Critique: Film> Reviews.

Juliette Lewis stars in this direct-to-video thriller about a young woman choosing to move into a new apartment on the fifth floor. She soon discovers that her neighbours are some of the nuttiest people that she's ever likely to meet, and things start getting a little bit weird, particularly on the floor below her.

Despite the premise not sounding particularly exciting, the set-up is surprisingly effective. Lewis is a nice, normal girl (a different role for her) who wants to make it on her own two-feet in the world, but the intolerant neighbours below tend to complain towards her behaviour at every opportunity they get. Lewis starts getting frustrated and fighting back, while attempting to uncover the crazy going-ons in the flat below. There's a particularly memorable scene where she buys a skipping rope and heavy shoes and starts jumping around to loud rock music, in an attempt to make as much noise as she possibly can to aggravate the neighbours.

Unfortunately, when all is revealed on the forth floor, things don't seem quite as satisfying as the events that came before. What develops is your routine slasher ending, which is supposed to surprise and frighten the bejesus out of us; however, it doesn't, and we're left feeling rather disappointed by what we've just seen.

Despite this unsatisfactory climax, though, The 4th Floor does have some entertaining moments. As long as you don't take the film too seriously overall, you might find some satisfaction in watching it.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.