A home invasion movie from a time before the term was even fashionable, "Pacific Heights" is a classic 'tenant from hell' picture. John Schlesinger filmed it in San Francisco in 1990 and it's about what happens when new landlords and romantic partners Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith 'rent' an apartment in their house to Michael Keaton. I say 'rent' though Mr Keaton doesn't actually pay them any money; he just moves in like a cuckoo in the nest and takes over with the intention, it seems, of getting the rightful owners out and that thing, a certain Mr Bumble called 'a ass', the law, would appear to be on his side.
This is a slow build of a movie, leading inexorably to a violent climax, signalled early on by Keaton who is obviously a psychopath while Modine is an obvious worm who just has to turn, (though it is Griffith who has the balls in this relationship). It was written by Daniel Pyne, who apparently got the idea from having a tenant of his own he couldn't get rid off. It's certainly a nightmare scenario, even without the psycho element. It may not be a great Schlesinger movie; there's nothing very distinctive about it, but it turns the screws nicely and will make you think twice about renting out that spare room.
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