The danger of renting an apartment to someone without references is explored here in gory detail. PACIFIC HEIGHTS has a wealthy middle-class couple renting to a man who appears to have money (he drives a Porsche) and seems pleasant enough on first sight. But before long, they discover that he's really the sort of tenant any respectable owner would want to toss out into the streets.
But it seems that there are laws about eviction that don't make it that easy--at least in PACIFIC HEIGHTS where all the action takes place. Getting rid of the Devil (MICHAEL KEATON plays a truly psychopathic nutcase) proves a strain on the marriage of MELANIE GRIFFITH and MATTHEW MODINE, until they discover that he's not only a one man demolition team but has stolen her husband's identity in some sort of real estate scam.
With all of these events taking place, you know you're headed for a bang-up ending once Melanie makes it her personal mission to destroy the evil Keaton--and we do get a satisfying ending when her mission turns out not to be too impossible.
If you stop to think about all the loop-holes in the story, you'll find yourself getting restless long before the ending. Clearly, there are plot points that haven't been thought out and the man's motivations are never made abundantly clear, so that Keaton's madness never gets any explanation from the scriptwriters. But it works as a stark nightmare of what kind of tenant abuse really can exist in today's society, especially if a nutcase is involved.
MELANIE GRIFFITH(she of the somewhat annoying speech patterns and squeaky tones) is reasonably good as the stronger in the marriage partnership, but it's clearly a field day for MICHAEL KEATON who walks off with the film as the devilish psychopath.
But it seems that there are laws about eviction that don't make it that easy--at least in PACIFIC HEIGHTS where all the action takes place. Getting rid of the Devil (MICHAEL KEATON plays a truly psychopathic nutcase) proves a strain on the marriage of MELANIE GRIFFITH and MATTHEW MODINE, until they discover that he's not only a one man demolition team but has stolen her husband's identity in some sort of real estate scam.
With all of these events taking place, you know you're headed for a bang-up ending once Melanie makes it her personal mission to destroy the evil Keaton--and we do get a satisfying ending when her mission turns out not to be too impossible.
If you stop to think about all the loop-holes in the story, you'll find yourself getting restless long before the ending. Clearly, there are plot points that haven't been thought out and the man's motivations are never made abundantly clear, so that Keaton's madness never gets any explanation from the scriptwriters. But it works as a stark nightmare of what kind of tenant abuse really can exist in today's society, especially if a nutcase is involved.
MELANIE GRIFFITH(she of the somewhat annoying speech patterns and squeaky tones) is reasonably good as the stronger in the marriage partnership, but it's clearly a field day for MICHAEL KEATON who walks off with the film as the devilish psychopath.