Confusing horror/suspense flick (not gory though, and no nudity)... starring Juliet Lewis and the late William Hurt... in what feels like a variation on "The Tenant" plus "Rear Window" (Polanksi & Hitchcock, not bad role models for a variation)... only 1/10th as good and filled with confusing misdirection and details that make no sense.
Lewis, only about 25 here (1999) and Hurt (49) are dreadfully mismatched. I mean, I know rich geezers would often like to date ingenues, but at least the HUGE age difference should be a talking point in the film; she looks like his daughter! This is icky!
It makes perfect sense that a young woman would want to experience life in NYC (in a very cool, huge rent-controlled apartment that she lucks into when her aunt dies)! Vs. Moving in with old Mr. Dullsville in Westchester.
The filmmakers don't take this whole film seriously because one supporting character is named "Martha Stewart" (!!!) and another "Alice Cooper" (!!!). Give me a break! If the filmmakers don't take it seriously, we won't either. (though it is always nice seeing Shelley Duval in anything!)
The plot is filled with logic bombs. (Lotsa spoilers here, folks.) Hurt eventually turns out to be the baddie, something telegraphed from afar but only revealed in the last few seconds... but why kill her aunt, if he didn't want "Jane" to move in with him? Why co-opt the downstairs neighbor, the nut with all the foam peanuts? (Btw: how the hell do you get literally millions of foam peanuts into an apartment and then not have them spill out the door constantly, as we see happen anyhow??? This would be like 1000 huge boxes of 'em.)
How do you get mice, both wild & domesticated ones, to run UP into a neighbor's apartment (but not down or anywhere else in the whole building?) How do you get MAGGOtS to crawl up that far? They can't be trained! How do you arrange to break thick terra-cotta tiles on Jane's floor ON DEMAND, as if by a mysterious power? Floors are thick, have big joists! Tiles like that need to be hammer to even get them up! This is not possible from the ceiling below.
Also: how did either villain get the hole in the floor (again, through beams & joists & plaster & hardwood flooring) to DISAPPEAR on command?
If you keep a dead body in the tub, long enough to be consumed by maggots... trust me, not only would everyone in the building now have blowflies... the smell would knock you off your feet and people would smell it even next door (and call police!) and if an old lady doesn't come out of her apartment for months, yes you can call police or the landlord to get inside. You'd also smell this much decomposition from the outside door. (Don't ask how I know this.)
Why drag in the whole portcullis thing?, when it has nothing to do with anything in the story, which turns out to be a stupid setup by Hurt's character to get "Jane" to move in with him. It is a red herring to suggest there is anything here about the supernatural or hieroglyphs or Ancient Egyptian burials.
Oh, and stamping on a floor (again, thick beams and joists) with BARE feet won't case a huge cement plaque to fall off the wall and conveniently hit the villain on the head. (And in the same vein: poor Jane gets not one but TWO really severe head injuries, plus falls down a huge flight of stairs... with apparently zero injuries, as if two direct blows to the HEAD is "no big deal" (in fact it is very big deal, probably land you in the hospital -- needing an MRI -- you can have a brain bleed and DIE from this!)
Guys: if you want your girlfriend to give up her cool rent-controlled apartment in the Big City... take my advice, and show up with flowers and a diamond engagement ring and get down on your knee and propose. A lot easier than trying to stage some kind of crazy disjointed plan to "scare her" into moving in with you! DUH!
Conclusion: don't bother... this went straight to video in 1999 without a theatrical release, and with several major actors... what does that tell you?
Lewis, only about 25 here (1999) and Hurt (49) are dreadfully mismatched. I mean, I know rich geezers would often like to date ingenues, but at least the HUGE age difference should be a talking point in the film; she looks like his daughter! This is icky!
It makes perfect sense that a young woman would want to experience life in NYC (in a very cool, huge rent-controlled apartment that she lucks into when her aunt dies)! Vs. Moving in with old Mr. Dullsville in Westchester.
The filmmakers don't take this whole film seriously because one supporting character is named "Martha Stewart" (!!!) and another "Alice Cooper" (!!!). Give me a break! If the filmmakers don't take it seriously, we won't either. (though it is always nice seeing Shelley Duval in anything!)
The plot is filled with logic bombs. (Lotsa spoilers here, folks.) Hurt eventually turns out to be the baddie, something telegraphed from afar but only revealed in the last few seconds... but why kill her aunt, if he didn't want "Jane" to move in with him? Why co-opt the downstairs neighbor, the nut with all the foam peanuts? (Btw: how the hell do you get literally millions of foam peanuts into an apartment and then not have them spill out the door constantly, as we see happen anyhow??? This would be like 1000 huge boxes of 'em.)
How do you get mice, both wild & domesticated ones, to run UP into a neighbor's apartment (but not down or anywhere else in the whole building?) How do you get MAGGOtS to crawl up that far? They can't be trained! How do you arrange to break thick terra-cotta tiles on Jane's floor ON DEMAND, as if by a mysterious power? Floors are thick, have big joists! Tiles like that need to be hammer to even get them up! This is not possible from the ceiling below.
Also: how did either villain get the hole in the floor (again, through beams & joists & plaster & hardwood flooring) to DISAPPEAR on command?
If you keep a dead body in the tub, long enough to be consumed by maggots... trust me, not only would everyone in the building now have blowflies... the smell would knock you off your feet and people would smell it even next door (and call police!) and if an old lady doesn't come out of her apartment for months, yes you can call police or the landlord to get inside. You'd also smell this much decomposition from the outside door. (Don't ask how I know this.)
Why drag in the whole portcullis thing?, when it has nothing to do with anything in the story, which turns out to be a stupid setup by Hurt's character to get "Jane" to move in with him. It is a red herring to suggest there is anything here about the supernatural or hieroglyphs or Ancient Egyptian burials.
Oh, and stamping on a floor (again, thick beams and joists) with BARE feet won't case a huge cement plaque to fall off the wall and conveniently hit the villain on the head. (And in the same vein: poor Jane gets not one but TWO really severe head injuries, plus falls down a huge flight of stairs... with apparently zero injuries, as if two direct blows to the HEAD is "no big deal" (in fact it is very big deal, probably land you in the hospital -- needing an MRI -- you can have a brain bleed and DIE from this!)
Guys: if you want your girlfriend to give up her cool rent-controlled apartment in the Big City... take my advice, and show up with flowers and a diamond engagement ring and get down on your knee and propose. A lot easier than trying to stage some kind of crazy disjointed plan to "scare her" into moving in with you! DUH!
Conclusion: don't bother... this went straight to video in 1999 without a theatrical release, and with several major actors... what does that tell you?