Across the Hall (2009)
Every now and then a story with dark themes, characters with dark pasts, shady morals comes along. It usually comes and goes without creating much fanfare! This is one of those. Well, that does not mean that the movie is of poor quality. On the contrary, it excels in its own way and excites its own admirers of its own specific genre.
Set in a run-down hotel, Riverview Hotel, which had seen better times with its peeling wallpaper and lazy workers. The peculiar angle of cinematography, like the angle of the hotel signboard, set the tone for a good film noir. In keeping with some noirs of the 50s where loud jazz music was introduced, the filmmakers decided to infuse loud (a tad too loud) background score which I thought killed the suspense.
As expected the film noir takes a twist here and there, the story moves in a non-linear fashion, going in flashbacks and flash-forwards with certain scenes recurring and the murderer goes scot-free.
Julian gets a call from his frantic friend, Terry, that his fiancee was cheating on him. He managed to track her down to a room in the Riverview Hotel. As Terry mentioned that he had a gun (stolen Julian's gun), watching her and was obviously under the influence of intoxicants, Julian feared for the worst.
What Terry does not know is that Julian is the backstabber and the room was supposed to be their rendezvous!
Julian sneaks into the hotel undetected by the night staff but is spotted by an ex-girlfriend who was staying in one of the rooms. Terry confronts his fiancee, June. In the struggle to prove a point, she is fatally wounded. Then comes the uncertainty of how to cover up the crime. After much running around and tense moments, to cut the story short, Julian is framed for a crime he did not commit. Terry, who initially did not know the identity of his beau's mysterious lover, found out about Julian's treacherous act when he found his phone in June's room when Julian was never supposed to be there.
Terry walks away satisfied and Julian is in a betwixt as all evidence point at him as the guilty party!
Nothing great but watchable.
Every now and then a story with dark themes, characters with dark pasts, shady morals comes along. It usually comes and goes without creating much fanfare! This is one of those. Well, that does not mean that the movie is of poor quality. On the contrary, it excels in its own way and excites its own admirers of its own specific genre.Set in a run-down hotel, Riverview Hotel, which had seen better times with its peeling wallpaper and lazy workers. The peculiar angle of cinematography, like the angle of the hotel signboard, set the tone for a good film noir. In keeping with some noirs of the 50s where loud jazz music was introduced, the filmmakers decided to infuse loud (a tad too loud) background score which I thought killed the suspense.
As expected the film noir takes a twist here and there, the story moves in a non-linear fashion, going in flashbacks and flash-forwards with certain scenes recurring and the murderer goes scot-free.
Julian gets a call from his frantic friend, Terry, that his fiancee was cheating on him. He managed to track her down to a room in the Riverview Hotel. As Terry mentioned that he had a gun (stolen Julian's gun), watching her and was obviously under the influence of intoxicants, Julian feared for the worst.
What Terry does not know is that Julian is the backstabber and the room was supposed to be their rendezvous!
| The mysterious butler (he did not do it!) |
Terry walks away satisfied and Julian is in a betwixt as all evidence point at him as the guilty party!
Nothing great but watchable.
