Pacific Heights

"They were the perfect couple, buying the perfect house. Until a perfect stranger moved into their lives."

1990 1h 42m EN

😐

6.3

MID

🥫

52%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.3TMDB · 439🥫52%Rotten Tomatoes●55Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 24,666

ThrillerDramaMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.

“They were the perfect couple, buying the perfect house. Until a perfect stranger moved into their lives.”

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Cast

Melanie Griffith
Patty Palmer
Matthew Modine
Drake Goodman
Michael Keaton
Carter Hayes
Mako
Toshio Watanabe
Nobu McCarthy
Mira Watanabe
Laurie Metcalf
Stephanie MacDonald
Carl Lumbly
Lieutenant Lou Baker
Dorian Harewood
Dennis

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Schlesinger
Writers: Daniel Pyne
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Schlesinger, shot by Amir Mokri. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mark Warner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine and Michael Keaton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "They were the perfect couple, buying the perfect house. Until a perfect stranger moved into their lives.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0100318 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Schlesinger directs. Amir Mokri behind the camera. Hans Zimmer scores. Mark Warner cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.1× over at the box office.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by John Schlesinger, shot by Amir Mokri. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Mark Warner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine and Michael Keaton carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "They were the perfect couple, buying the perfect house. Until a perfect stranger moved into their lives.".
8IMDB entry: tt0100318 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 16 themes, including "cheating", "san francisco, california", "psychopath", "staircase".

The technical file

Cinematography: Amir Mokri
Original score: Hans Zimmer
Editing: Mark Warner
Production design: Neil Spisak
Costume design: Ann Roth
Makeup / hair: Kathy W. Estocin
Sound: Michael Minkler
Stunt coordinator: Bobby J. Foxworth
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $55,000,000
Return: 306% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Pacific Heights (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes: 52% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 55/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 24,666 votes
MPAA: R

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John Schlesinger

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-11-15
★ 6.5/10
Pacific Heights – Low Human. Pacific Heights is directed by John Schlesinger and written by Daniel Pyne. It stars Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine, Laurie Metcalf and Mako. Music is by Hans Zimmer and cinematography by Amir M. Mokri. Young couple Patty and Drake plough all their resources into buying a large house in the affluent Pacific Heights area of San Francisco. With two apartments to rent they think their numbers have come in when they manage to find tenants for both. But one man, the mysterious Carter Hayes (Keaton), soon proves to be anything but the perfect tenant… There are twin terrors at work here, one is the tenant from hell, the other is the laws that protect him as he manipulates the system to its very stupid core. The makers do a very good job of making the film unsettling throughout, the ghastly menace who invades someone’s home and holds all the ace cards is a constant terrifying presence. Schlesinger for two thirds of the piece crafts a tightly wound thriller, unfortunately it just gets too daft for its own good as the cat and mousery reaches the culmination of plotting. Keaton is great, expanding upon the dark part of Bruce Wayne portrayal to be scarily smooth and convincing. Griffith is good value as well, and it’s great to see a female character showing great resourcefulness, but both actors are let down by Pyne’s screenplay in the last third where the psycho versus good lady section is too far fetched. Whilst Modine isn’t a good enough actor to pull off the furious husband act. A mixed bag, but mostly it beats a good thriller heart to keep it above average. 6.5/10

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