Free Great Movies Review
Michael Keaton plays the tenant from hell who rents out an apartment in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. Keaton plays the sketchy Carter Hayes, and he's renting from the owners of the building played by Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith who live upstairs. Red flags immediately go up when Hayes introduces himself, and yet they choose him anyway. The tenant difficulties quickly accumulate including failing to pay the rent. What Hayes is up to is never totally clear, but Keaton's amped up antics are enough to unnerve anyone. Matthew Modine as the landlord isn't very likable himself, but when he ends up in the hospital Melanie Griffith takes over the movie flipping the script on Michael Keaton. The production values are high in this early 90s thriller, and John Schlesinger is efficient as the director (although you wouldn't necessarily know it was him as it's conventionally shot and edited). It's not a home invasion masterpiece like Unlawful Entry (1992) or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), but Pacific Heights (1990) is well worth watching for fans of the early 90s thriller genre.
