Pacific Heights (1990)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mark W

  
  Having such good films under his belt like "Midnight Cowboy" and "Marathon Man", director John Schlesinger is no slouch when it comes to crafting a quality drama or suspense. However, with an irritatingly underpar cast, this is not one of his finer efforts. Young… More
  Having such good films under his belt like "Midnight Cowboy" and "Marathon Man", director John Schlesinger is no slouch when it comes to crafting a quality drama or suspense. However, with an irritatingly underpar cast, this is not one of his finer efforts. Young couple Patty (Melanie Griffith) and Drake (Matthew Modine) purchase a Victorian home in San Francisco. They fix it up and rent one of the apartments to fast-talking businessman Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton) unaware that he is in fact, a sociopathic swindler. When this film was released in 1990, I actually enjoyed it. I was 12 years old. Looking at it now, I have to admit that my critical faculties had not kicked in then. There's no denying that it's a well crafted suspense yarn but it's also ludicrously plotted. The fault doesn't lie with Schlesinger though, in fact, he does really well handling the tension and suspense. The fault lies with the unintelligible script. Would this stereotypically disturbed character really waste his time, being no more than an inconvenience by drilling holes in the walls? Do disturbed sociopaths really sit watching static interference on TV, in a darkened room, while flipping a razor blades over their fingers? Methinks it's all a little melodramatic. Keaton does his best sinister look with animated eyebrows, Modine needs his quiff trimmed and Griffith gives her usual one-note innocent, softly spoken, damsel in distress act. Three very limited actors with a very limited script. Schlesinger brings what he can to the table, but it's not enough to overcome ineptitude. Hitchcock would have had a field day with similiar material. Schlesinger tries his best to emulate the old master but he's ultimately fighting a losing battle with a very limited cast.

• familiar s

  
  A dull thriller with one of the lamest final fight sequence I've ever seen. Even otherwise, the movie sucked in the action department.

• Mark H

  
  Suspenseful thriller about an unmarried couple who sublet their Victorian home to a menacing tenant. Hitchcockian tale gradually exposes their vulnerability so we share in the frustration of the young couple. Script also raises some interesting questions about California tenant… More
  Suspenseful thriller about an unmarried couple who sublet their Victorian home to a menacing tenant. Hitchcockian tale gradually exposes their vulnerability so we share in the frustration of the young couple. Script also raises some interesting questions about California tenant laws. What makes this thriller so convincing is the unexpected path the story ultimately takes. Melanie Griffith shines as the more rational mind in the yuppie couple and Michael Keaton is effectively manipulative as Carter Hayes, a psychopathic con artist.

• Derek D

  
  This film has just the right amount of drama and suspense without making it seem like it's trying too hard to be a nightmare but at the same time definitely keeps from being boring. Michael Keaton's best roles have always been when he's some kind of psychopath - like… More
  This film has just the right amount of drama and suspense without making it seem like it's trying too hard to be a nightmare but at the same time definitely keeps from being boring. Michael Keaton's best roles have always been when he's some kind of psychopath - like Desperate Measures - so this was a great role for him.

• Dean !

  
  A pretty decent thriller that is quite tense. The tenant from hell arrives causing chaos for a young couple struggling with there first house. Decent film with a good cast but a bit dated now.

• Candy R

  
  Freaky movie about a disturbing neighbour. Good cast.

• jay n

  
  okay suspenser, griffith isn't too annoying for a change but instantly forgettable.

• Lafe F

  
  Michael Keaton plays a creepy and mysterious tenant in this thriller, which is quite interesting.

• Dean M

  
  The Tenant from Hell. Michael Keaton's weirdo character rents a room from the ideal yuppie couple and proceeds to turn their life into a nightmare. Although competently put together, it's just a little too silly in places to really scale the heights.

• xGary X

  
  A singularly forgettable cast in a feeble melodramatic "thriller" involving a house. "Thrilling".

• Lanning :

  
  One of Modine's best. Keaton's strongest performance to date, he's unrelentingly eerie here. I wish he'd choose more scripts like this and fewer like <i>White Noise.</i> Folks thinking about going into the Landlord business should see this and then… More
  One of Modine's best. Keaton's strongest performance to date, he's unrelentingly eerie here. I wish he'd choose more scripts like this and fewer like <i>White Noise.</i> Folks thinking about going into the Landlord business should see this and then reweigh their career options.

• Joseph E

  
  Oh, How I loved this thriller. I can't just desrcibe it! You'll have to see it for yourself.

• C.R. L

  
  This movie has it all the look, the feel, the dark atmosphere. But what is it missing? Well the suspense and nail biting tension is one. Two the lack of a real villain and really believable, average Joe hero's, three It's just not that worthy of being called a psycho… More
  This movie has it all the look, the feel, the dark atmosphere. But what is it missing? Well the suspense and nail biting tension is one. Two the lack of a real villain and really believable, average Joe hero's, three It's just not that worthy of being called a psycho thriller. Because it's missing one thing, the Psycho. Pacific Heights has a fantastic idea and a good style that really is believable, but the story is severely lacking and falls hard on the cliche's when the film's story is at it's peak and sadly the sinister villain played by Michael Keaton is not what you expect or hope for, in fact the whole plot of the movie is not what you hope for. Pacific Heights tries very hard to be a powerful and frightening suspense thriller but it can't seem to get past the fact that it just doesn't even make sense at sometimes. It's derivative, boring and a shamble of a movie that wants to be something more than what it is. All in all it's got a bad idea that was made into a bad movie with only one good performance to save it from falling into the black abyss of movie oblivion. Michael Keaton is alright as the not so evil villain and is the only reason this film keeps it head above water, barely. He isn't as good as he was in his previous works Batman or Bettlejuice for that matter but he does try very hard to elevate the poor material above just plain bad, but sadly he can't. Matthew Modine who I have never heard of, and for good reason. He is nothing of a leading man type he can't even hold his own against Keaton's villain. His acting is on par between bad and extremely shallow and is a sight for sore eyes and really brings down this film. Melanie Griffith is absolutely terrible as the lead female, her kiddie voice makes her a very,very unconvincing in this film and can't carry it. The cat falls flat and the story falls with them. Pacific Heights is good in only it's style but fails to please when it really should and can't deliver on the promise it makes with the premise. It falls and falls hard on it's promise to deliver palpable suspense and thrills. All in all Pacific Heights is an A-Bomb.

• Moe E

  
  If you own property that you're thinking of renting...don't watch this movie. Michael Keaton makes a very believeable creepy tenant!

Read all 14 featured audience ratings