Across the Hall (2009)

One of those films, where the least said about the plot the better, so in an attempt to refrain from giving any spoilers I boil it down to one sentence. Julian (Mike Vogel) attempts to stop his best friend Terry (Danny Pino) from any making any rash choices after he follows his fiancée June (Brittany Murphy) rent a room at the River View hotel.Given the low IMDb ratings I didn't really expect much from this below-the-radar thriller. The movie itself is heavily influenced by two great directors. One of them is Alfred Hitchcock. The attempt at replicating the style of 50s and 60s thrillers is visibly apparent not only in the cinematographic style ripe with noir overhead shots, neons, stylisations and a need to push the suspense and tension ahead of action and cheap thrills. The whole movie itself if an old-fashioned hotel with a outdated bell-boy playing a key part in the build-up and story. Overflowing with a retro feel it becomes a stylish homage aimed at those who miss the good old days.On the other hand you can see the strong impact that Christopher Nolan has in updating the thriller genre and fully using the superior technical capabilities of modern film art to increase the mystery, growing tension and keep tabs on the plot. The whole story is expertly told in a non-linear fashion, where scenes from the past and present intermingle forcing you to logically put the pieces together (in a well-done mix-up of Innaritu storytelling and "Memento" type editing). Directed with swagger debutant Alex Merkin shows a lot of confidence and immense promise with the use of tools at his disposal.That said the movie does seem a tad overlong and given this was based on Merkin's short film it seems he essentially should have met somewhere in between at around 60-70 minutes. The movie tends to drag on incredibly as the script is pulled out in order to somehow reach a proper running time. The suspension drastically drops, although manages to get back on track with the final resolute bang of an ending. Basically a poster movie for the need to be able to be a bit shorter than the standard 90-120 minutes of the Hollywood 'full length feature'.Honestly the script itself is in the most part wildly predictable, as the movie is mostly pushed ahead thanks to its style, while not putting enough pressure on the story itself. The mismatch of the mediocre story and the overstretched plot almost derails the meticulous set-designed and claustrophobic noir feel to the movie.Acting creds are generally fine with Brad Greenquist as the Porter giving the best performance of the lot. All in all worth a watch and I could see Merkin making a name for himself given a script with actually can fill-up the required runtime.

I'm talking about you, especially, director Alex Merkin, because the "buck" stops at your desk. Certainly you know that Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata--one of the five most frequently used pieces of public domain soundtrack music in the million plus items making up IMDb's listings--is composed BY BEETHOVEN, and NOT by the late British pianist Sydney Dale, whom your movie's credits list as the composer of this tune, which makes up about half the soundtrack of ACROSS THE HALL. As director, it is your JOB to spot big goofs such as this, or insure that people are hired who can do so. No self-respecting film helmsman would allow the credits for his movie to say that Satan wrote the Bible, or list King George III as the first U.S. president. However, you allowed a goof tantamount to these to slip into your end credits. (Anyone with half an ear can tell Mr. Dale recorded this particular version of "Moonlight" during his Piccadilly Period, due to the rich corkiness in the bass notes.) Evidently, your pianist/soundtrack composer Bobby Tahouri just phoned in his efforts for ACROSS THE HALL, since either he was not closely associated enough or did not care enough to correct this monumental goof himself.This movie COULD have rated a 9 or 10, but it's not over until the fat lady sings, as they say. You guys blew it with 12 seconds left in a movie running 1 hour, 33 minutes, and 11 seconds! Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Giving just a two-point deduction to something no doubt setting BOTH Mr. Beethoven and Mr. Dale spinning in their respective graves probably is being overly generous!

I loved this movie!!! I didn't think it was predictable at all! It had A LOT of twists which in my book made it a very good thriller!!The movie jumps back and forth in the story line, showing what happened at the beginning and then at the end and eventually connecting it altogether. By the end of the movie your on the edge of your seat! This movie really makes you think.You think you know what's going on in the story and then everything changes!I would definitely recommend seeing this if you are looking for a good psychological thriller! It's one of the best thrillers I've seen!!

A sort of film noir, Across the Hall is dark, nonlinear, twisty, and above all, slow. Basically, a love triangle gone wrong ends in murder, betrayal, and so forth. It's almost Hitchcockian, as the entire movie takes place in a creepy old hotel, with almost no mention of the outside world or any prior events.This is definitely not for the impatient, as it seems to stretch a half-hour's worth of events into an hour and a half. The slow pace adds to the ominous, brooding atmosphere they were clearly going for. I can't help thinking I would've enjoyed this more as a short. The dank old hotel, the creepy slow-witted bellhop, and the dark, dreamy Matrix-like photography provided more than enough atmosphere on their own. The story is told in nonlinear fashion, with scenes appearing out of order, sort of like Pulp Fiction. Only here, the story is intentionally harder to follow, especially in the beginning. You get the hang of it towards the middle somewhere. The filmmakers clearly thought it would be more interesting to show certain results first, before showing the circumstances leading up to them, which seems to me like a terribly easy way to create suspense and the illusion of twists.The ending is presented in the oft-copied Usual Suspects fashion, which is all too common nowadays, showing up in movies whose twists are not nearly as deserving. While you're sitting through the disjointed climax, which is wrought with slow-motion and typically climactic music, if you're anything like me, you'll start mentally listing plot holes and thinking about how the film is trying to look more ingenious than it actually is. The movie is well-produced and good looking, Brittany Murphy is beautiful as ever, and all the acting is above par.