr.livejournal.com]

From Hell Movies?
hummm...
eu AMO "O Iluminado" para mim aquele é FHM ;) (from hell movie)
e A Mão Que Balança O Berço é muito louco ^^

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Talvez tenha um termo melhor que From Hell? Sei la. Os dois filmes que voce mencionou sao boms mesmo.

[hunterjr.livejournal.com]

^^' Olie, eu acho que você entendeu mal, rs...
eu escrevi "From Hell Movies? hummm... ", mas foi me perguntando sobre os FHM e não te questionando se você tem um termo melhor ^_-

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Ah! Entendi agora... mas mesmo assim, vale a pena perguntar se aquele termo vale para o genero, ou se ja existe um termo.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about grad school! And I'm glad you liked the game... if you want to keep it a bit longer, that's no problem. I'm stuck in Brasil until the 12th of April (wish I had brought my Gamecube!)

Glad to hear that you and Janet are having fun. Miss hanging out with you. xoxoxo

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I'm at the farm, so there's not much to do. Sure it's warm, and pretty and all that... but I don't have friends here to enjoy it with! The days are starting to blend into each other, you know? And I don't even have access to a swimming pool, which would have helped matters. Oh well... one week left here so I'm going to try to be more positive.