Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Beware Of Tenants Bearing Trust Funds!...., August 13, 2003
This review refers to the DVD edition(Warner) of "Pacific Heights".....A really good thriller for me, is one that not only grabs me and keeps me in suspense the first time around, but one that keeps me on the edge of my seat on repeated viewings as well. "Pacific Heights" is one of those thrillers, that makes buying the DVD worthwhile, as I know this one will not be collecting dust on the shelves. The very cool and respectable looking Carter Hayes(Michael Keaton) is new to San Francisco. He's looking for an apartment and his done his homework well. He's found the perfect place and has even taken the time to check out his landlords.Drake and Patty(Matthew Modine/Melanie Griffith) are the eptiome of Yuppiedom. Unmarried, but a couple, they bury themselves in debt buying the Victorian fixer-er-upper, that they will renovate and make a huge profit on when it's complete. In the meantime they will simply rent out the two apartments downstairs to help pay the bills. They should have done their homework as well as Hayes. The smooth talking Hayes worms his way into one of the apartments and promises payment when his expected funds arrive, which of course will be very soon. It doesn't take long for Patty and Drake, as well as the other tenants, to discover the Carter is the tenant from Hell.He has a few social and psychological problems. He imposes a frightening presence and knows all the legal manuevers, and scare tatics to take over the house for himself. It's a journey frought with fear and suspense as Patty and Drake try to reclaim their home and their sanity. A nice clear picture with good color is presented in widescreen. The Dolby Dig 5.1 Surround was excellent. The haunting score by Hans Zimmer, all background and surrounding sound effects, and the dialouge all came through beautifully. No special features on this one. It may also be viewed in French (2.0), but there are no subtitles in any langauge for those who may need them. There is also a short theatrical trailer. Modine and Griffith are very believable as the beleagured and frightened but determined landlords. Michael Keaton pulls off this repulsive villain amazingly well. His versitility is unending.Directed by John Schlesinger("Midnight Cowboy"), it also stars Laurie Metcalf,Mako and Dorian Harewood. Also look for Dan Hedaya and a real special treat and rare appearance by Tippi Hedren. Get the popcorn ready and don't watch this one alone! Oh and remember to always check refrences!.....Laurie
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6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Tenants are the curse of the propertied class, September 5, 2000
This is a carefully programmed yuppie nightmare, something to titillate the emotions betwixt the sushi and the creme de mint, something to remind the upwardly mobile that you have to keep your guard up at all times because there are animals out there waiting to take it all away from you.Clever plot premise: Yuppie couple, stylishly unmarried, possibly for tax purposes, buy a painted lady in the Pacific Heights district of San Francisco, a Victorian fixer upper for $750,000. It's the 1980's and everybody is getting rich in California real estate. They are now in yuppie heaven since there are two rentals on the property which take care of $2300 of the $3700 monthly mortgage, which leaves them responsible for only $1400, which is less then they were paying before, and now they have a huge tax write-off and hopefully an appreciating property. Of course they are margined to the gills, but what can go wrong? How about the tenant from hell? Forget about your wild parties and your late-with-the-rent dead beats. This guy (Michael Keaton as a slimy, upper crust psycho genius) doesn't even pay the deposit. He just moves in, squats, and our yuppie couple is helpless to get rid of him since by law he now has possession. He changes the locks, cultivates big ugly cockroaches, and pounds away at all hours of the night, and chases off the other tenant. Seems he has done this before. Seems it is an elaborate scam to gain total possession of the entire property. Next to go are the owners. Naturally the cops and the law seem to work for him, not our adorable couple. (This is a little fiction to further excite the passions of the audience, call it poetic license, since we all know that the tenant/landlord laws in California are written by and for the propertied class, as they are anywhere else, as is only right.) But this is a morality play. Could it be that our yuppies are undeserving of their wealth and are easy prey in the econ jungle because of their naiveté? Could be. But as this is a modern morality tale, you can be sure that the woman, played with worrisome lines under her eyes by the ever adorable Melanie Griffith, will turn the tables and kick some male butt despite the handicap of having a not too bright boyfriend, who is easily manipulated by our villain into some rather stupid male behavior that makes things worse for our heroine. Incidentally, he is played with such annoying exactitude by Matthew Modine that I can hear the rednecks in the audience screaming: "Die yuppie scum!" It should be noticed that the adversary of the yuppies is not your standard ghetto dweller, but a wayward member of the upper class, a fitting adversary in this yuppie trial by fire. I'll let you guess who wins.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Sociopathic behavior hits a remodeled Victorian house in San Francisco, February 1, 2007
Pacific Heights is a prettt solid three star movie. It's not the greatest thriller ever, but it's definitely not entirely unbelievable. It's somewhere in between.
A couple (young couple, if you believe the back of the DVD) pools their life savings to purchase an old Victorian house in San Francisco, with plans to rent out the two rooms on the bottom floor in order to pay the mortgage each month. What they don't count on is Michael Keaton's sociopathic creation Carter Hayes moving in. Terrible events ensue.
It's a pretty solid premise and plays out fairly well, except that in order for Hayes' plans to unravel correctly, you have to assume that any landlord would be rash enough to accept you as a tenant without receiving any payment and without a rental application, shut off your power if you're loud at night, physically attack you and knock you through a glass window, and ultimately be unsuspecting enough not to watch out for you making bail once you've been discovered and arrested. These flaws, which feel more and more forced throughout, seriously damage the chilling nature of the film, and also damage what would otherwise be a very credibly psychological thriller.
Michael Keaton is the only credible actor in the film a well, although Beverly D'Angelo also has some good scenes. Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine give stilted performances that also hurt the movie, Modine more so than Griffith.
Now that I've said all the bad stuff about the movie, I'm changing my tune to say that it was still interesting to watch and for a movie made 17 years ago, it held on to quite a bit of its twists and intrigue. Identity theft is much more technologically advanced these days, but the idea of someone walking around pretending to be you is equally disconcerting in 2007 as it was in 1990. Pacific Heights is definitely still worth a watch.
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