Pacific Heights

Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: September 28, 1990

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

55	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Staff (Not Credited)

Schlesinger stages the action with smooth assurance, gradually building tension until Hayes goes completely round the bend. The problem lies in Daniel Pyne's script: the relationship between Drake and Patty is half-realised, while Hayes' motivations remain strangely muddled. That said, Keaton is chillingly convincing. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Pacific Heights could stand comparison to "Rosemary's Baby." Both films are about a young couple who are deeply concerned by events that seem to be happening in another flat in their building. The difference between the movies is instructive: Roman Polanski insinuates us into the gradually growing horror of his couple in "Rosemary's Baby," while John Schlesinger, in "Pacific Heights," seems concerned only with generating the most obvious shock effects. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Schlesinger doesn’t really have the low-down skills to pump up the pulp. He’s so concerned not to relinquish his credentials as a “serious” director that the film, instead of seeming serious, seems mostly silly--not scary enough to function as a crackerjack thriller and not complex enough to work as a psychological drama. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

You can’t make a good thriller when the most pressing issue is whether the protagonists will have to default on their mortgage payments. Read full review

Rita Kempley

Director John Schlesinger bolsters the rickety script with cameras that spin like Linda Blair's head. If you don't get spooked, you'll at least get dizzy. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Cast against type as a sleazy psychopath in John Schlesinger's Pacific Heights, Michael Keaton seems to be having a very good time - a much better time, probably, than the ticket-buying public will have. [28 Sept 1990, p.C]

Rick Groen

A movie that tries to do to real estate what Fatal Attraction did to adultery. It fails - the script isn't half as convincing or the suspense nearly as taut, but the aim is the same. [28 Sept 1990]

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Part of what keeps this from working is that Modine's character is almost as obnoxious as Keaton's—Griffith proves to be the pluckiest member of the trio—and matters are not improved by a lot of gratuitous camera movement and an especially lousy dream sequence. Read full review

Hal Lipper

A suggestion: Mr. Pyle should stop writing screenplays Pacific Heights is more tedious than a lease's fine print and tour the country lecturing on the dangers of landlording. [28 Sept 1990, p.6]